Ag pilot school in the Western US??
 

Hi everyone! My husband wants to be an ag pilot and he has started on his private licence. I would really appreciate some help on finding a ag pilot school in the Western US. There are quite a few in the east but there is no way my husband and I can't afford to move over to the other side of the country. Any help would be great, I just don't know where to look :confused:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, though if that's the reason your husband is working on his Private, you would probably be best served by curtailing that plan. JB will probably be along before too long to line it out for you.

Ag training is sparse; there's not a lot of it. Upon holding a new commercial certificate, one could go to an ag school, but finding someone to insure you and hire you is another matter.

Before spending the money to get pilot certification and go to an ag school, take the time to research the market; the employment market, and what's involved in ag work. If you're not able to travel now, then ag work definitely isn't for you.

Ag work is seasonal, and it involves moving on a regular basis to where ever you're working, sometimes traveling with the aircraft to multiple locations to follow crops or assignments.

Have you looked into the safety aspects and the hazards and risks?

I have always been told ag work is for highly experienced pilots. You dont get there until you have 1000s of hours. One ag pilot told me they hire at 15,000 hours. All just spoken word I heard, nothing solid.

In times past, a new ag pilot would have a solid tailwheel background, know farming and crops and entomology, and aircraft mechanics, and would spend the first few seasons mixing chemical and working on aircraft, and would eventually begin to spray out some of the rinse used in the tanks at the end of the day. A Super Cub with ultra low volume work, or a Pawnee, Callair, AgCat, or Brave would be the entry level, and the new pilot would work his way up.

Today, the most common aircraft for ag work are Turbine Thrush's, and Air Tractor 802's and 502's. They have larger hoppers. They cover more area, and they get to and from the field faster. An 802 can do the work of five AgCats, and do it faster, with less maintenance. An AgTruck has a 300 gallon hopper, but typically flies with about 165 gallons on a warm day. An 802 has an 800 gallon hopper and can easily go out with 700 or more gallons; 500 is nothing. Consequently, there are less jobs, and the insurance requirements to put a pilot in an 802 require more experience than that required to put a pilot in a Piper Pawnee. Very few entry level airplanes are available today. Pilots doing ag work tend to stay with it, often for a long time, and many pilots return to the same job again and again.

It's not that ag work requires a 15,000 hour pilot, but when there's little turn over and the general experience level is fairly high, it's harder for an entry level pilot to break in.

A few years ago there was a big corn run with a rise in demand for ethanol. That's gone bust, much like some of the big projects of years ago, such as boll wevil eradication. The past few years have seen a steady rise in chemigation, adding chemicals to irrigation, and ground spray rigs continue to take some of the work that would otherwise be done by aerial applicators.

Someone considering the business needs to understand that an aerial applicator is both farmer and pilot. It's not a time building job, and if one envisions doing ag work as a stepping stone to the airlines, bear in mind that the airlines often view ag work as a cowboy, reckless activity. It isn't, but the perception remains. Pilots who do ag long enough end up with wire strikes and mishaps/crashes in their pilot history. It's not a certain thing, but the chance is considerably elevated over other types of flying. It's demanding, it's tiring, and compared to most other kinds of flying, it's a lot of work.

I always encourage prospective ag pilots to seek a thorough understanding of aviation maintenance; it's a utility business and if you break it, you often fix it. Not just an A&P mechanic certificate, but a working understanding of maintaining aircraft. Get good at short field work, flying aircraft "heavy" (gross weight, minimal performance). Become good at strong crosswind landings, and don't tolerate leaving the centerline. Many ag strips are short, surrounded with obstacles, frequently minimal or unimproved, rough, and leave little margin for error.

Years ago the national aerial applicator association published an article about the statistics for a working ag pilot. The average career was about 7 years, a composite of those who lasted many years on the job, and those who were killed in their first few seasons. The point of the article was that the average working lifespan was seven years. I believe it's improved substantially, but one can't and shouldn't gloss over the fact that it's not a white collar job. It's a full performance operation, not flying in a narrow place in the middle of the performance envelope. Ag work isn't rocket science, but you can be a god one day, and it will eat your lunch the next. It can be a humbling activity, as it constantly reminds you that you're not as good as you would like to be. It's chock full of learning experiences, not the least of which is the death penalty for complacency. Every pilot operates in the low altitude environment for a few moments on every flight; the ag pilot operates there most of the time, with a few moments at altitude (typically 500') while flying to and from the field.

If you're thinking about building time doing ag, you might reconsider. I have friends who fly a thousand hours a year or more, often in a few months; there are a lot of pilots who fly much, much less. It's not instrument flying, with a few rare exceptions it's not multi engine flying.

My first job after I graduated high school was ag work. Over my career I've worn a lot of hats, usually concurrently, ag being one of them, and I continue to keep current in a variety of ag aircraft. I know people who do ag and nothing else. I know some who fly warbirds and do ag, others who do airline and ag, one gentleman who's an experienced physician and an ag aviator, aerial firefighter, warbird pilot, etc. He turns wrenches. Most ag pilots are used to getting their hands dirty.

There are a lot of facets to ag, from treating mosquito infestations to spraying row crops, fertilizing pine trees in the winter, single-engine air tanker (SEAT) firefighting, some instructing, range crop spraying, seeding, and so on. I've flown ag in everything from single engine piston and turbine to large multi engine piston and turbine. Until recently, Air Tractors were even used in counternarcotic operations in Colombia and other locations, and 802's are presently being weaponized for counterinsurgency work in overseas locations, along with Thrush 660's in the 802U and Archangel programs.

Airline positions tend to be entry level places for those who have gained a little experience flight instructing. Ag work is generally not an entry level job, something to keep in mind before dropping a fair amount of change attending an ag school. Also bear in mind that ag schools come and go; only a few have lasted more than a few years.