Crop duster near Ft.Co.

[MRA 32]

I don't know how to post the link for the video but channel 7 last week showed a bunch of people scared for their life because of a crop duster spraying near the sub-division. First off when did people become a bunch of whiney pussies??? Crop dusting is just as elegant to watch as road racing is. These guys are good. I will try to post the video for those of you who didn't see it.

[Zenshu]

I also saw that...and almost immediately wanted that whole subdivision to catch fire before those pussies spread their "OMG This is disrupting our WASPtitude" attitude to more people.

[Cap'n Crunch]

I'm all for fancy flying, but I know I would be pissed if I saw them spraying chemicals out of a plane over my neighborhood. How many times have they said "this pesticide or that pesticide is safe" only to find out years later that it causes birth defects or health issues. Spraying chemicals over my home and my yard? No thanks!

[LambeauXLIV]

I've always enjoyed watching crop dusters, and I would think the pilot would have control over when the spray is started / stopped and wouldn't want to waste $$ killing bugs on those people's roofs

[Wrider]

I'm all for fancy flying, but I know I would be pissed if I saw them spraying chemicals out of a plane over my neighborhood. How many times have they said "this pesticide or that pesticide is safe" only to find out years later that it causes birth defects or health issues. Spraying chemicals over my home and my yard? No thanks!

These people moved into a subdivision that was built long after the farm was already in place. It's like the jackasses that move into an airport's takeoff/landing approach area, then complain about the loud jets. No shit, it was there before you were, and your dumb ass still moved in!

[cbrjohnny]

people are pussies! have they wrapped their houses with plastic and duck-tape yet? did they get their feeling hurt too?

[longrider]

These people moved into a subdivision that was built long after the farm was already in place. It's like the jackasses that move into an airport's takeoff/landing approach area, then complain about the loud jets. No shit, it was there before you were, and your dumb ass still moved in!

+100000!!

That is what happened to Second Creek, when the track was built it was in the middle of nowhere. Over the years homes got built closer and closer, the homeowners complained and the track got shut down.

[asp_125]

It's the whole NIMBY thing, crop dusters are fine as long as it's not in their backyard. Geeze.. Quit getting so butt hurt, the farm was there first.

[Zenshu]

The Duster wasn't dusting peoples homes...they were bitching and complaining about him flying too low over their homes after he dusted the farm across the road.

[CaptGoodvibes]

It's easy to criticize the residents but bottom line, the pilot violated FAA regulations regarding minimum altitude and safety of people on the ground. Regulations also stipulate advance notice must be given to everyone in the area that would be affected. And looking at the satellite map, it's obvious he could have flown his dusting job perpendicular and it would have been a non-issue.

[Zenshu]

I hadn't heard anything about them finding that he had violated FAA regulations, and I could be wrong because I am no expert but I was under the impression that the only prior notification required by FAA regulations was that the dusting company notify local law enforcement in writing prior to executing low level dusting operations. Either way it still bugs me that these people cried about it...people never bitched and moaned about crop dusters back in my old hometown in North Carolina and there were very few sub-divisions that wouldn't get buzzed by a few crop dusters during the season. Also without knowing all the facts we can't state that the pilot could have easily flown perpendicular to the housing based on satellite photos, there are other things that go into deciding a flight path when dusting such as FEMA and EPA regulations concerning wind direction and water sheds as well as the local Air Control Towers directions on applicable flight corridors for intended dust target all the way down to something as simple as managing crosswinds to prevent potential loss of control of the aircraft.

[CaptGoodvibes]

If you watch the video, and then read the regulations, it's a no brainer. That guy is going to lose his pilots license and the company is probably getting a big fine. The crop duster has to file a flight plan including where he intends to land in case of an emergency. He has to notify the FAA and the local residents. Any congested area he will be flying over requires 1000' clearance below and a 2000' radius from the highest obstruction. The "farm" is leased to grow corn for ethanol and beets for processed sugar... and has already been zoned for estate homes. It's not some small town farmer. It's a corporation everyone in this thread is defending. So sad...

[mastap07]

i crop dusted last week in my office... ;) what? taco bell WILL do that to ya!

[OUTLAWD]

even though these things are sprayed over crops...I'd bet that traces of the chemicals travel for miles, and are most definately inhalable by people.

when some corporation starts spraying chemicals that your kids are inhaling, I'd like to see your reactions. yes, for the most part people are pussies, but on the other hand, widespread use of lethal chemicals is becoming more and more common, something unheard of "back in my day"

and as far a the farm being there first...yeah, OK, but this is no longer a farm, its a corporate-raped chunk of land that is wastefully growing GMO crops for either fuel or feed, both of which are questionable practices at best...

[Ghost]

If you watch the video, and then read the regulations, it's a no brainer. That guy is going to lose his pilots license and the company is probably getting a big fine. The crop duster has to file a flight plan including where he intends to land in case of an emergency. He has to notify the FAA and the local residents. Any congested area he will be flying over requires 1000' clearance below and a 2000' radius from the highest obstruction. The "farm" is leased to grow corn for ethanol and beets for processed sugar... and has already been zoned for estate homes. It's not some small town farmer. It's a corporation everyone in this thread is defending. So sad...


even though these things are sprayed over crops...I'd bet that traces of the chemicals travel for miles, and are most definately inhalable by people.

when some corporation starts spraying chemicals that your kids are inhaling, I'd like to see your reactions. yes, for the most part people are pussies, but on the other hand, widespread use of lethal chemicals is becoming more and more common, something unheard of "back in my day"

and as far a the farm being there first...yeah, OK, but this is no longer a farm, its a corporate-raped chunk of land that is wastefully growing GMO crops for either fuel or feed, both of which are questionable practices at best...

Yeah, I don't get the rabid defense of the pilot, his actions, or the "safety" of inhaling pesticides/weedicides and fertilizers...

[bulldog]

Here is the link for the video http://bcove.me/5vqvraxz

[Wrider]

Ok well that vid shows something different than I was expecting. Pilot was way lower than most fly even for crop dusting, plus he was barely skimming the trees on the outside of the neighborhood.

[MRA 32]

O.K. I started this so time to make another comment. Read the F.A.R.s minimum altitude of aircraft operations EXCLUDE agricultural aircraft operations. If the sub-division is in city limits the residents need advance warning. There was also a reason(s) that the pilot chose the direction to spray it: (1) he was following the rows which makes it easier to cover the field, (2) powerlines are dangerous and completely invisible from the air so a pilot turns above the height of the power poles he can see. The field may have had powerlines along the sides he wasn't turning over. (3) the shape of the field also plays a role in how an operator sprays it. Longer swaths equals less turning and more spraying.

Chemical usually doesn't hang in the air very long and without getting into a long explaination...Don't worry about the chemical: gravity, positive, and negative ions are all at work along with adjuvants in the mix to maximize placement on the target. Chemicals are just like drugs; the plants metabolize the chemical into basic elements and excrete the by products just like our bodies do to drugs.

I grew up watching AgCats (like the one shown) spraying on our farm. Low Level Dusting is currently doing our spraying on the farm. The pilot of the plane in the video is a good friend of mine. He and I learned to fly together and he is damn good in a plane. Plus he is one of us...He rides a sweet old school Ninja ZX-750RR.

[CaptGoodvibes]

Read the F.A.R.s minimum altitude of aircraft operations EXCLUDE agricultural aircraft operations.

Not over a "congested" area which has a legal precedent of two homes.

[vort3xr6]

Pesticides are real bad stuff.

My grandma and 2 of her sisters have Parkinson's. Since it is not a genetic disease the University of Washington brought them in for tests and determined that pesticides were the cause when they were all young growing up on the farm. They used to run behind their father's tractor on hot days which sprayed pesticide so they could cool off. Nobody knew any better back then.

Pesticides are no joke and I wouldn't live anywhere near where they were being sprayed.

[MRA 32]

Pesticides are no joke and I wouldn't live anywhere near where they were being sprayed

Where do you live? Pesticides are abused much more by homeowners than a trained commercial applicator. But I do see your point about your family history which is more than likely the cause of that condition.

Not over a "congested" area which has a legal precedent of two homes.

F.A.R. 91.119 (a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undo hazard to persons or property on the surface.

Kind of splitting hairs with the above F.A.R., but I don't have the specific book at home for special use aircraft which crop dusting falls into. Crop dusters are faced with the decision of where can I land in an emergency on every pass through the field. I have seen one of these planes landed in a potato field this year due to a dropped intake valve...It was next to Gilcrest when if happened. This shows the level of training and ability it takes to fly an aircraft really in any capacity.

I am not saying that something bad couldn't have happened...But those people are more likely to be hit by a car then an airplane.

We as a society are getting more removed from agriculture and this leads to unintentional ignorance from most people. I think the people in Ft. Collins were over reacting to a daily activity involved with farming. Whats next? can't thrash corn at night because of noise or cut beans at 2 a.m. because the sub-division is sleeping?

[CaptGoodvibes]

http://www.calt.iastate.edu/cropdusting.html