AG Pilot: Nick Sabelhaus

Questions prepared by:

Major General Carl Schneider, U.S. Air Force (RET).

Dan Sillinger, A&P Instructor, Pilot, Baton Rouge Community College

Jacob Peed, Publisher, AviNation

Gary P. Flavin, U.S. Air Force Veteran

V. Carson Pearce, Aviation Director, Texas A&M University - Central Texas

Why did you choose crop dusting and aircraft maintenance as your profession?

Well that’s a long story… It all started about ten years ago or so. It all started as a summer job. I started working at my local crop dusting service (Riceland Aviation) as a wing hop. As senior year in high school came around, I really wanted to be like all those guys we watched all day flying around. My boss at the time, Billy Precht, convinced my parents that if that’s what I really wanted I should go to A&P school. He explained the advantages. The first one being, you can work on your own equipment. The second was in case the flying deal didn’t work out, I would have something to fall back on. The third was the “man” one, which was to grow up a little as they called it. As I was in school I still worked two jobs and got my A&P license and then started flight school shortly after.

Do you have an agricultural background?

I’m from a farming town where if you get off the main drag in town, all that’s around you is rice fields and crawfish ponds. Neither of my parents family’s farmed but we had plenty of friends that we could call family that did. In high idle school and throughout high school, I would work on the farm and crawfish dock down the road from us. I still help on the farm today when we aren’t busy flying.

What pilot and mechanical training did you have to qualify as a pilot and an A&P mechanic?

During high school while working at Riceland, I gained a lot of work experience, so when I started at SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles, I only had to attend the general and power plant portions of the school. I had gotten my airframe signed off from work experience. When the flying started, I learned a lot from joy riding with anyone who would bring me to fly, so when I went to Ag Flight in Bainbridge, Georgia, I was quick to solo and get my licenses.

How did you finance your accomplishments?

Work. I’ve had a job since I was about ten, and I was taught a lot about saving money up for a time when you might need it. Between working and getting TOPS funding in high school I was able to pay for most of my technical school tuition.

Why do you think that most crop duster pilots are also A&P mechanics?

Most crop dusting operations are not at an airport. It is more efficient to be capable of doing things yourself if necessary. It is also good to have the knowledge and skills to quickly fix a problem on remote strips rather than going back to the home base to resolve the problem.

Do you work on your own aircraft?

It depends on the situation; for example, during the heat of the flying season when we run into a breakdown, I usually use it as a point to rest or grab a bite to eat while our full time mechanic, Donnie Legros, takes care of whatever needs to be fixed. On other days when it fogs or the rain won’t stop, when we are not able to fly, I usually try to make it a point to go around the airplane and fix those little problems that we have been putting off. Regardless of the situation, Donnie keeps me in good hands when there’s something I can’t do.

What came first, “the joy of being a mechanic” or “the love of flying”?

I would say the love of flying came first. Every year in October, Jennings Airport in Louisiana hosts an annual “Stearman’s Fly-in.” My mom puts on the event. When we were younger, my brothers and I would get to ride every year. It was something I would look forward to year round. There was something about looking at the world from a bird’s eye view that sparked my love for flying.

What do you enjoy more - turning wrenches or flying?

That is a hard question to answer. Being a mechanic and being a pilot bring me two different kinds of happiness. The rewards of mechanic work come from the times you’re often elbows deep and blind trying to reach a bolt that you can only reach with the tips of your finger, but when you finish with the task you’ve worked hours to achieve, you can sit back and look at what you’ve accomplished.

To me flying is like a drug, it just pulls me in and I can’t get enough. When you take off with the first load of the day and break ground and just ease up into the calm sky you kind of just forget about all the bad things going on in the world and just take in the peacefulness and beauty of the world right in front of you. It’s a feeling that I don’t think many people have had the opportunity to experience. I would definitely say flying is my favorite.

Do you like to use your mechanical skills?

I don’t mind working on anything, especially if there’s no flying to do. Getting my A&P license has helped me connect the dots between how things function and troubleshooting when flying. Did you ever think about going into the military? I never really thought about joining. But if I was to, I would do just about anything to fly an A-10.

If crop dusting wasn’t an option for you, what do you think would be your next choice for a flying job?

If crop dusting wasn’t an option I think I would like to try fire bombing or doing the bush pilot deal.

Why is it that other pilots consider crop duster’s, “Cowboys of the sky”?

We kind of have our own mindset, I guess. Hell, what we do I find normal. We takeoff in the direction of the field no matter if it’s downwind or not and we pull the airplane around right on the edge of a stall because we get paid when the product is coming out, not riding around. We don’t talk on radios for the most part because hell, at most airports we don’t have to or we just ain’t got around to working on that faulty radio. There’s lots of reasons why people look at us differently, but I can promise you we can fly the hell out of an airplane.

How many hours of sleep do you get?

All depends on the day. So during the season you can average around six hours or so. When running mosquito control a little less, depends if I can slip a nap in somewhere while waiting for a loader truck to get there or when weather catches you.

Do you enjoy the actual application details or are you just doing it for the flying?

I definitely like the application part. I like to think about any crops I’m passing over as my own. Ag pilots have a lot of pride in our work. We might be able to fly but we want to do a good job with the application when doing it.

Have you used a camera when you are flying?

I’ve personally never used a camera when flying or applicating chemicals or fertilizer. To me I think it is a distraction. I say that because a lot of the guys that I’ve seen recording themselves are far more worried about how they look on camera than worrying about the job that they are doing.

Where do you want to fly?

I don’t do much flying for fun. If I was to choose where I want to fly I would like to crop dust in every state in the U.S. To see different country, different farming techniques and meet different local people.

What modern GPS nav aids do you use for crop dusting?

So the navigation system we use when applying is the Satloc G4 unit. It shows a variety of different things like your swath, speed, altitude and position in the field and many other helpful options. But the Satloc isn’t the only kind of nav aid that the crop dusting world has, but it is the one that I seem to like the most. I would definitely say it’s way better than back in the day when they used to have guys that would stand on the edge of the field and hold flags to mark the next pass, also known as flaggers. The Satloc system makes the job way more accurate and easy on the pilot.

What is the demand in your area for crop dusting pilots and their pay?

So in the local area we have at least 10 different flying services in the tri parish area which if I had to guess would be over 20 airplanes, if not more. So yes I would definitely say that there is a high demand for ag pilots in our area. I think the cause of this is when the crops, which are mainly rice and crawfish, need to be sprayed or fertilized, it is a very short window to do so. Good thing is that even though there are a lot of airplanes working within such a close range, we all communicate very well and usually try to stay out of each other’s way. Most ag pilots work on a percentage of the job, which personally is a good thing because it makes you want to get out and get the work done. So when the gate isn’t open if the spray handle isn’t on you aren’t getting paid, that’s why you don’t see us messing around too often. But not all operations work the same way. Some places offer a yearly salary with an incentive on acres covered. But the flying world is a little different to other businesses; a lot of the pilots have their own customers, which to me means a lot. I find that when a farmer wants to use a specific pilot, it holds a lot of meaning because that farmer trusts you to do a good job and tend to his crop.

What was your pathway to obtaining the tailwheel time for your AG license?

So the way I obtained my tailwheel endorsement was when I attended AG Flight. The majority of the airplanes they had at the school were Citabrias, which is a tailwheel airplane. This was nice because you started and finished most of your time in a tailwheel, excluding your high performance and retract ratings. I would definitely say that over 90 percent of my flying time is tailwheel.

Did you intern with anyone to learn the trade and how did you learn about safety and the chemicals you use in the field?

So I guess you could say I started as a wing hop at Riceland probably 10 years ago. A winghop is a guy that jumps on the wing and loads the fertilizer into the hopper. I definitely learned a lot by watching and listening to all the pilots talk in the morning while they were waiting for daylight to come to start work. But a lot of flying services offer a summer work program to get your foot in the door and learn about mixing chemicals, getting airplanes ready and just the general platform on how a flying service works. I think that I just hit the lottery when I started working here because I started at the bottom winghopping. I then became a mechanic and finally the chief pilot. Our boss has to give all loaders and mixers a class on chemical safety. But now that I have my commercial applicators license I just have to go once every three years to get recertified and learn about new laws and chemicals.

For the next generation, what do you now wish that you had learned earlier in your pilot training or understanding?

So for any aspiring ag pilots I would definitely say taking a summer work program at a flying service is the way to go. Mainly because you can be hands-on and working around airplanes. Also to make sure that’s the line of work you really want to do. I think these ag pilot schools could offer a lot more on pre flying knowledge. When I say that, I mean as in learning to figure loads, whether it’s spray for fertilizer. How different winds affect the job and how drift can affect certain situations and a variety of different scenarios. I feel like I learned more in my first two weeks flying full time on all these little things than I learned in the time I was in flight school. You know some of these ag schools have great salesmen as I like to call it. I once heard they told a kid that they would have to get a wheelbarrow to haul all the money away after their first year flying, which isn’t true. It’s about like anything, you don’t just start out on the top. You’ve got to work your way there and be safe doing it, because it’s better to be doing it than looking down and wishing you were still doing it. To me earning something makes you way more appreciative than being handed it.

Being in Southwest Louisiana, what is your go-to favorite food?

I would definitely say my favorite food would be anything with rice in it. I mean rice goes with anything from beef to seafood. There’s nothing that accompanies food better. Don’t forget “Eat rice, potatoes make your butt big”.

What can you do to encourage other young men and women to consider an exciting career in aviation?

The best thing is to not be scared to go out and talk to people. Don’t be scared to go and try and get your foot in the door, even if it just starts as a simple wing hop or fuel guy at your local airport. You gotta work your way from the bottom to the top.