Low and Slow — The Move Westward — Chapter Three continued…

Rio Grande Valley Stearman in 1955 equipped with four ICD rotors on demonstration flight.

Another legendary early Westerner was the late C.T. “Red” Jensen, stellar pupil of Rhodes and Irving. Irving was Jensen’s first instructor. Red began hanging around airports as a small boy and was said to have made a parachute jump at 14, when General Billy Mitchell dedicated the Colusa Airport.

Jensen did some agricultural flying for Rhodes and Irving about 1928 or 1929. In 1930 he formed his own firm, Jensen Dusting and Planting Company, at the old Sacramento airport. He bought property adjacent to the airport and eventually developed his own field there. He fought a continuous battle with City Hall, but finally won the fight.

Jensen was one of the first operators to engage heavily in sulphur dusting. Sulphur was a specific control for mites and aphids, especially in truck crops. He began applying it routinely, which was a hazardous procedure. Several aircraft had burned in the South due to the low flash point of diffused sulphur, where a spark, or even very hot air temperatures, could set it off. During his long career, Jensen landed burning aircraft on five occasions, twice with his clothes on fire! He was never seriously hurt.

Jensen had a knack for inventiveness and contributed significantly to the development of better equipment and techniques. After World War II, he modified the belly of the TBM torpedo bomber to carry borate for fire fighting. He also helped pioneer the use of helicopters in the agricultural flying field. Some of his improvements and modifications on the Allouette bear his name. Red Jensen was a controversial man. People either loved him or hated him, never in-between. He never dodged a fight for what he believed to be right and he usually came out on top. During his lifetime, he collected hundreds of friends and quite a few enemies, along with dozens of vintage aircraft, including Travel-Airs, Stearmans, N3Ns, Wacos, TBMs, and helicopters. These aircraft were sold at auction after his death and the sale drew hundreds of hopeful customers.

Jensen was reputed to have logged over 23,000 hours of actual agricultural flying time before he quit logging entirely in 1965. He was always interested in the progress of the industry. He founded and served as president of the California Agricultural Aircraft Association.

A Curtiss Fledgling with J-4 engine and four ICD rotors, owned and operated by Independent Crop Dusters, San Francisco, California, 1934.

The old Curtiss-Wright operation at Westley pioneered agricultural flying in California. According to Phil Murray, they were doing some ag flying in the 1920s with Challenger Commanders. Murray, Mel Carberry, Vern Boller, and Milton Robertson all flew for this firm and later set up their own operations that were very influential in moving the industry forward.

Murray went on his own in 1931, operating out of Oxnard with one Travel-Air 2000. He was a visionary airman with boundless energy, who built a sizable business. Later he developed his firm into the well-known Murrayair, Ltd., and introduced agricultural aviation to the Hawaiian Islands, setting up a large operation that is still performing there. Along the way, Murrayair introduced an entirely new agricultural aircraft, the EM-Air. Murray is still active, making his home in Oxnard and commuting to the Islands.

Mel Carberry also set up his own operation in the early 1930s at Brawley. He began with one Travel-Air 4000 and expanded rapidly. A legendary stunt pilot who worked for him was Hal Lundberg. Mel also later employed Max Shear, an old-timer who is still active at McNeeley Aviation in Phoenix, Arizona.

The 1930s were good for agricultural flying in California. With Milton Robertson and Britton “Bing” Rey setting up Independent Crop Dusters in San Francisco, and “Pappy” Dunlap and his Hawke Dusters at Modesto, others followed suit. Among them was Ralph Clark, who opened Clark Dusters at Hollister. These operations led to the formation of many other firms later on, including Kenneth Onstott of Yuba City, Bob Phillips of Ceres, Joe Sellers at Bakersfield, and Rex Williams. Phillips is a former president of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. Many of these firms are still operating. Rex Williams, for example, took his operation to Orovada, Nevada.

In Arizona, Curtis “Pappy” Quick probably set up the first bona fide operation in that state. Quick left Texas and settled in Phoenix in the early 1930s, operating some Standards and at least one of Lloyd Stearman’s C3Bs. Charles “Monk” Ray, an early mechanic who still lives in Glendale, Arizona, worked for Quick as a mechanic and helper in those early days. Ray was a talented mechanic who helped build and maintain Quick’s dusting fleet. Along the way, he built himself a Heath Parasol, a little single- seater monoplane widely advertised back in those days and one of the first home-builts offered in kit form. The craft was powered by a four-cylinder Henderson motorcycle engine. As an old motorcycle rider who once owned a Henderson, I can’t say that I envy Monk too much insofar as his power plant was concerned!

Perhaps even earlier, Tom Allen Scott migrated to Arizona from the South and set up a firm at Mesa that did agricultural flying. Allen began his career during the “Dark Ages,” with the Finklea Brothers at Leland, Mississippi, in 1926. His firm, Aviation Specialties, became widely known and contributed considerably to the growth of the business in the Southwest.

One of agricultural aviation’s most influential figures was Southwesterner William “Bill” Marsh. Bill was a native Californian, who began his career by hanging around the old Del Paso airport at Sacramento. The early operators were working that region heavily. Bill has said that, as early as 1928, he had made up his mind to enter the agricultural flying field. In a 1970 interview, he stated that he was intrigued by agricultural flying for many reasons: the pilots were better paid; they had fewer working hours per year; and they were obviously technically superior!

American Dusting belly tank installation on Stearman in Texas in the 1950s.

Bill Marsh became better known in Arizona where he successfully operated firms in Mesa and Litchfield Park. His Mesa firm was known as Aerial Application Technology and in Litchfield Park the firm was called Marsh Aviation Company. Marsh Aviation still operates out of Litchfield Park under the management of Bill’s former partner Bill Walker.

Marsh was one of the first presidents of the National Agricultural Aviation Association and was a leader in working for proper legislation to improve agricultural aviation. He led the crusade to bring about the adoption of a useful FAA Part 137, greatly benefiting the industry. He was also a leader in the development of better application equipment and techniques. He greatly contributed to the advancement of the entire industry. Marsh has been honored with an annual award presented in his name each year by the NAAA. His death in the 1970s was a tremendous loss.

Other significant Western pioneers are Rex Williams and Bob Leverton. Rex began dusting for Speed Nolta at Willows. As mentioned earlier, he worked for Curtis Quick in Phoenix. He set up a firm near Phoenix called Rex Williams Airplane Crop Dusters, using Standards, Travel-Airs, and a Bull Stearman. Later, Williams used helicopters. His firm still operates on a rather large scale out of Orovada, Nevada, under the management of his son John.

Bob Leverton, another Southwest early bird, operates Country Boy Crop Dusting Company in Tolleson, Arizona. He, along with men like Bob Copeland of Chandler and Dale Steward of Phoenix, has done much to promote the art all over the Southwest, particularly in Arizona.