Dusters, dusters everywhere...

[flyingcheesehead]

While driving through northwestern Mississippi and southeastern Arkansas the other day, I saw twelve cropdusters at work, and drove past countless duster strips. That's more dusters than I've seen (at work) the entire rest of my life! Wow.

 

[ScottM]

While driving through northwestern Mississippi and southeastern Arkansas the other day, I saw twelve cropdusters at work, and drove past countless duster strips. That's more dusters than I've seen (at work) the entire rest of my life! Wow.

They are pretty fun to watch. I don't think I have seen that many at once but I do drive across Florida quite a bit from Bradenton to West Palm and I go the back roads through the agriculture area and I see a lot there.

 

[CJones]

Is it rice season down there now? The vast majority of rice work - seeding, fertilizing, pesticide-ing, etc is done via airplane. Could also be crawdad (crayfish) feeding.

Give it a couple of months and those big yellow's will be following I-35 northbound to Iowa.

 

[jesse]

I saw countless crop dusters in northern Mississippi in 2006 on a motorcycle trip. Luckily I didn't get to talk to any of them--otherwise I would have probably traded my desk job in...

 

[Steve]

Some aviation trivia:

Johnny Dorr might not be a household name but he should.

He was not only a master pilot who trained thousands of combat pilots during World War II, a world class performer of amazing acrobatic stunts at air shows throughout the U.S but it was his contribution to Agricultural Aviation that made him a legend.

From the small grass landing strip; known in Merigold, Mississippi as Dorr Field, he became the first person in the U.S. to open a school to teach Agricultural Aviation. For more than forty years, Johnny Dorr trained thousands of students from around the world on all aspects of Ag flying.

He became so well respected at teaching that he was asked to write the Ag flying rulebook for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Merigold is 6 miles north of Cleveland, MS on US Hwy 61.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

From the small grass landing strip; known in Merigold, Mississippi as Dorr Field, he became the first person in the U.S. to open a school to teach Agricultural Aviation. For more than forty years, Johnny Dorr trained thousands of students from around the world on all aspects of Ag flying.

He became so well respected at teaching that he was asked to write the Ag flying rulebook for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Merigold is 6 miles north of Cleveland, MS on US Hwy 61.

Huh... Dorr (MS95) shows up in Skyvector, but isn't actually on the chart. Airnav still lists it though.

I initially thought I drove past it, but I went down (think think) MS 3 maybe? From Tutwiler down to Indianola, and then on US 82 back over into AR.

 

[Steve]

Google Earth will display MS95. The field is private and it's not well delineated amid the delta cropland. A couple of years ago they had a reunion of sorts for former students called "Return to Dorr". Kind of a "Gathering of Eagles" for crop dusters. There is some film footage of the early training done there that was shown on a local tv station recently. Dorr would get in one Stearman and the student would get in another and they'd play follow the leader over the nearby cotton fields getting lower and lower until they were going under the wires doing passes.

Huh... Dorr (MS95) shows up in Skyvector, but isn't actually on the chart. Airnav still lists it though.

I initially thought I drove past it, but I went down (think think) MS 3 maybe? From Tutwiler down to Indianola, and then on US 82 back over into AR.

 

[Keith Lane]

Of course, I know ypu've all read the online book.......

http://www.borderpilot.com/

If not, it'll keep you up at night at the computer reading it.

 

[t0r0nad0]

Kent, did you go through Helena, AR? I was there a couple times for business and there's a little airport there that had a couple dozen crop dusters lined up on the ramp when I stopped in. Sadly, the FBO didn't do any instruction or rental at all, so I couldn't even jump in a Cessna there .

 

[t-cart]

They are fertilizing wheat right now in the area. The rice season will start around the middle of may. All the ag planes at West Helena airport were either Riddell flying service(aircraft dealership) or Crowley Ridge Aviation(Does lots of work on ag planes).

 

[CJones]

They are fertilizing wheat right now in the area. The rice season will start around the middle of may. All the ag planes at West Helena airport were either Riddell flying service(aircraft dealership) or Crowley Ridge Aviation(Does lots of work on ag planes).

Ahhh yes.. I didn't think about winter wheat! At nearly/over $10/bu for wheat these days, I'm sure there are a few acres of it starting to pop up in the south again!