I saw my first set of cropdusters shortly after leaving Indianapolis to continue west to Lawrence, Kansas. There was one on each side of the road flying their tight, low passes over specific fields of crops. In this day and age I suspect they are like farm planting and harvesting machines – guided by computers and GPS, to precisely deliver the nutrients and/or pesticides to certain crops in certain fields.
These photos were taken later in my trip, as I approached Nebraska from the south. I could see the plane passing back and forth low over the highway I was on. When I got up to just short of the field he/she was spraying I pulled off onto a side road to stop and get out of the car to take photos. There was another vehicle there with people doing the same thing.
These photos try to capture the sequence of events as they unfolded. I left the ground in certain photos to show just how low they get.
Despite the low altitude at which he was banking he was just above the power lines you see. I swear I think the pilot saw us taking pictures because be banked right over my head – which I was not prepared for, although that was also where his next pass would take him. I tried to keep the plane in my frame but was unable to. I caught up with it as it was low to the field and running parallel to the road I had just turned off of.
They are very precise with the on/off switch for the spray, again, likely computer controlled, so he didn’t douse us with whatever he was treating the field with.
He then headed north, either going to the next customer or to the airport to reload or refuel.
I see these cropdusters flying all over the place in the Midwest and West. They are usually bright yellow but yesterday I saw one in Oregon which was white.
I also had a VERY thrilling experience the other day. As I was approaching Boise, Idaho I looked to my right and saw that a yellow cropduster was on a runway of a small airfield just off the interstate (I bet it wasn’t more than 150 feet from me). My cruise control was set on 87 and the plane was exactly keeping pace with me for a few seconds, then picked up speed as it lifted off the runway and got ahead of me. The highway then curved slightly to the right and as I looked through the windshield, so did the plane. I wish I had a copilot of my own to have captured it on video. I doubt if I could replicate it even if I tried.
I’m going to try and find the airport on Google maps and see if I can calculate the approximate distance the runway is from the right lane of the highway.
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