Fall Payments

[Cephous]

Rob,
What happened to Lucius Ray's planes when he retired?

[Wingman]

He sold his stuff to two farmers and they now operate out of Belzoni International.

[Mark K]

I used to work for Ayres Corp. in Albany, Ga. where we built Thrush aircraft. The planes Wingman mentioned were built/serviced for the DOD. These bad boys were tough and lethal. All were retofitted for whatever the DOD brought in. One Sunday (off day), I got a phone call asking me if I remembered how to operate a FLIR System we installed on one of the aircraft. When I said I thought I could figure it out, they told me to come on in - we were going flying. That was one heck of a flight - we flew enough to get 20mins of good footage - some over the city and some in the country. This particular system was equipped with a laser (wasn't operable) on our aircraft, but I bet when the Gov'nt got it would be. Only thing I know they'ld need a laser for would be LGB's. You'ld be suprised at what those planes can take and what their used for.

[TODO]

I used to work for Ayres Corp. in Albany, Ga. where we built Thrush aircraft. The planes Wingman mentioned were built/serviced for the DOD. These bad boys were tough and lethal. All were retofitted for whatever the DOD brought in. One Sunday (off day), I got a phone call asking me if I remembered how to operate a FLIR System we installed on one of the aircraft. When I said I thought I could figure it out, they told me to come on in - we were going flying. That was one heck of a flight - we flew enough to get 20mins of good footage - some over the city and some in the country. This particular system was equipped with a laser (wasn't operable) on our aircraft, but I bet when the Gov'nt got it would be. Only thing I know they'ld need a laser for would be LGB's. You'ld be suprised at what those planes can take and what their used for.

Say what? What is a LGB?

[deltadukman]

I used to work for Ayres Corp. in Albany, Ga. where we built Thrush aircraft. The planes Wingman mentioned were built/serviced for the DOD. These bad boys were tough and lethal. All were retofitted for whatever the DOD brought in. One Sunday (off day), I got a phone call asking me if I remembered how to operate a FLIR System we installed on one of the aircraft. When I said I thought I could figure it out, they told me to come on in - we were going flying. That was one heck of a flight - we flew enough to get 20mins of good footage - some over the city and some in the country. This particular system was equipped with a laser (wasn't operable) on our aircraft, but I bet when the Gov'nt got it would be. Only thing I know they'ld need a laser for would be LGB's. You'ld be suprised at what those planes can take and what their used for.

Say what? What is a LGB?

One more than the KGB

[Wingman]

I used to work for Ayres Corp. in Albany, Ga. where we built Thrush aircraft. The planes Wingman mentioned were built/serviced for the DOD. These bad boys were tough and lethal. All were retofitted for whatever the DOD brought in. One Sunday (off day), I got a phone call asking me if I remembered how to operate a FLIR System we installed on one of the aircraft. When I said I thought I could figure it out, they told me to come on in - we were going flying. That was one heck of a flight - we flew enough to get 20mins of good footage - some over the city and some in the country. This particular system was equipped with a laser (wasn't operable) on our aircraft, but I bet when the Gov'nt got it would be. Only thing I know they'ld need a laser for would be LGB's. You'ld be suprised at what those planes can take and what their used for.

Say what? What is a LGB?

Laser-guided bomb

[Wingman]

I used to sit on top of my tractor while I was waiting on parts & watch them... amazing what some of them can do with a plane. Old roommate and good friends Dad used to have a crop duster service in Belzoni (Wingman worked for him for a while). He said his Dad had to put a plane down just out of reach of the runway because he ran out of fuel and still had a partial load so he didn't quite coast all the way back and nosed over when he landed... My buddy drove down to the end of the runway, picked him up, and dropped him off at the hangar to get another plane and he went back to work. Said you just gotta get back up in the air before you have too much time to think about it or you may never get back up (he also flew helicopters in Nam for a couple of tours, though so I'm sure some of the things he's done in a crop duster, he's probably had to try to do in a helicopter as well to stay alive).
Seems like one of the Bell boys from Belzoni got hung up in a double tower somewhere a long time ago, didn't see it until it was too late and ended up upside down hanging by the wires - nobody was hurt, only pride.

I didn't know he flew choppers in Vietnam. I'll bet that was hairy.

Yeah, as far as wrecks go, you have to get right back in the seat and keep going. I mean, if you back into someone or run off in a ditch in your truck, you don't stop driving for a while do you? No, you just keep going. No different in a plane, except you can't pull over on the side of the road and look under the hood when something pops. In that respect, the minor details become very exciting at times.

I ran out of fuel once. Tooling around real low looking for deer. I was about 200 feet over a patch of woods and it went to sputtering. I was coming right over a friend's house and all I could see was cotton fields and the new highway being built. I said to myself, "I'll just glide over the channel and land on the road bed." That plan lasted for about 5 seconds when I realized I wasn't going to make it that far. I turned right and planned to land in the cotton, but then there was a pesky center pivot staring me in the face. I managed to make one more right turn and landed parallel to the pivot in the cotton. Walked up to my buddy's house, we drove out in the field and tied a rope to the tailwheel and pulled it to his yard. Drove to Isola, got 10 gallons of gas, I took off from the road and flew my butt back to the house and parked it.

So that right there proved to me that even though my last dead-stick landing didn't end so happily, I know I have the skills to pull it off every once in a while.

You know that a propeller is nothing more than a fan to keep the pilot cool, right? Cut it off and watch him sweat.

[dukmisr2005]

my great granddad used to do crop dusting when that what they put out was dust in the old bi-wing stermons.. he also had helicopter that he sprayed with.. that is what he was in when he was killed. didnt pull up quick enough and hooked a wire with his skids and tried to drag them like he did in the stermons.. but it flipped him over and he crashed and caught a fire.. dad was first one there.. nothing he could do.. they used have a strip behind our house they used.. also got an aunt there is very big in the Ag pilot association.. for get the exact name of it..

when they were spraying they would be here in the summer, but in washington state during he spring and fall..

[Wingman]

my great granddad used to do crop dusting when that what they put out was dust in the old bi-wing stermons.. he also had helicopter that he sprayed with.. that is what he was in when he was killed. didnt pull up quick enough and hooked a wire with his skids and tried to drag them like he did in the stermons.. but it flipped him over and he crashed and caught a fire.. dad was first one there.. nothing he could do.. they used have a strip behind our house they used.. also got an aunt there is very big in the Ag pilot association.. for get the exact name of it..

when they were spraying they would be here in the summer, but in washington state during he spring and fall..

Man, I hate to hear that, Rick. I knew several guys that were killed in airplanes. It is never an easy thing to deal with.

I've read "Low and Slow". I think Mr. Mabry Anderson wrote it. Lots of mention of Mr. Cotton Carnahan from up your way. I think he flew out of that strip right on 49 there at Lurand.

[Duck Nawteek]

I've got a buddy of mine that lives in mayersville and his older brother before he died flew crop dusters but before that he was a c130 pilot in the airforce so he knew how to handle a plane. He told me one time he was sitting on a tree line over looking this field deer hunting on afternoon and his brother decided to play a trick on him, filled the compartments up with water and flew damn near eye level to him and as he pull up he dumped all that water on him while he was in that treestand and soaked him to the bone. He did this right before it got right for the deer to start moving to. Another time he filled up his hopper with rye grass and flew over his house and dumped every bit of ryegrass seed in his yard and he did'nt know about it till it started to grow. It was so thick that he could hardly cutt it. LOLOL

[tombstone]

my great granddad used to do crop dusting when that what they put out was dust in the old bi-wing stermons.. he also had helicopter that he sprayed with.. that is what he was in when he was killed. didnt pull up quick enough and hooked a wire with his skids and tried to drag them like he did in the stermons.. but it flipped him over and he crashed and caught a fire.. dad was first one there.. nothing he could do.. they used have a strip behind our house they used.. also got an aunt there is very big in the Ag pilot association.. for get the exact name of it..

when they were spraying they would be here in the summer, but in washington state during he spring and fall..

Man, I hate to hear that, Rick. I knew several guys that were killed in airplanes. It is never an easy thing to deal with.

I've read "Low and Slow". I think Mr. Mabry Anderson wrote it. Lots of mention of Mr. Cotton Carnahan from up your way. I think he flew out of that strip right on 49 there at Lurand.

When I first started flying I met alot of those guys mentioned in that book as well as Mr Anderson. I rented a house from Jimmie Powell who is mentioned in that book I believe. (it may ahve been another book though). I have heard some crazy stories from the pioneers of cropdusting. I have never had to dead stick one in, but I did accidentally cut the fuel off on a barron while flying over memphis one morning. Nothing quite as loud as an engine shutting down . It certainly woke me up. That day had started about 4AM. I was riding with a guy in a bonanza that landed and the nose gear collapsed. You really can see sparks coming from the prop and metal hitting the concrete .

[JaMak84]

I never understood how they could just spray that stuff into the air...gotta have some kind of effect on the people and their health

I am all for agriculture and how it supports our great state but on the other hand dont wanna die of cancer either

baffles me how this day and age a mfg plant has to have their own water treatment system and go so far as to even buy environmental credits to offset pollution and yet our nations farmers can just spray it out into thin air...personally cant believe the EPA tolerates it, of course no one ever accused them of being completely unbiased in their rulings

the doc

Farmers and ag pilots aren't the ones to worry about. They have a lot more regulations to follow and stand to lose a lot more if those labels aren't followed correctly. The ones to worry about are all the urbanites. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a spray Doc, a gallon of roundup, and the idea that a hotter mix is better are the guys that cause the most damage to our environment.

[donia]

Farmers and ag pilots aren't the ones to worry about. They have a lot more regulations to follow and stand to lose a lot more if those labels aren't followed correctly. The ones to worry about are all the urbanites. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a spray Doc, a gallon of roundup, and the idea that a hotter mix is better are the guys that cause the most damage to our environment.

Yep, there's usually a "new" species on the Environmental Sites for the Rules and Regs each year, along with different buffer zones (distance between the site and how far away you are required to turn spray switch OFF) and windspeed/direction of wind restrictions for each. Ag industry is heavily regulated top to bottom.

[duckkiller]

You are exacatly right!!!!! I have people tell me all the time that we do nothing but harm the enviroment. Well to them I always reply by asking to see their chem license LOL. Now I am speaking from a golf course perspective but we are just like ag pilots, we must have license and keep MSDS logs ect....... but the reason most of our best pesticides and Herbicides get pulled is b/c they are being used by someone who doesnt know GPA or anything about what they are spraying, so as a result we loose some of the best chemicals and are stuck w/ nothing. Just last week my neighbor asked me if I might know where he could get some nemacure, that he thought he had nematodes in his yard and wanted to spray something just in case. Now for those of you that dont know about nemocure, it is highly toxic, and is only labled for golf course use. It can only be put out 1-2 times a year and you must wear full chemical suits when handleing it. I told this old man that he couldn't get it b/c he needed a license and kindly tried to tell him how dangerous it was and what to much of it could do to him and his yard. He simply replied by saying he knew of a guy who would sell him some but he thought I might have some at the school we could sell cheaper. Idiots like this are what ruins all good things for the rest of us. Lets jsut say the old man isnt really speaking to me right now.

[dukmisr2005]

give him a jar or jug of colored water and tell to keep quiet that this is something new... knew a guy that used to sell trees in a dry climate (Oklahoma) and he gave away a "fertilzer" to apply once a week.. it was colored water and was just to make sure the customer watered his tree each week..