I flew in a crop duster! It still seems surreal. But let me back track...
About 2 weeks ago I ventured down to Plymouth, NC to shoot the NCAAA’s (North Carolina Agriculture Aviation Association) Safely Fly-in. I’m not sure if every regional or state association offers this service, but I believe most do. I missed the one they held in Delaware last year. This was the first time I had an opportunity to witness a “pre-season” calibration test. I came down the night before and spent the night locally so I could be there as they got started. When I arrived they were just setting up. I had apparently missed a great opportunity to photograph one of the Air Tractors coming in for a landing before sunrise. They pilots were joking about it looking like a spaceship coming in for a landing. Alas, I arrived when I was asked to, but that missed image will not leave my mind for a while.
To be honest, I was not sure what I was going to get in the way of images. I had been told that the aircraft’s hopper’s would be filled with a pink liquid and that they would spray a field in a certain area and from the spray pattern they would be able to “calibrate” the nozzles on the boom for optimum distribution. Well, that is what they did, only its a whole lot more dramatic than that. Of course, the pilots and crews consider this old hat and certainly like the oohs and ahhs but for us uninitiated this is crazy.
First off a line of string, fairly decent gauge, is pulled taunt between two heavy stands. One stand holds the spool, the other a winding mechanism for collecting the “dyed” line after the aircraft passes. Each stand has to be manned to ensure the setup is working properly because if the string touches the ground it will absorb the spray on the ground and ruin the calibration. I was not privy to why they set up where they did but I am sure it had to do with prevailing wind direction. Perpendicular to the string line, two short posts with white flags are stuck in the ground, to give the pilot reference points to line up his approach. Another individual has a radar gun to document the speed of the aircraft as it passes by, and another has a flag to signal the pilot from the ground when to make his approach and to wave him off. There is a PVC pole with height measurements to document how far off the deck the aircraft is as it makes its pass. And finally, there is a camera set up with a remote trigger and a splash housing in the aircrafts flight path to capture images of the aircraft spraying the string. To be fair, a gentleman from the University of Illinois was there with all this gear to collect the data and oversee the operation.
All of this is executed within feet of the passing aircraft. While it would be an exaggeration to say, “I felt I could reach out and touch the plane as it went by.” Its not far from the truth. Some of them did there pass only a couple of feet off the ground. One miscalculation or unforeseen circumstance and things could turn for the worse. That’s something I admire. Not that there was some lack of responsibility when it came to safety but just the opposite. These guys knew how to fly end of story.
We were all treated to a smoked pig for lunch. Along with other fixings, I can’t recall. I had worn so little in the way of layers, I was freezing by the time lunch came round and was happy to consume everything on my plate. It was all wonderful and greatly appreciated.
While lunch was being served, individual spools of “dyed” string were being run through the computer and calibration stats spit out by the printer. The gear looked very analog and had a nostalgia about it. I asked if it was from the seventies, jokingly. I was expecting them to tell me it was brand new and that it just didn’t need a huge amount of R&D spent on aesthetics. “Eighties technology,” was the response.
I have read articles and blogs on how to shoot from one aircraft to another and I started to get my gear together and realized this wasn’t going to be as controled as it needs to be. Generally you want to discuss with each pilot what they are going to do and really hammer out the flight plan so there are no surprises. That wasn’t going to happen so I will shoot what I can and enjoy the experience. And I did. And it was awesome. I managed to get a couple of frames that are cool but I was shooting through tinted semi scratched plexi and the other crop duster was too far away to get a good hero shot. Regardless, flying in that yellow beast was amazing and they way the pilot flew the plane was even more incredible. I felt I was in a World War II dogfight, minus the whole fearing for your life and getting shot down part, they way the plane turned and bucked. The coupld of times he pulled hard on the stick and I was caught off guard looking through the camera and doubled over due to the g-force. In fact, I was fine with all the roller coaster flying till we started our landing approach and we suddenly caught an updraft or pocket of air and we went weightless for a few seconds. That made me a little nauseous. But we landed and that was that. Best part of the trip, period.
We finished out the day with more passes then took it to the hanger. At this point, I was excepted among the group of aviators as much as I was going to be without being a pilot, so I started to ask about taking a few portraits and I got a few takers. It was a great way to end the day. Of course I still had a five hour drive back to DC but I couldn’t wait to download images and start editing.
There was one more incident worth note during my time at the Fly-in. Just before lunch, during one of the sets of passes, one of the pilots got too close to the ground and took out the remote camera. Its propeller sheered the lens in half. The lens was toast but the body, while jarred, seemed as though it may live to shoot another day. Of course this was crazy and completely unexpected by me. All the planes came in super low and seemed to touch the ground but didn’t. Apparently this happened the year before with a different pilot and plane but at the North Carolina Fly-in.
