- Look at all those buddies right there.
They're all over.
The leafhoppers carry a virus called aster yellows.
And when their mouth parts penetrate the leaves,
they infect the plant with that virus
and begin to kill the plant.
When a pest gets to a certain level,
it's going to cause crop loss.
And that's why we have to be here all the time.
[click, whir, nnneeaoowww]
We are known as crop dusters.
But we are aerial applicators.
We haven't been putting out any dust for many, many decades.
This type of flying is really unique.
There is very little time spent in straight and level flight.
There's no autopilot.
And the aircraft is constantly being maneuvered by the pilot.
? ?
It's a skill set that takes time to develop,
and to me, it's the type of flying that I want to do.
[nnneeaoowww]
We're at the world headquarters of Dairyland Aviation
here in Waupun, Wisconsin.
? ?
Flying is a family tradition.
I was about four or five years old
and was walking on the property alongside my dad,
and I just told him, "When I grow up,
I want to be a pilot like you, Dad."
My grandfather's Roy Reabe.
He was a transport pilot during World War II.
When the war ended,
Grandpa started the crop dusting company
in the late 1940s here in Waupun.
The amount of work that I can cover in an hour
compared to what Grandpa could do with his first airplane
is a factor of about 15.
It's changed so much
and I think he'd just really love to be here to see it.
So the airplane is quite sophisticated as you can see.
I go to my GPS tablet
and I select how I'm going to spray the field.
The field's shape and what's around the field
will determine which one of these patterns I select.
[nnneeaoowww]
The optimum height
is a boom height of approximately eight foot,
which puts the wheels at approximately five feet.
[nnneeaoowww]
I don't view it as dangerous.
Every pilot that flies an aircraft
has to be able to land it.
And when you land,
you have to know where your wheels are visually, right?
So while it seems like a really difficult thing to do,
knowing how high your wheels are above the ground
is actually just part of flying.
It's all about safety.
We take a lot of precautions.
We are looking for obstructions and people near the field.
The idea of being a daredevil simply doesn't fit.
It requires all of your attention
and all of your mental processes to fly,
and particularly be an aerial applicator.
It's fun.
I'm in a place where all of my thoughts are focused
on doing the job.
And when that happens,
everything else goes away.
It's just a wonderful feeling.
[nnneeaoowww]