Some Days

HANDS ON FLYING

Tracy Thurman | thurmantracyt@gmail.com

“Some days are diamonds; some days are stones. Sometimes the hard times won’t leave you alone...” Thank you John Denver, for recording a song that is so easy to get stuck in a man’s head.

There’s a lot of truth to that song. We all have good days and bad. Sometimes we go through a bad time or we just seem to find it difficult to keep our ball in the center and wings level. Back home the polite folks call that ‘a season’. I never quite figured that one out, but it’s a term the elder, motherly ladies used to use, so it must be right. They smile sweetly, “You’re just going through a difficult season right now,” they’ll say. Which is okay unless they pat your knee and add a “Bless your heart.” to it. Then you might want to go see a preacher, or a bartender, depending on the circumstances. You don’t have to understand everything for it to be right. Otherwise there’d never be any banana pudding.

Hills and valleys of life and work are part of the equation. Maybe it’s just me and the view from my vantage point, but these “hills and valleys” seem to be more pronounced in the agricultural aviation world. What some might consider inconveniences, might be a matter of working or not. It might even be a matter of surviving. Things tend to get compressed in a heavily loaded airplane flying close to the ground.

Not all days are the same. One day you might find yourself rocketing through the air like you were born with eagle feathers covering your butt. The next day, you might find yourself flailing around the sky like you’re made of mud. Adapt and overcome. If you’re having an ‘off’ day, or the weather is presenting a bigger challenge than usual, don’t expect to be the star of the airshow. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re not, just shut up and fly the airplane. Do the best you can without bending anything or screwing up the job. Get through it. Get some food and rest, then come back the next day and try again.

As the season progresses, the burden usually gets heavier. There’s always one more thing we’ve had to put off. The refrigerator quit. Daughter’s dance recital. Grand kids want to go to the lake, the missus is mad about something, or you’ve got a not so great application hanging over your head. After you’ve been in this job for any length of time, you get to know the stresses and routine. Spouses and kids learn that when the season is on everything else pretty much takes a backseat, like it or not. You have to make hay when the sun is shining. Don’t worry, there’ll be a day, sometime in the fall, when the hangar doors will get closed for a spell, things will get cleared up, fixed and everyone will take a much needed breather.

This is a good place to make a public service announcement to all about-to-marry crop duster kids out there. It doesn’t matter what your fiancée wants, do not plan your wedding during the spraying season! Don’t do it. It’s bad luck. All your kids will be born without any teeth. Trust me on this.

I love my job as an ag pilot. I know you do too. Sometimes however, it gets to looking too much like work, especially around August when we’re getting weary. By now, we’ve had issues, problems and tragedies. By August, they really start to wear us down. The old back and neck hurts, headaches are fairly common, we even find ourselves flying in our sleep. You can’t tell me you haven’t wadded the sheets up with your feet working the rudder pedals. I’ve hit myself in the nose yanking the stick back to clear a sudden set of wires. That’s a hell of a way to wake up. I don’t recommend it.

We’re very fortunate in our profession. There’re not many jobs that are perfect. Even bikini model photographers have downsides to their profession. I don’t know what they are, but I’m sure there’s plenty to complain about. The fact that pretty girls like pilots better than photographers is probably one major issue of contention. Take that for what it’s worth.

As the weeks and months fly by, we’re burning enormous amounts of Jet-A and AvGas. Pouring herds of dead dinosaurs through our engines and fighting back the onslaught of weeds, insects, mold and fungus that are constantly trying to take over our bread baskets. We have to do it, because we’ve proven to be the best defense there is. There’s not a lot of us, so we often have to compensate for being short handed. By the time we start, we’re usually already behind. Some of us have mighty narrow windows in which to get the work done. Weather doesn’t always cooperate; chemical supplies get backed up. The day can go to hell in a handbasket by the time the first coffee pot is empty. But, we adapt and start squeezing lemons when we have to.

We’re constantly being hammered by those who don’t know us and by those who want to shackle us with needless regulations. We have to keep ourselves on top of our game, even when we’ve gone weeks with not much time off. Some days are diamonds and some days are stones. I think the trick is to make as many diamond days as possible. If you get a handful of stones, well polish those bad boys up and make them as pretty as you can. I’m betting there were a lot of diamonds bought by the guy who invented the Pet Rock.

Do the very best you can every day that you get to strap on a flying machine.

Fly well and stay safe!