Cooler weather, but hotter flying in Illinois

It’s 9a and the outside temperature in central Georgia has already reached 80°F. Before the day is over, it will be hot and steamy passing into the triple digits; typical summertime ten days early. Last week, about the same time in Illinois it wasn’t near this hot nor humid. Graham and I arrived at Curless Flying Service’s airstrip, IS08, shortly after 11a. It had been a long four and half hour-flight from Georgia, having to fly west to Memphis to circumnavigate a line of thunderstorms. The flight should have taken three and half hours, but an extra hour was better than not making it at all, or having to use the airlines.

The last time I visited Curless Flying Service was with Graham during one of our many annual summer excursions. It was 1994, give or take a year. We were flying a Citabria and making the rounds visiting operators. Graham and I took seven to ten days each summer, while he was growing up, to make these excursions. They were always fun, bonding and I wrote articles about ag-operators during the process.

Lots have changed at Curless Flying Service since the visit in 1994. The purpose of this visit was to attend Open House for Farm Air. Harley and Kay Curless had bought Farm Air from its original founder, Bill Taylor, in January of this year. This made them Air Tractor’s newest dealer, assigned to eight states throughout the Midwest.

I don’t recall how many aircraft Curless Flying Service was operating in the mid-1990s. Presently, the company has a fleet of eight: two AT-802s, AT-602, AT-504, AT-502, AT-402, AT-301 and a Pawnee. Obviously, becoming an Air Tractor dealer with such a large and varied assortment of ag-aircraft, particularly the Air Tractor line, will serve Curless Flying Service and Farm Air customers well.

From Harley’s viewpoint, being the operator of each production Air Tractor built, it is easy for him to look into the eyes of a prospective buyer and from his experience talk about the attributes of any Air Tractor. His recent purchase of an AT-504, with its dual, side-by-side cockpit, is a good example. Curless Flying Service will use the aircraft in its daily operations, not only to spray for its customers, but to mentor a new pilot, as well.

I spoke with Harley about his feelings concerning the AT-504. He quickly explained to me that he could find no appreciable difference in the way it worked except for not having as much room under the seat as the traditional AT-502. Like I realized when I flew it in April of this year, the first thing he noticed, besides sitting off center, is the improvement in visibility; that in itself is a significant safety factor.

Farm Air was formed in 1976 by Bill Taylor and later became an Air Tractor dealer in 1979. With no succession in management at Farm Air and Bill approaching retirement age, he decided to approach Harley about buying Farm Air and assume the Air Tractor dealership. Harley indicated he was interested, but the final say had to come from Air Tractor.      

In March 2009, Farm Air received Air Tractor’s blessings for Harley Curless to assume the dealership. From that point on, it has been a busy schedule for everyone at Curless Flying Service and Farm Air to prepare to move Farm Air from Fairfield, Illinois to Astoria, about 200 miles north. The paperwork was signed in January 2010 and Farm Air became a part of Curless Flying Service.

Until next month, Blue Sky and Tailwinds...