Just Like Riding a Bike

IN MY OPINION

Robert McCurdy bluemaxs2rt@gmail.com “Ag-Pilot Instructor — Retired”

“It’s just like riding a bike.” If you haven’t been on a bicycle in several years, or you haven’t been swimming for several years, it’s a skill that you really do not lose. However, this old adage doesn’t necessarily prove true in regards to ag flying. This IMO will be kinda difficult to write.

I have been teaching ag aviation courses in our Citabrias, Pawnee, Cessna 188 and AgCat, as well as teaching my turbine transition course for a couple decades. I also have taken my turbine Thrush to various places, mostly in the midwest during the summer to spray wheat, soybeans and corn. As much as I hate to admit it, it usually takes me a day or two to really get back in the groove. Maybe it’s simply because I am “late” middle-age and I’m not quite as sharp as I was 25 years ago. But for whatever the reason, it is not just like riding a bike!

You might say, “But Robert, you taught this stuff, and one would think that you would be on top of your ‘game’ all the time.” Well, this is not necessarily the case, especially sitting in the backseat of the Thrush where I have restricted visibility and my feet and hands are not on the controls (but very, very close to them).

One summer I took my Thrush further south and I just really did not do very good work. The last actual ag flying I had done prior to going south was nine months earlier. I have always prided myself in being a pretty darn good ag pilot. I almost made myself sick worrying about the realization that I had done sloppy work following that first day. In fact I was so upset that when I came back home, the first thing I did was to load up 400 gallons of water and go spray several different fields that I had not worked before. The farmers around here all recognized our airplanes as trainers, hopefully they were not worried about the Thrush spraying something over their fields.

With three gallons/acre set in my Intelliflo, the simulated spray jobs worked out almost perfectly, showing 130 acres sprayed. I downloaded my GPS card and all of my swaths were well within my own tolerance limitations, with the exceptions of a few passes. If I entered the field more than 8’ off the centerline, then I pulled up and reentered the field.

The point I want to make is, if you want to be ready to fly before going out on a real spray job that will entail practice early on before the season begins (assuming you do have seasons) If you don’t fly all year long, don’t be too quick to beat yourself up about getting back on that bike. We all have up and down days, even your boss man and any other pilot you think is an ace number one ag pilot.

Being a good, professional ag pilot is a lot like being a professional tennis player, golfer or instrument pilot; you gotta stay current and it isn’t just like riding a bike! That is my opinion and I’m sticking to it!