>> It's a fun thing. Flying is such a wonderful thing. Most of us do it because, number one, we enjoy
flying. And we love to do that. The best way to do that is figure out a way
to make money at it. For me, for myself, I also grew up on a farm
and grew up doing this. My dad started this business that we have
here in 1972. He started flying in 1968. Started this business in 1972 and then offered
me an opportunity to fly when I got out of college in 1992. Actually, I went to school in engineering. I went to school for industrial engineering. The bad thing is as a small child, I was bit
by the flying bug. Once bitten, it's always is. So you just have to figure out a way to scratch
the itch. And the easiest way to do that is to figure
out a way to make money at it. Since I had the opportunity, my dad offered
me the opportunity to come and go to work for him and join into this business, it just,
oh yeah, that's great. Because that's really what I wanted to do
anyway is figure out a way to fly. I think the biggest thing when people see
us moving through a field at a relatively high rate of speed and then getting close
to different obstacles and things like that, people are a little bit fearful of it, or
little bit wary of it or unsure of it. With us, it's the same way. When we break in, it's a little bit different
and we are a little cautious about how we do things. And then as you get more comfortable, and
you understand limitations of what you can and what you can't do. There are certain things that we do that are
inherent to the job in order to do a good job. Right now we see a lot of different people
come in. There's actually several different schools
now scattered around country in different parts. Some in Georgia. There's one actually over in Louisiana and
some other places in the country that actually train pilots to do this. But once you do it a little bit, it's just
like everything else. Like I said, I get more nervous driving on
20 than I do doing this. In most of what we deal with versus the majority
of the general aviation stuff, our equipment is a little bit bigger, little higher horsepower. Our equipment is designed to carry a product. It carries some particular payload from Point
A to where you'll apply it to Point B and then fly back empty. Our winning is set up to where we are able
to carry a high weight, a large payload safely and efficiently at a low multitude where a
general aviation airplane is, like I said, set up to go fast, to carry people from A
to B. And there are different sizes of Ag planes. Normally they are sized by the amount the
hopper will carry. So we would say like a 400-gallon airplane
or a 500-gallon airplane. This particular one is an 800-gallon airplane. So they are sized according to the capacity
of the hopper. That's usually the way we'll spit them out
as far as the size of the airplane. Along with that goes the bigger the airplane,
the bigger the engine, the more horsepower, the more fuel burned, the more fuel it will
carry. All of those types of things. Things you would also see in general aviation. The more people you can carry in an airplane,
generally the larger the airplane is. We have had to evolve from the way things
were originally. We have had to adapt and to learn new technologies
in the sense that as aircraft have gotten more advanced and cost more money, you are
seeing people way more responsible. I think even a higher quality of someone that
is doing this. Technology has been a wonderful thing for
us in the last 10 to 15 years. GPS has been a wonderful addition. One that has allowed us to do is it has given
us the variable rate technology. On the go, we can change our rates in the
airplane through the GPS and the computers that we have on the aircraft. We can change the amount of material that
we are putting out so that each and every acre gets precisely and exactly what it is
that it needs. We are not wasting anything, not putting anything
else out there that shouldn't be, or doesn't have to be. So it is saving the farmer money by being
efficient. Dad told me a long time ago, he said the only
constant around here is change, and there are never two the same. The customers, the friends that I have that
I do this for, are really good relationships. I enjoy getting the chance to talk with them,
and the flying part, of course, is something that I was either born with or hooked it at
such an early age. It's truly a blessing for me. It's nothing but a Lord thing that He put
me in a spot that I get to go and go to work and enjoy and do what it is that I want to
do, and do what I love to do.
