UNITED STATES
HANDS ON FLYING
Tracy Thurman thurmantracyt@gmail.com
Connected
Our world has gotten mighty small over the last several years. The Internet and social media have brought us together as though we all lived next door.
B 30 | agairupdate.com
The agricultural aviation community is a small one. We’re like a small town that just happens to be scattered out around the world. The operations we work for are simply the neighborhoods we live in. Like a small town, we pretty much know each other, or we are at least familiar with the names. Like any small town, we come together to grieve over the loss of one of our own. We pitch in to lend a hand when there’s trouble or tragedy and we cheer for our neighbors and friends when weddings happen, babies are born or any occasion when the good Lord blesses them. That’s the best part. And, like any small town we have our gossip and drama. Not much, but some. And some is enough. Of course, we often know when a guy is doing wrong, just as we know when he’s doing right. I keep imagining (remembering) an old woman leaning from a window with a scolding scowl, shaking an accusatory finger, “I’m gonna tell your momma I saw you smokin’!” We tend to leave each other alone for the most part. In this industry we are folks who value independence and the fact that a man shoulders the responsibility for his own decisions and actions. Right, wrong, or otherwise. We’ll slap him on the back and shake his hand when he deserves it. We’ll let him learn a lesson, then help him back up if he falls; when he deserves it. We have a solid support system contained in our common bonds. Friendships and professional relationships are more valuable than a flat, sixmile run at a gallon an acre, on a cool clear day with no wires. The best reputation a man can have is for someone to say they never heard of him. No news is good news. Our world has gotten mighty small over the last several years. The Internet and social media have brought us together as though we all lived next door. By the time I go to work in the
afternoon, I might already know how the day has progressed for the boys in Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Florida, or anywhere else; even Australia or South America.
There’s a lot of darn nice people in the ag aviation world and the agricultural sector as a whole. I have a lot of good friends out there I’ve never met face to face. It’s good to be connected and have opportunities to get to know people we may not have otherwise had the chance to meet. There’s a lot of darn nice people in the ag aviation world and the agricultural sector as a whole. I have a lot of good friends out there I’ve never met face to face. Pilots I respect and admire even though I’ve never personally seen them fly. Operators who I would consider the finest in the business even though I’ve never been to their hangars. Maybe that’s taking a lot for granted. Maybe it’s not. We share an in depth commonality that gives us all a good understanding of what an ag pilot is, or at least should be. Social media comes with an unlimited chance for misunderstandings and disagreements. When a person is typing out a statement, he is missing a lot of the natural means of communication we humans rely on in order to understand the what, why, and where, of what a person is saying. Capturing the ability to clearly communicate through the typewritten word, (even with “emojis”) is difficult for most people, downright ➤
