Did I forget something?

Did I forget something?

Some of us have shorter memories than others. When I wrote my earlier blog about attending the MoAAA spray clinic, just when I was thanking Charlie Adams for the fried fish, it dawned me that Graham and I had attended the GAAA Operation SAFE spray clinic in Americus, Georgia the week before last. Duh!

Just like in Missouri, we enjoyed great hospitality, visiting with really old friends, ones made long before AgAir Update came along, during my early crop spraying years. And, fried fish was the fare cooked by J.D. Scarborough and company. His secret treat was fried mullet backbones, which are a favorite of mine.

Souther Field Aviation (I don’t care what the politicians want to call it, Americus airport (KACJ) will always be Souther Field for me, where Charles Lindbergh soloed) was a great host. Along with lunch, Graham and I even received a couple of really nice GAAA tee shirts. 

There weren’t as many, if any, new ag-planes at Americus, except for the GE Thrush that Jody Bays flew up from Albany. I love those LED lights on it, not to mention its fantastic GE engine that holds a promise of great things to come for this industry. However, unlike the really early spray clinics in the late 70s and early 80s, there were mostly turbine-powered airplanes in attendance, plus one R44 helicopter. The turbine ag-plane back then was a rarity, but now commonplace. Times do change. 

At this clinic, like the one a year ago, I was able to visit with the gentleman (tongue in cheek) that started me out in 1973 in a Hutch Pawnee, Bob Day of Dawson, Georgia. Thirty-seven years later, we’re still good friends. 

On the other end of my career, that I flew with for the last 15 years was my boss and good friend, Frank Bledsoe. Do the math. I had a flying service in Marshallville, Georgia between 1976 and 1985. Frank and I were competitors during those years. As destiny would have it, I “sold” out to Frank, flew with him until I hung up my moneymaking helmet in 2000.  If I’d been working for the Post Office, or the FAA, probably could have retired twice and be off somewhere fishing today! What a miserable life that would have been. I prefer the course God led me.  

Visit with MoAAA Operation SAFE clinic

Graham and I just returned earlier this week from a whirlwind trip to Steele, Missouri to attend the MoAAA Operation SAFE spray clinic hosted by Earl’s Flying Service (the gracious Mike Lee).

It was one of those trips that help justify the “Bo” (A36 Bonanza). I can’t really save enough actual money traveling to offset the cost to operate an aircraft, unless somehow I factor in the value of time. This trip proved to be one where we departed Perry, Georgia around 7.30a and made the headwind laden 371 nm flight to Steele in just less than three hours. With the crossing into another time zone that put us there around 9.30a, giving us time to do our “business”, eat and get back to the office late afternoon the same day.

Our mission was to take a look at a new, experimental fairing built by Air Tractor and installed behind the gate box of Kevin Carpenter’s new AT-802. The fairing supposedly cleans up the air as it passes over the gate box towards the rear of the aircraft. This is an area of turbulence and negative air pressure, pulling air up into the plumbing and causing a general disruption of airflow.

You’ll read more about this interesting component in the May edition of AgAir Update. From what I have learned so far, it makes me wonder why haven’t this been done sooner and if it works for the AT-802, surely it will work in similar ways with other ag-planes.

If I left with any outstanding thoughts after attending the clinic, it was the smell of new paint. There were several new Air Tractors, a sign of prosperity, I hope. It’s no wonder when the trend with rice work is 200+ pounds for the first application. A big hopper and a fast airspeed make for a good fertilizing aircraft. I overheard a fertilizer supplier ask an operator how much fertilizer can he spread in a day. The answer was over 700,000 pounds! I didn’t hear how many aircraft that took, but I’m thinking one AT-802.

I can’t end this blog without thanking my good friend, Charlie Adams and his son, Eddie and crew for the fantastic fried catfish (along with a sneaked crappie) lunch. Charlie said it was his largest MoAAA feed with 25 pounds of catfish fillets and another 25 pounds of fried potatoes (I still have a thing about “french”) being consumed.

Also, thanks to all the hard workers who managed the string and collectors, as well as Mike Lee’s generous hospitality.