Ummmmmmm no thanks.

Spotting powerlines must be a blast at night.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Ummmmmmm no thanks.

Spotting powerlines must be a blast at night.

Yeah....same here.

When I was 17, a couple drunks "borrowed" a Cessna from the Joliet Municipal Airport and went for an excursion at night....right into the power lines in my uncle's pasture. I can still remember the sight and smell of burnt flesh on the seat cushions to this day.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Ummmmmmm no thanks.

Spotting powerlines must be a blast at night.

"Perhaps the most perilous job in ag aviation is the night spraying that Gary Hubler, near Boise, has done for most of 31 seasons. Seed crops such as alfalfa in Idaho’s Treasure Valley must be pollinated by bees. Hundreds of beehives are trucked into the valley for the seasonal job. Insecticides sprayed during the day would kill the bees, so the crop sprayers work at night, after the bees have made it back to the hives. About 30 percent of his flying time, Hubler takes to the night skies. He shrugs off the danger. “You develop night vision,” he says. “But when you’re going under power lines and over trees, a good memory of where the obstructions are from seeing the field in daylight helps a lot. It’s usually smooth; the winds die down at night.” Hubler, 52, is tall and slim with a rolling stride. He flies Polish-built Dromader M-18As, a monoplane design derived from Leland Snow’s S-2.
Hubler’s father was a cropduster for 21 years. His brother Dan, also a cropduster, died in 1986 when he clipped a power line while he was spraying at dusk, a mishap, as Hubler explains it, that Dan had avoided “a million times.” Hubler shakes his head slowly. “For a while I flew freight, and didn’t know if I’d go back to the job that killed my little brother.”

I hope they get additional, additional, additional hazard pay...

Nothing like taking an already dangerous task and making it harder.

What does a bee cost these days anyhow?

Wow! He must drive his routes and memorize a lot of stuff.

QUOTE]Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Wow! He must drive his routes and memorize a lot of stuff.[/QUOTE]

What some ag aviation operators in Arizona do at night is place a pickup truck with an amber light bar at each end of the field or to mark particular hazards in or around the field. Plus they can recall the field maps with their on board computer and GPS Guidance System.

Crop dusting has to be more dangerous than low level combat flying. Had a neighbor that did it. Had to quit, his nerves couldn't take it any more.

Grizz