@@Invertedaviation it’s a fact. There are not “facts” being stated here. He’s stating one potential fact. Stop butchering the English language because your favorite illiterate rapper says stupid things. God, your generation produces nothing but garbage lol.
Hard work? That’s an understatement! 14 hours a day? I would be so mentally drained after a couple hours! You guys have to be sharp as a tack 99% of the time. Amazing!!
Totally blown away by your videos!! Thanks so much for explaining everything while your flying but hopefully not to the point where your distracted from your job at hand. You guys please be careful. And keep those videos coming!!!
I knew a pilot with over 40,000 hours. In that time he had balled up seven aircraft. My old A&P had done some dusting. While flying he wrecked three aircraft. Not from sloppy flying but mechanical issues. These birds live a hard life.
I’m really enjoying these videos with the added commentary. Adding commentary to a job like this definitely takes a laser focused professional, and that professionalism definitely shows without a doubt. I work in the aviation industry as well, and have always been interested in crop duster‘s and how they work. Would it be possible for you to make a video explaining all of the various gauges and switches used for the AG application? #cropduster #airtractor802 #flying #powerlines #agriculture
I will probably do a walk around of the plane and cockpit here soon. We are starting to slow down and I should have some time in the next few weeks hopefully.
Down around St Matthews SC, they use very small biplanes, if you're driving on 601 they have to lift to clear your car. They pull up and kick full rudder in a quick little hammerhead and right back onto the spray run. It's great to watch, these guys are flying 5 feet over the beans.
I used to watch Hamilton Crop Dusters in Chowchilla, California fly his biplane under power lines. Your flying and situational awareness are top notch. Excellent videos.
I just came across your channel. Close friend of mine passed away crop dusting several years ago. A very top static wire hit the windshield first, went up and over scraping the fuselage and cut the rudder in half also tearing most of it off. Plane then pancaked into the cornfield killing him instantly. To this day we often wonder how and why he hit it. NTSB just said he didn't see it. Pilot error. However, he did that same field last year and had already made a pass over the wires once already. This happened on his second pass. I guess we will never really know the exact cause or what circumstances added up all together to cause the crash.. Nice channel and keep being safe out there!
@@InspirationalBacon Flying is a very expensive habit but a whole lot of fun.If you haven't already go out to an airport ,find an instructor and go on an introductory flight
It's clear that you have a lot of expertise in this area, and it's interesting to learn about the considerations and decisions you make while flying and spraying crops.
Because of what you said at the first of the video about that model (and size) of plane, L-3 Aeromet Inc. has a contract signed to convert 30+ of these models into USAF light attack planes at its shop in Tulsa, OK. 7,000 pounds is a lot of Hellfires, rockets, or cannon ammo! Cool vids!
Great video bud!!! Enjoyed it .. and much appreciated by an old timer. Now near 85, with a av life of mostly ag work ... starting in the late sixties .. and continuing ... till retired in '85. Equipment today ... is vastly changed from our Pratt 1340s and smaller ... Bull Stearmans ... 22-2400 (absolute max) loads. Sooo many war stories ... And a life that I'd give all my remaining time to sit just one more season. Those here who 'envy' the life ... are so right in your feelings. It IS a spectacular life ... but at times, at least in the old days, it is a incredibly hard, and at times, extremely challenging life. Best to all you great, lucky drivers still out there. Envy just don't get it ... but I can still dream. Fourth word I ever said in life (according to my mother's words in my baby book!) ... was "airplane" !!!! And that was my life. Best, and keep the flame going guys .... appreciate you so much. All the flight commentary, really brings it all back ... we were in the same world ... just slightly different lingo. So much more tech stuff. But filled with the same thinking, cautions, and goals ... largely aimed at staying alive. (Tried listening to radio ... once ... never again ... too distracting ... hugely!! LOL) Godspeed man !!!!
Hey Patrick! I’m a flight instructor based out of Texas working my way into ag aviation. These videos are awesome. So much to learn, but these videos you put out offer amazing insight when it comes to ADM inside the cockpit.
I enjoyed my years in the 802. At 65 years old, after 45 years ag time I just started to run out of stamina and decided to quit while I was ahead. Sure did like the few thousand hours I flew the 802. Not as much fun as a 450 Super B Cat, but great airplane. No comparison in production of course. Geez, as I watch this video it’s like being back at work. Your flying and insights are very similar to mine, so entertaining to watch (except I was always more comfortable in a left racetrack). The only real difference I can see is that I always used 1/3 flaps on takeoff (3500 ft elevation) rather than 2/3. Same thing applies to wires - every wire strike I had was because I was distracted and forgot about it. Never had a laser altimeter, but the early spraying years we always had wheels in the crop so had that ‘feel’.
I’m 61 and you are living the dream I’ve wanted since i was a young boy living in south Louisiana with sugar cane fields all around me miles and miles of it. Air Farm was just about 3 miles from us they would fly 600 or 650 radial engine At Cats loved the sound and the airplane itself, I used to ride my bike to where they were flying and i was loving it would even get dusted occasionally by the chemicals 2-4D and mythalparathyon omg and I’m still alive today 😁. Keep on flying that tractor, I have FSX And got the Air Tractor 802 on it with the crop duster app also my daughter downloaded a Ag Cat with the radial engine which is nice 👍🏼 thanks for the video!!! Hey nice flying and landing!!!
Love your videos! The narration is great! After I got my license in 1969, I wanted to be a spray pilot. So I would rent a Super Cub and go out (unknown to others) and find an open field and "practice". I remember black birds flying up in front of me. You have a great job, but I'm sure you know that.
Nice work. The 802 is a beast which requires lots of attention, not a good beginner ag plane. I’ve never worked one on farm crops but I’ve flown a few SEAT’s. The cockpit feels like an L1011 cockpit, like a barn. I used to stuff AgCats under wires in Ca. They’re pretty tall at the top of the vertical fin, but AgCats don’t cross the field at 170😮 It’s great that average folks can watch your video and see what a real Cropduster does for a living, compared to the horrible Hollywood cartoon character. I’ve done many 15 hr days during rice season, and forget lunch, no time for that. Lucky if you get a Gatorade..”no joke” 😅
I’ve eaten lunch in the plane more often than not, that’s for sure. Used to have to put my lunchbox in the cockpit in the morning so I wouldn’t have to get out to go get it. Id like to fly a SEAT one day! It’s on the list of things to do.
@@pcohen85 I’ve never worked a SEAT on an actual fire as I’ve yet to be carded by the USFS. It’s just some post airline retirement SEAT training I did for an operator in AZ, and some ferrying of the 802. But, enough to have a great respect for the airplane. Especially as an ag aircraft. Considering it’s size and speed, and knowing how tight farm fields can be, much respect to you!
Very cool stuff! 14 hours in it must be very tiring. My butt gets soar with 3 hours in my RV7. But this is really neat and I like the fast pace. Must get a lot of work done in a short time compared to the old fashioned method of putting it on with a tractor and spreader like we did when I was growing up. Keep on flying and stay safe.
Really glad I stumbled upon your channel. Well done! Instructive and inspiring. I'm a CPL SE/ME Land Instrument - always was curious about ag flying. Thank you for what you're doing! Looks exciting!
Thanks for reporting how this profession works. I have a lot of curiosity even though it's none of my business. I take it that understanding a turbine engine is at least a bit different from dealing with a piston, which most viewers know from driving cars.
Thanks Patrick. This video is excellent just like the last. Learn new stuff every time. I will have to model a phone now and simulate a random call from my wife .LOL.
I started my flight training last week and stumbled onto your videos today and i just gotta say watching this is cool asf. Please keep uploading and if at all possible can you do a video on the aircraft itself?
Nice work. I could not fly and watch for all the hazards, well I could not fly under a power line period.....We have fields all around us and they do get dusted every year. I have a picture of one plane coming off the tops of the corn from 100 yards away with wind blowing at my back. I see people stop in the road right where they spray.....and wonder how much they got dusted......We keep indoors when they spray. Stay safe out there.
Just started watching your videos a day ago..already hooked. Amazing skills, amazing plane. Enjoy the commentary as much as the visuals. Keep up the interesting educational and entertaining videos...thanks for sharing as they say... Oh..if you get a chance..listen to the book Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck...you'll enjoy it and especially his encounter with crop dusters on his voyage west.
The first time I saw a cropduster go under a wire I think my heart stopped. I was driving, and saw the airplane heading for the wire and the pilot just didn’t pull up. I was absolutely certain that I was going to see a man die, but he just squirted under and did a big wing over and went back to do it again. What a job!
Very impressive. Loved the ride along. First time seeing it in a video. The powerlines look almost invisible. The trees are at least mostly easy to spot. Those single poles in the middle of a field would have me losing sleep. Every now and again you spot a single pole in the middle of a field and wonder, what the hell is that for.
I watched an Air Tractor doing it's work many years ago when I was younger. I thought the pilots were either crazy or very talented. As it turns out, it's a bit of both :)
I would love to have trained as a pilot, cost initially prevented me and I never devoted funds to it afterwards. However, I could not think of a more exciting satisfying flying than crop dusting / air spray. Stick, rudder, throttle, Mk 1 eyeball, pure flying.
Military fighter pilots' enemies are foreign, whereas crop dusting pilots' enemies are domestic. Both sets of pilots are phenomenal pilots IMHO. I'm a novice compared to this guy.
I was trying to figure out where you are, got to be NE Arkansas or SE Missouri. I checked fight aware and there’s a bunch of ag-planes in the air today. I’m in NE Louisiana, we don’t have near as many as we used too. 👍🏼
Patrick I really enjoy watching your videos. I've always wanted to fly from a young boy. But as I grew older my health was a problem. So I just enjoy your comments as you do your job. Do you an Lance ever come to central Indiana to spray? We live close to the Marion airport. I've seen a couple of air tractors flying outa there. If your ever up here I'd like to meet you sometime. Please stay safe God Bless 🙏🙏
Love your video's man, have been interested in flying fires for a while and ag is a great way to train for it so I love watching/hearing the commentary. I like the authentic sound of the radio mic but was going to mention Adobe has a program called Adobe Podcast that will silence any background noise amazingly well. I think mentioned in one of your videos you'd been interested in flying fires, are you still working towards that or if you'd reconsidered I'd be curious why?
My instructor back in '79 said. "do not fly crop dusters" just too darn dangerous....... SEEMS like I might have missed some fun flying all these years, ... yeh I know it's work ..... would love to ride back seat just for the experience , BUT not under those lines (lol).
Had a Heli clip some lines across town a few weeks ago. Wires were 75-100 ft up. He had already made about 10 passes over them and they stretched the whole field. Sounds like he caught them with the skids or boom. Unfortunately he did not live. Article had interview with his sister and she seemed confused on how this could happen because he had 10 years experience. She must not have keen on all the intricacies that AG spraying has.
We used to say that if farmer Joe can drive a harvester under the wire, then we are good to go... But the heat can change that. In the 502, If I had any doubts, I would pull 200 of the torque before the mid span just to keep the tail down a little bit more. It was even more fun at night. It's funny how you would still duck your head as you went under... Flaps were awesome for turns...
I love watching these, I keep hoping for more. I have a silly question, I notice that your altimeter gauge on the right dips below 0 when you dive down. Is that because wherever you are diving is lower in altitude than where you took off?
Good grief I can't stop watching your videos... It's so damn cool... I used to watch a guy spraying in the next town over from mine... Do you mind telling me what part of the country you're in...
do ya ever spray over by dyersburg TN :) ive seen a few air tractors doing fields and got intrested in learning about what its like doing arial application even in your videos its a thing of wonder seeing how well u handle the plane.
Wow…. This was about the fastest thirty minutes I’ve spent in a long time. That was exciting. I’m wondering what the training pipeline is for this type of flying….. might be good as part of a future vid unless you have already made one regarding your flying career and training etc. Tons of skill and confidence there young man.
The training comes mostly from listening to experienced pilots/applicators talk and observing them while they work. Personally I worked on the ground mixing chemical and washing planes for 5 years. There is only one seat in those planes so once you convince somebody to let you in one and the insurance company gives you a green light, it’s all up to you.
Hey Patrick I’m in flight school right now and am considering career paths and i find crop dusting absolutely fascinating. I’ve grew up in farm country and always thought crop dusters were the coolest thing. What is the path one usually takes to become one?
There's a company making windshields from armored glass (for protection against birds and potential drone strikes), and the engine inlets usually have a mesh screen to prevent ingestion. We avoid birds if we see them and have the option, sometimes even aborting a pass if possible, but like Patrick said, most of the time you just hope for the best. Big flocks can sometimes be herded out of the field by using the smoker upwind of them. Buzzards make poor life choices and will dive straight into your windshield if you fly under them, you can't herd them out of the field, and without that armored glass they often come straight through the windshield into the cockpit. I can't speak for other ag pilots but it breaks my heart every time I have a bird strike, they're my buddies and I like sharing the sky with them, so I do everything I can to avoid it.
Hello loved your video.can I ask how hard is it to maintain wings level on air tractor?and do you give both aileron trim and rudder trim input or just rudder trim to maintain wings level ?
Glad you know where you are at cause I'm lost... Has the big ground sprayers had a much of an impact on your business? I know most everybody has them now. I have a neighbor who learned to fly in a Pawnee by his father then worked as a pilot for Delta until age retired him. Thanks for the ride and fly safe.
Ground rigs definitely have a large impact on our business. You can't blame the farmer for buying his own rig and saving money, but they know that if we went out of business there would be no 911 service for when the fields need to be sprayed and their ground rig can't do it.
just a tid bit of information about those top wires on a transmission line you speak of. Those are called the static lines and allot of times they are OPGW lines which is optical power ground wire. Not everyone but allot of them are OPGW which is a fiber optic for substation-to-substation communications for relay control. I splice OPGW on transmission lines year-round. awesome flying man you got a new subscriber.
@@pcohen85 it’s a steel cable with an aluminum tube in the inside that the fiber optic wire is inside of. I wouldn’t want to hit one lol. The opgw ones are. Regular static lines might just be aluminum with a steel core for strength like the normal transmission lines.
