Attack by Crop Duster

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evapilotaz

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Drone airspace abuser
So I was happily flying along at a Farm I fly RC airplanes at and a Crop duster swoops in on Me. I quickly landed to capture so video and stills.

Below is a snip it of a longer video.

 
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What was amazing was how quiet it was.

It must been a turbo Charged Engine. Any Ideas what he is running in that beast.
 

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Turbine powered. As in turbo prop.
 
Turbo Prop. I suppose. Either way it was really Quiet.

Any guesses how far he was off the deck. Looked to be 10 feet. I was amazed by his precision flying.
 
Under 10' it's like shooting a bunch of loc approaches, you should check out the light bars they use, far from the low tech farmboys most of the world want to make them out to be
 
Years ago I was riding my bicycle on a country road abutting a cotton field. I then noticed a crop duster making the turn at the other end of the field for a run that would have him coming straight at me, so I stopped to watch. That plane's nose looked to be heading straight for my nose, and he was coming fast. About the time he jerked that sucker up and over the high-line wires at the edge of the road, every fiber of my body was telling me to hit the deck - it was that close! Luckily the wind was carrying his spray away from me, so I didn't get dusted.
 
When I was walking out to my plane on Friday to take my lesson there was a Turbo Prop cropduster parked next to me. I've never seen one of those up close and I was absolutely amazed at how HUGE it was. It was darn near the same size as a few of the commuter jets parked by us.
Would love to see it in action up close like this. excellent video
 
James sorry you weren't not impressed by this. When was the last time you strapped a chemical bomb on your back side fly above the deck at 10 ft agl?

This was a once of a life time experience for me being at the right place at the right time. I have several more pictures and a 20 minute video of the crop duster in action. I think he decided not to do his last run because he was getting too close to me. No one else was around to witness this it was so serrel. I told my wife and all she could say is " I hope you don't get sick from the chemicals" and forced me to take a long shower. Only a true aviation nut like myself could appreciate it.
 
Who said I wasn't impressed.

I actually instructed quite a few soon to be dusters
 
Air Tractor 802. Probably has a -65 or -67 PT-6 on it. Darned good airplane.
 
I don't know much about Turbo Prop but it sounded almost like a Jet. I always thought turbo prop was a turbine engine with a prop attached to it.
 
evapilotaz said:
I don't know much about Turbo Prop but it sounded almost like a Jet. I always thought turbo prop was a turbine engine with a prop attached to it.
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Pretty much.
Here's a good read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboprop

Basically it takes the high RPM turbine and transfers the torque/energy through a reduction gearbox to the propeller.
When I was in the Navy the Destroyer I was on had essentially regular turbine engines just like you'd find on a GA plane, but it reduced the very high RPM all the way down to 60-70 RPM and had enough torque to propel a massive ship through the water. Fun stuff.
 
Next time you stand in the middle of a field while someone does spray runs to your right and left, consider packing up your stuff and leaving as a courtesy to both the pilot and the farmer. By remaining in the field, you forced him to change his plans and possibly required him to return later to complete the job.
 
I doubt it had any effect on the pilot. He is not going to waste chemicals on the road, and the risk is all on the spectator who has to breathe any drifting spray.

Thanks for posting. It brought back memories.
I did that for a summer, 49 years ago, flying a beat up Stearman.
The next summer I was in the Air Force, learning to drop naplam.
 
I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives, and several bartenders that depend on me.
 
Shepherd said:
I doubt it had any effect on the pilot. He is not going to waste chemicals on the road, and the risk is all on the spectator who has to breathe any drifting spray.

Thanks for posting. It brought back memories.
I did that for a summer, 49 years ago, flying a beat up Stearman.
The next summer I was in the Air Force, learning to drop naplam.
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Not anymore. Nowadays, if I see someone in a field I'm working, I go find another field. There are too many people filing lawsuits these days.
 
Good for you David, and great video. They spray the fields around my place every year; never get tired of watching them. That's one job I'd take in a heartbeat.

 
Shepherd said:
I doubt it had any effect on the pilot. He is not going to waste chemicals on the road, and the risk is all on the spectator who has to breathe any drifting spray.

Thanks for posting. It brought back memories.
I did that for a summer, 49 years ago, flying a beat up Stearman.
The next summer I was in the Air Force, learning to drop naplam.
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Like Herve said the industry has changed over the years. It doesn't even take a lawsuit to cost the pilot lots of money. If someone on the ground has video of a pilot working close to them and claims they were sprayed the state can take administrative action against the pilots applicators license and effectively ground the pilot. That would be costly. When I have spectators show up I leave.
 
Stearman said:
Good for you David, and great video. They spray the fields around my place every year; never get tired of watching them. That's one job I'd take in a heartbeat.
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Great vid. I didn't even notice the person in the video until the 3rd replay.
 
weilke said:
Next time you stand in the middle of a field while someone does spray runs to your right and left, consider packing up your stuff and leaving as a courtesy to both the pilot and the farmer. By remaining in the field, you forced him to change his plans and possibly required him to return later to complete the job.
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Hey I was there first. I had to wait 30 minutes for him to do his thing before I could fly RC again. How rude was he!

I should sue the Crap out of him because who knows a long term illness I may have soon to follow. I will take away his air tractor from him. Of course I was just kidding.
 
We have a lot of those flying out in the Central Valley. They are impressive to watch, from the ground ops to the flying.
 
tuwood said:
...I've never seen one of those up close and I was absolutely amazed at how HUGE it was...
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pretty cool!

man, u r in the middle of nowheresville!
 
eman1200 said:
It was.

Unless it offended you, then it wasn't.
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LOL Yea out in the Middle of Nowhere. I sit on my Back Porch chewing on Hay playing a banjo between milking the Cows.
Just Messing with you. Actually it only appears to be out in the middle of nowhere. Its Just 3 miles outside QueenCreek AZ Population 32,000+ in San Tan Valley
 
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We have quite a few ag operators in our area. I like to watch them work. When you try to fly into an airport they are operating out of, you really have to keep an eye out. I try to land/takeoff and get out of their way as quickly as I can. They are trying to make a living, and their airplanes are expensive and burn quite a bit of fuel.
 
I know this former airline and military pilot that at some point went to a crop duster school. He didn't let anyone know his true credentials until the last day. He went out and promptly did a loop, some rolls and a bunch of other crazy ass maneuvers all the while dusting the field. When he got on the ground he said, "I dropped Napalm on the Vietcong at 400 knots... I think I can handle a crop duster." At least that is what was told. I don't know if he ever actually did any crop dusting but during my check ride my FAA examiner asked me if I knew him, after he found out my home town. Then the FAA examiner guy started telling me stories about him during my ck ride prep.
 
A local aerial applicator (he doesn't like the name crop duster since there's very little actual dust used anymore) sometimes parks his fuel and chemical truck on my backyard strip and uses it as a forward base when he's spraying in the area. He uses a pair of Dromeder m18 planes, which are Polish and powered by 1000 hp radials (polish copies of the R-1830 I think). When they turn out over the house at 100' with a full load of 4000 lbs of chemical and full throttle it's amazing. We go out with lawn chairs and sit with the ground crew in between loads and watch.
 
HotRock said:
I know this former airline and military pilot that at some point went to a crop duster school. He didn't let anyone know his true credentials until the last day. He went out and promptly did a loop, some rolls and a bunch of other crazy ass maneuvers all the while dusting the field. When he got on the ground he said, "I dropped Napalm on the Vietcong at 400 knots... I think I can handle a crop duster." At least that is what was told. I don't know if he ever actually did any crop dusting but during my check ride my FAA examiner asked me if I knew him, after he found out my home town. Then the FAA examiner guy started telling me stories about him during my ck ride prep.
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If this is a true story he is indeed special.
 
HotRock said:
I know this former airline and military pilot that at some point went to a crop duster school. He didn't let anyone know his true credentials until the last day. He went out and promptly did a loop, some rolls and a bunch of other crazy ass maneuvers all the while dusting the field. When he got on the ground he said, "I dropped Napalm on the Vietcong at 400 knots... I think I can handle a crop duster." At least that is what was told. I don't know if he ever actually did any crop dusting but during my check ride my FAA examiner asked me if I knew him, after he found out my home town. Then the FAA examiner guy started telling me stories about him during my ck ride prep.
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Air Force used C123s in 'Nam spraying Agent Orange and God knows what else. Think those planes are still contaminated if any are still around. I was stationed at McGuire AFB in the late 70s and those same C123s sprayed the base for pine beetles I think, or maybe we were part of an experiment! :eek:
 
Tarheelpilot said:
If this is a true story he is indeed special.
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I took it as true,but with the details being sketchy since they were told 2nd hand. My mechanic goes fishing with him a good bit and heard it from him. I know him well enough to ask if I see him again. I played golf a good bit with him over the years before I started my pilot training last year. I am 52 and didn't know what an aileron was this time last year and now I have my PPL. I have a lot to learn but I own a 1962 PA-28 160 and I am loving it.

The dude went to Alaska, carried his wife with him to live in a tent as he flew as a guide and fished. He is one of "the most interesting men in the world."
 
Sounds like the story was embellished just a smidgen to me. Ag airplanes are designed to haul a heavy load off of relatively short strips and not fall apart in the process. Aerobatics not so much. They loose energy quickly when g loaded and have a high drag profile which makes it hard to get the energy back.

While it may look like aggressive maneuvering from the ground it's actually a very smooth almost boring turn especially when heavily loaded. As the load gets sprayed off the turn can incorporate more vertical component to reduce the turn radius. I have a g meter with recording needles in my plane and I normally see g loads in the +1 to +2 range. Occasionally if I'm having a little to much fun I'll see +3 but it's rare. Also the engines really don't like seeing anything other than positive g load. Zero g and negative g are avoided.

Ag planes are not designed for aerobatics and Ag pilots that have made the transition to successful careers in the air show industry are very vocal that they would not do aerobatics in a spray plane because it's dangerous. In fact one pilot helped make a video about how to stay safe in the Ag environment. They had a drag parachute installed on the plane to help him regain control if needed.

I'm not saying this story is false. Just saying it tells me more about this guys luck rather than his skill.
 
Or the story was embellished being told by an untrained ear.
 
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