Aerial application of pesticides, or crop dusting, is a crucial part of modern agriculture, increasing crop yields and reducing losses by billions of dollars annually. The job of an ag pilot is ...

TWIN FALLS • Six minutes. That’s how long it takes to load a crop duster with chemicals, fuel and prepare it for takeoff. It’s loud with the propeller spinning, the 800-horsepower turboprop engine ...

POWELL -- Sounding like a diving World War II Grumman Hellcat determined to strafe an enemy position, the crop duster dives from the sky. In his Grumman Ag-Cat, Orville Moore is pursuing enemies, but ...

OROVILLE — The engine of a Gruman G164 Ag Cat, a common crop-duster plane, roared across the campus of the Butte County Mosquito and Vector Control District on Thursday, preparing for its maiden ...

Until I heard from Carlos Gomez, I hadn’t given much thought to agricultural aviation, more commonly known as crop dusting, and its relation to the South Bay. Gomez mentioned his father Antonio once ...

BEAMAN, Iowa --- The risks are great. The job is seasonal, with this year's work basically finished. But crop-dusters --- "aerial applicators" in the modern parlance --- will say there's a real "high" ...

YUMA — The crop-duster, that icon of both aviation and agricultural history, brings several images to mind. There's the wild-eyed barnstormer in a biplane who buzzes in low over houses and onto the ...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Stephen Austin's job has been up and down since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. On Monday it was down. He and other Bootheel crop-dusters, along with their counterparts nationwide, ...