Why is Mississippi a safe state?

As ag-pilots prepare for another season north of the equator and those south of it look forward to a much needed rest, AgAir Update readers will find the April issue a refreshing read. The cover story is about the AT-504 and the success it is enjoying; not only as a fantastic training tool, but as a comparable workhorse to its sister ship, the AT-502. Spanning from Canada to Arizona to Brazil, the AT-504 is realizing acceptance worldwide with models being delivered as far as  into China and Australia. 

Thrush Aircraft continues to bring our industry new and innovative products. In this month’s issue, you will read about Thrush Aircraft’s announcement of its Switchback 510G Thrush. This aircraft has the Transland fire gate installed with quick removal features. Thrush is teasing us with limited information as of today, however, AgAir Update has been invited to make an evaluation flight that I am sure you will be reading about very soon. Thrush also recently obtained Canadian certification for its single and dual cockpit 510G aircraft (GE H80 powered). You can read about it also in this edition of AgAir Update. 

During the last days of January, I traveled to South Africa and was hosted by Ret Orsmond for a whirlwind, week-long excursion. South Africa is a beautiful and interesting country with only about 25 ag operators and 100 ag-planes; Orsmond Aviation owns 30 of those! I visited several operators, enjoyed great meals, hospitality and seeing the sights. I am in the midst of writing about that trip, dividing it into several parts as an AgAir Update Excursion in South Africa. The first installation of this series of articles can be read in this issue. 

It never hurts to remind ag-pilots of their responsibility to fly safe, while at the same time be profitable. That’s a very fine line to toe and the true professional ag-pilot can do it. From my experiences, I have found a few traits that define that ability: the first turn of the day is very much like the last one, knowing when to take a break from flying, get plenty of rest and eat a proper diet, recognize the infamous “chain of events” leading to an incident, put enough fuel in the aircraft and the list goes on. Those in the northern hemisphere have an opportunity to make this the safest season yet, hopefully with zero fatalities and a minimum of incidents. 

I am going to pose a question that should make you stop and think. At the beginning of the year, AgAir Update writes a summary of accidents from the previous year based on NTSB reports. For the last couple of years, maybe more, Mississippi has led the U.S. with the lowest number of reported accidents. Why is Mississippi a safe state? In 2013, there were none as report on the NTSB web site in January of this year (A recent check on the NTSB web site reveal in fact there was one accident in October in Mississippi). This is understandable for a state like Wyoming where there are not as many ag aircraft. However, Mississippi ag-pilots log a significant number of hours. I believe praise should be given where due and Mississippi ag-pilots deserve the recognition. I challenge all states to match Mississippi ag-pilots’ safety record - this year is as good a year as any! 

Until next month, Blue Sky and Tailwinds….   

Keep Turning….

Diesel engines and fog

Undoubtedly, I come across a variety of unusual aircraft as editor of AgAir Update. It seems our industry is in a never ending effort to improve on its fleet of aircraft. Fortunately, the basic factory built ag-plane is sufficient to serve ag-aviation well. However, there continues to be variations of these aircraft being built by people who are striving to improve on their performance and/or cost of operation. 

Just the other day, I spent time on the phone talking with a North Carolina operator that has not one, but two, highly modified ag-aircraft. When I write, “highly modified”, believe me that is an understatement. 

My caller told me how he had used a B-model Ag-Cat and a Weatherly 601 to remove their radial engines from their airframes and installed Cummings diesels. Already, he had 80 hours logged on the Ag-Cat and 40 hours on the Weatherly. The Cummings diesel is capable of producing 1600+ horsepower for a few seconds, more than double the horsepower he was using. Its weight is less than a hundred pounds more than a R-1340 engine.  I must quantify the horsepower claim in saying it is a “tricked out” diesel like the racers use. 

The engines are installed “backwards” on the airframe with some sort of Pratt &Whitney power adapter. I don’t completely understand how that part works, except it makes the drive shaft of the diesel engine adapt to the propeller. 

The Weatherly installation has an automatic transmission installed. Imagine that! I was told the transmission is fixed in low gear and it helps manage the raw power of the diesel to the propeller. However, to keep the center of gravity in the proper place, the hopper of the Weatherly had to be removed. So, the aircraft is a test bed and not able to make applications. 

My caller went on to explain the economics of his achievements. The Cummings diesel is built nearby in North Carolina and cost about $26,000 new. It can be overhauled for less than $3,000. My caller has a timber company that uses this engine and some of the equipment has over 20,000 hours on their Cummings diesels. It doesn’t take a mathematician to see how these numbers make the cost of power very affordable. I was also told Cummings has developed a new fuel pump that can use crude oil, making the price of fuel even less. 

Oddly enough, my caller did not call me to talk about his two unique engine conversions. He wanted to talk about the composite Ag-Cat wings he was building and hoping to have an STC for in the very near future. Supposedly, these wings would be interchangeable. Obviously, they would be lighter and maybe stronger than the stock factory design wings. It would be an advantage to have only one wing or two in stock, instead of a full set of four due to the interchangeability. Instead of paint, the wings are covered in the wrap like seen on cars.

I haven’t verified, or flown, either of these two aircraft or examined the Ag-Cat composite wings. All of my information came from an extended phone call. However, I have no reason to doubt my caller, as he knows I will be visiting him this spring for an article. Even so, I am not so sure I will fly the aircraft. They are truly a radical design. Oh heck, maybe I will…

On a completely different note, in January Brazil lost two pilots in two separate Ipanema accidents about a week apart. In December, Uruguay lost a pilot in an turbine Air Tractor. One of the Brazilian pilots was relatively new at ag spraying, being only 22 years old. The difference in Brazil is ag-pilots are required to earn an ag-rating on top of their commercial license. This rating requires an extensive amount of training, much more than what is taught elsewhere in the world. To me, this points out the possibility of a weakness in all training. I don’t know the reason for the two accidents in Brazil, but different aspects of it point to stall-spin. The Uruguayan pilot was caught in the fog. Uruguayan pilots aren’t required to have the extensive training given to Brazilian pilots. 

I don’t know if you can teach stall-spin avoidance. Sure, you can practice simulated stall-spins, to a point. You can’t do them in a loaded aircraft close to the ground and this is where and how it happens. 

As for the fog, every ag-pilot will eventually be faced with fog. The best insurance against dying in the fog is an attitude indicator and practice using it. An instrument rating would be even better. Every instrument pilot knows unquestionably, you can fly in the fog without instruments for only a very limited time, regardless of your piloting skills. 

The flying season south of the Equator is still going strong and the one north of it has already started for some and will be starting soon for the rest. Stay out of the fog and don’t push the aircraft when it is loaded; a simple statement that sometimes is hard to follow. 

Until next month, Keep Turning…

Interesting conversations, interesting times

On the long flight from Reno back home, I had time to contemplate some of the comments made during NAAA’s 47th annual convention. I can’t recall all that was said, but a few things stuck with me. 

During a sit down conversation with one operator, we talked about increasing safety in the ag plane. He explained to me how one of his high-time pilots pancaked the aircraft into the ground on a dark night. The pilot was not injured, thankfully. His point was there should be some type of checklist in the aircraft to give the pilot an opportunity to evaluate whether the impending flight could be done safely. He referred to a military checklist system that required the pilot to question himself. 

We both agreed it would be a good thing if GPS manufacturers designed a customizable checklist screen that required touching to advance through each item on the list. After that, the unit would fully boot up. Of course, the feature would need to have a password for its owner to disable if desired and to prevent the pilot from bypassing it. 

The point would not be to go through a redundant checklist that every pilot already knows. The effect should be a subtle and subconscious one that causes the pilot to think about what he is about to do. How many of us use a memorized checklist that invariably is out of sequence and as we start rolling down the runway the thought crosses our mind, “Did I forget something.” 

Don’t say it does not happen. There have been too many load hoses broken and aircraft having to return early for forgotten fuel. How much of an inconvenience could a five-point touch screen checklist be, that could be done in a matter seconds? In doing so, the pilot could focus on the job at hand instead of being unsure, glancing back at the load valve or the fuel gauges during takeoff. 

There were two remote controlled helicopters on display in the exhibit hall outfitted with a 15-gallon spray system. I watched a video for a few minutes with one of the units making an application. I wondered how the flow was regulated, as it did not appear to have a GPS with a flow control unit. Surely, the droplet size of the spray could be increased from the aerosol spray coming from the booms. However, that would most likely increase GPA needed for the application with an already limited chemical tank. 

A fellow visited with me who was in the film making business. He explained to me he was developing a family-friendly move about agricultural aviation. The theme of the movie was about two competing flying services where the son of one fell in love with the daughter of the other and how all that would eventually play out. He assured me that his intent was to promote agricultural aviation. I hope that is the case. Our industry has already experienced one poor representation on reality TV. Thank goodness for Plane’s Dusty Crophopper. That aircraft has done worlds of good PR for our industry. 

A Pacific Northwest operator explained to me how he used Patternators on his aircraft. It took me a few minutes to realize exactly what he was talking about. The Patternator has four pilot controlled switches that can turn off select nozzles. This operator had things figure out. Even though he had a flow control unit with his GPS, he pointed out that to be sure the rate is accurate the flow was increased by changing the pressure, which in turn affected droplet size. 

With the Patternator, not only was he able to change his flow rate with minimum pressure change, he was able to “move” the nozzle set up by four nozzles from left to right on the aircraft.  When going downwind, he would turn off a predetermined number of outside nozzles and when reversing the swath to upwind, he would turn on another predetermined number of nozzles on the opposite boom. 

Yes, it is a bit hard to visualize, but keep thinking about it and it will come to you. He’s assisting the flow controller by the number of nozzles spraying. As a bonus, when he repositions the nozzles that are spraying, he is reducing them on the outside of the upwind side boom. Depending on the direction of the wind, usually the upwind wing’s vortex causes a greater risk of drift. Interesting stuff. 

We live during exciting times in ag-aviation and the future promises to be even more so. In some ways, it is a pity that beginning ag-pilots, in many cases, will miss sitting behind a radial engine; trying to figure without GPS where the next swath should go in a wheat field planted round and round with a grain drill and to never explain to a flagger how to walk across that wheat field in a straight line. 

Every year, I see more ag-pilots starting out or transitioning into turbine aircraft. I don’t believe that to be a big problem, providing it is done correctly. One operator I talked with didn’t see the value of attending a school’s turbine transition course. He assured me that he wouldn’t let a pilot start or fly one of his turbines without fully checking him out. I suppose in some cases that would work. However, a pilot cannot have too much training on something that is foreign to him. It has to be better to be checked out in a dual cockpit turbine aircraft before launching out solo without that advantage. I prefer to err on the side of caution.

I will be talking with a lot more of you in the coming months at state trade shows. I hope that you continue to stop by AgAir Update’s booth and tell me these things. It is challenging stay caught up with an ever changing industry. Our one-on-one sessions at the booth, or in the bar, help me to stay in the loop. 

Until next month, Keep Turning…

A family business

When growing up, I was always told not to brag about yourself. That makes sense. Usually, if someone is bragging about what they are doing, one has to take it with “a grain of salt”. Of course, the exception to that is when it comes to children and grandchildren. In those cases, bragging rights have been earned. 

I am going to make another exception that ties in with the children bragging thingy. At AgAir Update, we have made it our mission to serve the ag-aviation industry the very best that we can. Coming from a longtime ag-aviation background, I have tried to parlay my experiences into print and, now, electronic mediums. Ironically, I have learned more about ag-aviation from publishing AgAir Update than I ever learned while flying ag! 

Sometimes I take it for granted that everyone who reads AgAir Update knows we are a small, family run business, not unlike most ag-operations. Sandy and I have been working partners, as well as husband and wife, since the early days of AgAir Crop Service nearly four decades ago. Today, she still comes to the office and handles the payroll, statements and other bookkeeping chores. If you have ever called about an invoice, then you probably have spoken with her. 

Graham, my son, started with AgAir Update selling classifieds and creating our website while he was still in high school, over 15 years ago. He had to try out the other business world for a while after college before coming back to roost full time with AgAir Update six years ago. My, how time flies. Not only does Graham handle all of our extensive electronic media, but increasingly he is taking on the day-to-day activities at AgAir Update, including writing articles. I know you will enjoy his article and fantastic photography in this month’s edition for the Everidge family cover story. He did his old dad proud with this one while I was goofing off somewhere else. 

Earlier this year, Casey, my daughter, came to work with us full-time. She had helped in the business several years off and on while completing a college degree and starting a family. To better serve our readers, Casey is helping refine our subscription and classified databases. She has also been instrumental in the development of AgAir Update’s Marketplace, where readers can buy ag-aviation related items. And, she helps her mom by taking on more bookkeeping and administrative responsibilities, making her a very busy woman. 

I am content that my family works alongside me at AgAir Update. It has been interesting to watch this happen. Most families don’t have this, except maybe for those of us in the ag-aviation business. Many AgAir Update readers know about this firsthand as they raise their family to work together in the business. It has its challenges, no doubt. You have to be considerate and not just get mad and fire them like some wayward employee. However, this coin has two sides. It is to their credit they are tolerant with a grumpy old man who thinks the only way to do things are his way; well, maybe not always. 

For the most part, the industry has put another spraying season behind it. This is true for us at AgAir Update, as well. Like others who support the industry with products and services, our work schedule changes as the demand to stay in the air lessens. Aircraft will take a well-deserved break, getting in line for annual inspections. The same holds true for pilots and business owners, taking a break, resting the soul. However, the time between seasons has become less and less with each passing year as more applications are being made in the late fall, winter and early spring. Still, the need for rest and repair are needed. Be sure to get it. 

Until next month, 

keep turning...

Economics 101.5

To indicate that I have a degree in economics, or a degree in anything for that matter, would be a complete untruth. However, like many of us, I think about the economy. I have given it more thought lately than I would like.

For the past 5-7 years, the U.S. ag-aviation economy has followed the agricultural economy and continues to be on the upswing. With 40 years in this business, I have seen ag-aircraft dealers struggling during bad times to sell an overwhelming inventory. Now, I see them struggling, in a sense, to schedule a delivery within a reasonable time frame. The annual production of ag aircraft has nearly doubled during these years. This is a direct reflection of the good times ag-aviation is experiencing.

There are other indicators of these good times for most ag-operators worldwide. Looking back at prices charged per acre, they are up today. Operators are investing in better equipment. They are even operating in a different way than in the past, having more cash flow.

With my homegrown degree in economics, I attribute these improvements in ag-aviation mostly to a significant increase in commodity prices and the introduction of relatively new chemical applications, like glyphosate for burn-down and Headline for fungicide applications on soybeans, corn and wheat. Both of these practices improve the bottom line for growers and that in turn helps the aerial applicator; but you already knew all this, no revelation here.

My observation is this - now may be the time to incur debt service, meaning taking out a loan. My philosophy is do not finance anything that depreciates as fast as you can pay it off, or nearly as fast. Ideally, debt should be reserved for appreciating items. Until recently, that would have been real estate. At times, it could have been aircraft. There are two very good reasons for this viewpoint; one is the increase in equity grows from loan reduction through payments and value increase in the collateral. The second reason is these type of loans can be long term, with relatively low fixed interest rates that can be paid off early without penalty; key elements to borrowing.

Today’s economic environment leads me to believe we are in the last days of low interest rates. As interest rates start to climb, my belief is inflation will increase. We already live under a false CPI issued by the government. It would be hard to convince anyone who buys groceries, gas, clothes or dines out that the CPI is less than 2%. For me, that’s an outright lie. Really, it is more of a manipulation.

What does all this ultimately mean to the ag-operator? It means that you should be buying a new ag-aircraft, or updating your equipment, especially high-end equipment like nurse trucks, GPS systems, hangars, etc. Why? Because if you can secure a low interest rate for an extended period, ten years or more, without penalty for early payoff, that note payment is going to be significantly easier to make after a few years of double digit inflation. Do you remember your first house payment, for those of us that had one 30 years ago. My power bill, today, is more than that house payment was back then.

So, by initiating this type of debt service for a purchase at today’s prices, you are working the economy to your favor from two fronts. The cost of money is relatively cheap and will be fixed during times when low interest rates are no longer available. As inflation drives up the price of equipment, yours will follow in value.

The hidden villain is waiting. If you believe you are going to be in this business for another five years, when the time comes, new equipment costs and borrowing could be dramatically unacceptable, if not more.

My take on the economy could also be applied to your personal life. House prices are at their lowest, and may go lower, but in the short term seem to be stable and in some cases going up. And, you can almost buy a new vehicle interest free. If structured right, a percentage of the interest you do pay is offset by a tax write-off.

This is my way of bracing for what I believe is about to come in the future for the economy; high interest and inflation rates. Prepare now with fixed interest rate loans on high-ticket items, long term enough for this pending economic collapse to pass.

The caveat to all this is cash flow. If your business cannot sustain the cash flow (payments) requirements, then this could be a very bad thing, going into more debt. However, there are good reasons to believe the agricultural economy will hold fast during these projected times. People will continue to eat and there are more people every day, seven billion plus.

When the Argentine economy and its peso collapsed in 1999, agriculture was the pillar of what was left of it. It will be interesting to see if the same holds true for the rest of the world, particularly America, should our economy and the dollar collapse in the near future.

Disclaimer: The advice you get in this editorial is worth exactly what you paid for it, nothing.

Until next month,
keep turning...

August 14, 40 years ago

Today, I am taking a moment to pause; August 14, forty years ago, I soloed a C-150 after a week of preparation. It was the beginning of a forty-year career in aviation for which I have no regrets. 

It was summertime in Fort Valley Georgia, only 10 miles from where I live today. My roommate was a crop duster. I was a 20-year old optician. My roommate kept throwing his $1,000 weekly pay checks on the kitchen table, knowing I would see them. I was earning less than a fifth of that amount. Obviously, if he could be a crop duster, I could, too. Never mind I had never flown a day in my life, except for a single one-way trip in an airliner to Cleveland, Ohio. 

I would like to recant in detail how I got from a C-150 to where I am today. However, that would be more like a book than a blog. In short, I was able to earn my Commercial license 90 days after soloing, just in time to follow the season to Florida. I never got that seat in Florida, but I did land one in Georgia the following summer of 1974 flying a Hutcherson 235 Pawnee. 

I flew three seasons in two consecutive years for three operators before opening a flying service near where I took those first flying lessons. I named the flying service, AgAir Crop Service. After owning several different ag-planes over the next 10 years, I ended up selling the flying service to my competitor, then flew for him the next 15 years. 

Those 27 years of ag-flying shaped my life in many ways. I surely learned the meaning of hard work, going broke and figuring out how to get back on my feet again. Little did I realize those years were helping to lay the groundwork for AgAir Update. 

In 1985, when I sold my flying service and became a pilot, I had time to look at other ways to supplement my pilot’s income. This eventually led me to turning a four-page newsletter into today’s AgAir Update that reaches all points on the globe in three languages. I had no vision for AgAir Update. I couldn’t type and I had never taken a writing or journalism course. However, I knew how to emulate those who could and that is exactly what I did until I learned the ropes. 

Here it is 2013. Who could have dreamed I would still be at this game of ag-aviation. By all accounts, there was more than one instance while flying ag I should have killed myself. Like I’ve been known to say, “God looks after fools, drunks and Bill Lavender.” He did well and I am eternally grateful. 

Much of the good fortune of these forty years is the direct result of my wife of 38 years, Sandy. Without her, God only knows what would have become of me. However, my good fortune extends even beyond her. Both my son, Graham, and my daughter, Casey, work with Sandy and me at AgAir Update. It is a blessing that only a few enjoy.

What is to follow in the next 40 years? In all likelihood, I won’t be around to see all of it. However, Graham has made great strides in helping Sandy and me with managing AgAir Update. I imagine Casey will become an important part of the picture, as well. My plan is to never quit this career, just not be at it quite as hard. Besides, quitting would entail giving up many lifelong friends in this business and lead me into a life of boredom. 

Thanks to the Internet, you will have the opportunity to read this blog on my celebratory day, August 14. My family is planning a quiet get-together tonight here at home. We’ll look at old photos and have a toast to the past and another to the future.

Until then, Keep Turning... 

Bill Lavender/AgAir Update

Is there a UAV in your future?

There have been numerous references to UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in the news. Of course many ag-pilots wonder, or even fear, that these aircraft will replace them. I don’t think so, at least not anytime soon.

Recently, the University of California Davis and Yamaha Motor Corporation teamed up to develop aerial spraying of vineyard in the Napa Valley with a RMAX helicopter. The university is one of few who have FAA approval for flight testing with a UAV. The RMAX is a small, motorcycle-size, remote controlled aircraft that is capable of carrying a 16-liter (about four gallons) load. It works at 15 MPH. This RMAX is popular in Japan treating rice paddies that are typically five acres or less.

I suppose, by now you know where I am going with this. There are huge, insurmountable problems using a UAV to compete with aerial applicators, as we know them. Obviously, a four-gallon load traveling at 15 MPH is not going to cover very many acres. It is not that it couldn’t be done. It is the lack of efficiency and need.

The very nature of aerial applications is time and access oriented. The grower needs the application yesterday and/or the fields are too wet for ground equipment. Today’s UAV cannot meet that demand. Sure, there may be isolated instances where a very small plot in a sensitive area would be best served by a UAV. However, a UAV like the RMAX will never be able to respond to the workload of a typical aerial application company.

Already, you are thinking, “Maybe not today’s UAV, but what about those of the future that could carry a large load?”

There are a couple of issues that would need to be addressed for this to happen. First, and this is pure speculation because I don’t know the price of a 500-gallon capable UAV, I can’t imagine this type of a UAV costing less than our ag-aircraft, as it would have to have the same capabilities, plus more sophisticated GPS and an autopilot system.

What is of more importance is the demand factor. There is no epidemic shortage of ag-pilots , or people willing to become one. As long as there are ag-pilots, I cannot envision them being replaced by a UAV. Why would they?

There are instances in aerial firefighting where a bird-dog aircraft flying into smoke in mountainous terrain may be a fit for the UAV. However, that does not replace the SEAT pilot. If the situation dictates flights that are too dangerous for a pilot, maybe the UAV will find a use. That is not the case with the vast majority of aerial applications.

The UAV industry will undoubtedly grow and improve. That is simply the way technology works. It will meet resistance from those of us who want our privacy from them, and rightly so. The agricultural UAV would not fall into that category. since it would be flying over agricultural land. As it develops, I believe it will find its role not only in dangerous situations unfit for a human pilot, but also is surveillance of crops, or fires, for management purposes.

Not unlike ground machines some operators use for specialized applications, there may even be a place for the UAV at your ag operation. What is the cliché? “If you can’t beat them, join them.” Adding a UAV observation or specialized application service to your operation may be viable, especially when you consider being able to spread the costs over multiple growers making the technology more affordable on a per-acre basis.

Those who may have more to fear from the explosion of UAV technology could be the ground machine operators and manufacturers. The UAV could eliminate risks to the ground machine operator and replace its viability in small and application unique locations. When you see a green UAV with the John Deere logo emblazoned on it, then you will know for sure the direction of this up and coming technology. Until then, rest easy and do everything possible to keep the uninformed do-gooders from trying their best to shut down aerial applications (of course, wouldn’t that also apply to the UAV?).

Until next month,

Keep Turning