IN MY OPINION—Ground Personnel

Ag pilots are only as good as their ground personnel - the crew that loads the airplane and the people who do their maintenance. Establishing trustin these men/women who perform as ground personnel is essential.

I have created some “suggestions” on items, in my opinion, will help with the relationship a pilot has with his ground crew.

1. They should always be aware of that big turning fan. Have boundaries set around the airplane that are not to be crossed whenever the engine is running.

2. Ask them to be alert for anything out of place on your airplane, like a dripping nozzle, leaking dump gate gasket, a boom hanger that is loose, a low tire, etc. Nothing is too trivial.

3. Have water readily available for the pilot.

4. Use appropriate hand signals when communicating with the pilot, especially when taxiing to a specific spot.

5. When “jumping the wing,” be extra cautious about slipping or falling off the leading edge.

6. Be really good at estimating the amount of fertilizer left in a hopper bottom or Killebrew.

7. Be level-headed and completely drug free. No loading an airplane while hungover from a wild night before, especially when getting little sleep.

8. Have an all-hands meeting once a week, like on Monday morning before the first sortie. Solicit suggestions. If a ground personnel makes a suggestion, and you adopt it, he/she/they are far more likely to comply with it. Maybe a “team” atmosphere could be developed such that anyone is encouraged to make suggestions as to the overall operation of the company.

9. Make a simple, easy to read booklet of basic rules for everyone, including the pilots and ground crew, and a place for their signatures after reading. When I had my flying service in Grenada, MS about 100 years ago, I had a loose-leaf notebook entitled “Suggested Ag Pilot Reading.” The word “suggested” was a lot more effective than using the word “required.”

In my opinion, this is a topic I should have mentioned a long time ago. It is so easy for us to “fail to see the trees in the middle of a forest.” If you have a suggestion that I have missed, I would love to hear from you. And so, be safe, have fun and make a little money.