is crop dusting dorky?

[Zeke]

I used to stand out near the field at my grandmother's place 30 miles out of Bakersfield in the 50's. This is exactly what I saw. Barnstorming put to practical use.

[944Larry]

Joe,that was probably a good idea of your buddys. Probably couldn't make a dime with one of those things in today's world. I guess it was one of the last fabric planes built. It was cool in that it had ailerons that drooped with the flaps. Made a good short take-off and if you were heavy in a turn you could pull in the first notch of flaps and she'd come right on around. This one had a 300 HP Lycoming O540.

[syncroid]

I have cousin that is a stunt pilot / crop duster. He has alot of seat time in Stearmans amoungst other craft. Under the wires, over the wires, doesn't make much difference to him. Crazy to watch him fly!

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by milt

I used to stand out near the field at my grandmother's place 30 miles out of Bakersfield in the 50's. This is exactly what I saw. Barnstorming put to practical use.

Yeah! I spent some time in one of those too. The old Stearmans made aerial application practical. Although they weren't very safe. The military had 220 HP engines on them and some cropdusters actually put 600 HP Pratts on some. I'll bet someone, somewhere still flies some.

[Joeaksa]

Larry,

Friend of mine had something like 20 Stearmans in the family spraying business. His Father bought them after WW2 for next to nothing and put them to work. Finally as they became worth something he sold them off and retired, but sure is a fun flying plane. Landing is "sporty" but then so are a lot of other short coupled taildraggers.

Just finished the annual on mine today. Cannot wait to take it up and let it teach me some more about flying!

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Larry,

Friend of mine had something like 20 Stearmans in the family spraying business. His Father bought them after WW2 for next to nothing and put them to work. Finally as they became worth something he sold them off and retired, but sure is a fun flying plane. Landing is "sporty" but then so are a lot of other short coupled taildraggers.

Just finished the annual on mine today. Cannot wait to take it up and let it teach me some more about flying!

Yep, same story here. Old local guy told me he bought 10 after the war for something like $2000 apiece, flew them as sprayers or dusters for 20 years, still had 9 left and sold them for $4000 each. After the war my dad bought a PT19 and a Stearman (PT17?) for $500 each. Remember hearing some of the old heads saying they bought the really big planes just to get the gas out of them and scrapped the rest of the plane. I was given a A20 bomber when I was a teenager but my daddy said it wasn't worth going to get. Probably worth millions today. Who could have foreseen the value these things would rise too.

[cashflyer]

ARCHER CITY — Leland Snow, age 80, of Wichita Falls, Texas passed away Sunday morning, February 20, 2011, in Wichita Falls.

A memorial celebration of Leland’s life will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 26, 2011, at Air Tractor, Inc. in Olney, Texas under the direction of Aulds Funeral Home of Archer City.

Henry Leland Snow was born May 31, 1930 in Brownsville, Texas to Henry Evans Snow and Carrie Beth Sewell Snow. He grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and was a 1952 graduate of Texas A & M University with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He designed and built his first “crop dusting” airplane, the S-1, in 1951 and flew dusting and spraying jobs in Texas and in Nicaragua until 1957. He followed-up the S-1 with the models S-2A and S-2B, which were built when Snow moved production facilities for Snow Aeronautical Company to Olney, Texas in 1958.

He and Nancy Bacon were married on December 18, 1964 in Lubbock, Texas, and they made their home in Wichita Falls, where they raised two daughters, Kristin and Kara. After selling his first company, Snow founded Air Tractor, Inc. in 1972. The company has become the world’s leading manufacturer of agricultural and firefighting aircraft, and Snow was actively involved in engineering and management of the company until his death.

Snow received numerous aviation and industry awards during his career. In 2000 he was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2005, Air Tractor received the Better Business Bureau International Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics.

Snow was a generous financial supporter of the National Agricultural Aviation Association and its programs for pilot safety and drift minimization. He and his wife also supported the arts in Wichita Falls and have been long-time sponsors of the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra. He enjoyed listening to classical music and playing the piano.

He was an avid runner and logged more than 17,000 miles of running since 1990. He trained for and completed three marathons after the age of 65, including twice running the New York marathon.

He will be remembered for his quiet kind nature, dogged determination, and generosity to people and causes he cared for.

Survivors include his wife, Nancy; two daughters, Kara East and Kristin Edwards; son-in-law, Trevor Edwards; one sister, Marihelen Snow; grandchildren Brennan Edwards and Elisabeth East, all of Wichita Falls; brother-in-law, John Bacon and wife, Patricia of Lubbock; four nephews, Conan McCarty of New York City, Kevin McCarty and wife, Margaret of Los Angeles, California, John Charles Bacon, Jr. and wife, Paige of Fort Worth, Texas and John Franklin Bacon of Dallas, Texas.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, George Edward Snow, nephew Kim Edward McCarty, niece Lauren Marie McCarty, and son-in-law, William Alan East.

The family suggests memorials to the Professional Aerial Applicators Support System (PAASS), which is a safety program for pilots sponsored by the National Agricultural Aviation Association (National Agricultural Aviation Association). Make checks payable to NAAREF (National Agricultural Aviation Research & Education Foundation), please write in memo: “Leland Snow Memorial Donation” and mail to: NAAA, 1005 E Street SE, Washington, DC 2003-2847.
Leland Snow » Times Record News



Air Tractor Founder Leland Snow Dies
By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

Known the "father of aerial application," Air Tractor founder Leland Snow died at the age of 80 last week, while jogging near his Wichita Falls, Texas, home. According to AgAir Update, Snow built his first purpose-built cropduster in 1953 at the age of 23 and went on to build thousands of the iconic aircraft with radial and turbine engines. His aircraft are in service around the world and are used for a variety of purposes besides spraying crops.

The Wipaire-modified Fire Boss is an Air Tractor on amphibious floats that collects water from lakes and rivers to allow rapid reloading for firefighting. Air Tractor's latest model can carry up to 1,000 gallons of agricultural chemical or fire retardant. The memorial service for Snow was held Saturday.
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Air_Tractor_Founder_Leland_Snow_Dies_204183-1.html


EAA link with a couple more photos:
http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-02-24_snow.asp