tonycondon said:
Wants to become one of those hotshot cropdusters or firefighters. Henning should be able to help you out with advice, matt.
Hi Matt, eesh ag and attack work huh? It's a tough life, and not one for hotshots. Hotshots die quickly. If I can get you to remember one thing though; There are people out there that will try to get you to do things and to fly planes that you don't want to do. Walk away from them. Nothing from these people is worthwhile, not the training, not the money, not the time, because in these industries, you won't survive to collect. Another quicky, don't accept a seat in an A,B, or C model Pawnee if they haven't been converted to the wing tanks and eliminated the fuse tank above the battery. Ag planes crash, period. I had a buddy who bit it in a B model who burned to death getting out, and another with scars over much of his body. It's a bad design that burned and killed many pilots who would have survived with minimal to no injury otherwise.
I don't know what your age is (Tony's soooo old, him calling you boy wonder might mean you're 45
) or what state you are in, but as soon as you can, get your pesticide applicators license, you'll need it, and if you have it before you go to the operators, it'll be a plus.
Next you need to find an operator who will train you. Typically they want you to work as a loader for a bit, and that's fair enough, it's stuff you'll need to know, because when you're PIC operating remotely you'll be the one overseeing and checking the mixing and loading. DO NOT become complacent about your chemical handling safety gear. Last thing you need is to have a seizure while flying. Most of this stuff is pretty toxic (thank the Lord for genetic engineering, it's really helped cut down the toxicity of the chemicals and allows for more targeted chemicals). Find (if you can) an operator who has several piston planes as well as a turbine or two. Look for the guys who do Boll Weevil eradication, they pretty much all will use Ag Huskies and Dromadiers due to the way the bidding system works. Pretty much, these are the two planes you can make money with on government cotton projects. I would have sent you to Harold Miller for training but he got killed a couple of years back hitting an antenna flying mosquito abatement. If you show up in your fly baby with your applicators license and around 1000hrs PIC (most insurance minimums), some operator is bound to give you a go.
Attackwork is further down the road, and if you are serious about pursueing it, my best advice is to go in the military and train in helos. Seriously, anymore it's a tough business to get into. When I started, we used old recip WWII & Korea vintage attack, transport and torpedo planes. You needed a multi, an instrument rating and 500hrs to get in the right seat of a Boxcar and 1200 to get into an Avenger. After awhile you might get an A-26. It's changed a lot over the last few years. Most of the fixed wing stuff is being done with C-130s, P-3s and even a 747 with ex military pilots filling the seats. Another prefered plane for the job is the AT-802AF Air Tractor, the biggest single there is and they are around $1.5 mil. Pretty much anymore, you have to have 2500hrs with 1000 Ag, or have come out of the military before you will actually get a job.
Another thing to look at is the growing rotorwing segment in both these markets. If you are young, the military might be your best option.
Before you do any of this though, I urge you to do an honest self assessment, no BS or Blustering Bravado. You need to understand your brains default reaction to immediate crisis. When faced with an accident, have you ever just locked in and and prepared for impact? Do you go that extra yard giving of yourself to please others when you really would rather not? Are you intimidated by authority or bullies? If you answer yes to any, I urge you not to pursue this line of work. Really, it's just a job and a pretty freakin boring one at that, it's not worth dying for. You can't be wired for panic or indecission, nor can you allow others to cajole or bluster you into doing something you think you shouldn't. It's your butt and your butt alone up in that plane, you are heavy and 5' off the deck. When things go wrong, they go wrong fast and you just have to do what you need to do. Heck, you may do everything right and still die. Never try to save an airplane, command the airplane to save you. Just keep flying her till she can't respond anymore then ask her to protect you (please baby please...). I'm 3 times in, and three times walked away without a scratch. The thing that really surprized me the first time is that it seemed that about 15 seconds of cognative thought which only dealt with the tasks at hand (flying) went through my head in what I calculated by my gear marks in the crop to be 1.3 seconds. Heck, when she finally gave up elevator authority and let the tail come up and over, that seemed like 4 seconds right there.
Be sure you are wired that way though, not everyone is. A bad assessment can cost the world your grace prematurely. A good buddy I worked a bug run and shared hotel rooms with got himself killed. Shame was he was an awesome guitar player, but he had no technical focus.
