The hum grows louder and suddenly a yellow aircraft appears overhead. It makes a sharp turn then swoops down and glides five feet above the ground, trailed by a mist of vapor. The plane pulls its nose up again toward the clear blue sky, makes an acrobatic turn and heads back in the opposite direction.
Sure, the Blue Angles were impressive when they visited in late July. But living in agriculture-rich Southern Idaho allows us to enjoy impressive air shows every day.
Ken Owings quickly sets me straight. They’re not called crop dusters anymore; they’re aerial applicators.
“In the early days we were known as crop dusters because we mostly worked with dry chemicals, mostly pesticides,” Owings says.
Owings, a 79-year-old ag pilot from Twin Falls, owns Ken-Spray and oversees two pilots. A lot has changed since 1945 when he was “a dumb kid who thought it was pretty neat” to fly. He was just a teen when he first went to work for Magic Valley Aircraft, starting out as a chemical loader and bookkeeper. He worked his way up to pilot and the rest is history.
“It used to be that you would just go out and do your job. Now you’ve got everyone from the (Federal Aviation Administration) to the Department of Agriculture looking down your neck to make sure you’re doing everything right,” Owings says.
The regulations have helped the industry – which now includes about 3,000 applicators nationwide – develop unprecedented professionalism and a superior safety track record, according to Rod Thomas of Gooding.
Ken Owings quickly sets me straight. They’re not called crop dusters anymore; they’re aerial applicators.
“In the early days we were known as crop dusters because we mostly worked with dry chemicals, mostly pesticides,” Owings says.
Owings, a 79-year-old ag pilot from Twin Falls, owns Ken-Spray and oversees two pilots. A lot has changed since 1945 when he was “a dumb kid who thought it was pretty neat” to fly. He was just a teen when he first went to work for Magic Valley Aircraft, starting out as a chemical loader and bookkeeper. He worked his way up to pilot and the rest is history.
“It used to be that you would just go out and do your job. Now you’ve got everyone from the (Federal Aviation Administration) to the Department of Agriculture looking down your neck to make sure you’re doing everything right,” Owings says.
The regulations have helped the industry – which now includes about 3,000 applicators nationwide – develop unprecedented professionalism and a superior safety track record, according to Rod Thomas of Gooding.
Thomas is a past president of the National Agriculture Aviation Association. The NAAA stresses continuing education in order to ensure effective and safe aerial application. Pilots must always keep safety on their minds. With urban sprawl encroaching upon open field areas, pilots need acute skills for low-to-the-ground flying and tight maneuvering.
“Of course we all have some close calls, but we don’t talk about it much. The perception is that it is more dangerous than it really is,” Thomas says. “Public perception ranks us as dangerous as skydiving, but we’re not.”
Thomas credits the NAAA’s safety program, created in the last few years, for cutting the accident rate and raising the bar for industry pilots.
“As an industry, aerial applicators have a little better safety rating than aviation in general,” Thomas says.
Flying aside, aerial applicators must also be very knowledgeable about the products they apply. Sometimes the general public voices concern over the chemicals being sprayed near their homes. Rest assured, if aerial applicators are in the air, they are trained professionals and have your safety as a priority.
“Half the time we’re applying fertilizer or seed,” Thomas says.
Thomas, 54, has been taking flight for 33 years. He continues in the industry “because of my nasty spinning habit.” The bottom line: Thomas loves flying planes, always has.
“I was born and raised on a farm, had a little custom farming outfit with my brother,” he says. “I’ve always had a love for aviation and this was a way to combine the two things I love to do. I had a bit of crop dusting done on my own place and wanted to fly. We didn’t grow up in aviation or anything; it just ended up that way.”
Mornings are his favorite time to fly. For one, the cooler time of day makes for optimal application of many substances. But overall, Thomas just enjoys the solace of a sunrise.
“I’ve seen coyotes returning from hunting all night. Once I saw a coyote packing just a leather glove home,” he says. “It’s just neat to see nature and all the crops from the air.”
Some sights, Thomas claims, aren’t suitable to print.
“I had a pilot going out of his way, the long way, to return. I found out he was taking the scenic route to where some skinny dipping was going on,” he chuckles. “We’ve seen it all.”
Burley ag pilot Craig Franks grew up in the aerial applicator business. In 2006, Franks took over Spray Rite of Idaho, which was owned and operated by his step-father for 30 years.
“I started mixing chemicals when I was 15 years old. He was close to retirement and so I took over,” he says.
Last year the company provided aerial application services for 34,000 acres. He says the crop landscape changes with market demand, but for the most part sprayed acreage remains the same.
Besides providing a much-needed service to local farmers, Franks enjoys the thrill that’s only found in the sky.
“There’s a rush going down and spraying five feet above the ground,” he says. “You definitely have to keep your head and watch everything you’re doing.”
Last year, on a return flight home, Franks hit a wire that had just been installed.
“Growth in the area is causing a lot of building. That wire wasn’t there when I flew out, but it had been erected by the time I returned. I kept the plane in the air,” Franks says. “There is a lot to consider when you’re in the air; you have to keep a watchful eye.”
As Southern Idaho’s landscape changes from sparsely populated rural areas to diversified residential and commercial zones, aerial applicators know times are changing.
“Most people around this area hear the planes and know you’re going to spray but there are a lot of complaints,” Franks says. “I see it getting worse. People don’t want you flying close to suburbs or towns and that is getting harder and harder as farmland continues to be developed.”
Thomas believes communication and education is the key to the industry’s future.
“Crops need to be treated and if you live in a farming area you have to realize that flying is part of that,” Thomas says. “Sometimes farming is the baling of hay in the middle of the night, or us spraying first thing in the morning. Crops need to be treated and even when those crops are next to the urban sprawl, we have to fly there.”
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