Wes Friesen - 8/3/2024 14:06
Ron..NE ILL..10/48 - 8/2/2024 06:33
Does anyone remember the aerial applicator from ND that used to be on Ag Talk a couple years ago? He was one of the fiercest opponents to drones that I knew of. Declared them as toys and predicted that soon there would be tragedy from a mid-air collision of the "toys" and a real crop sprayer plane. He declared drones as toys and had no business in above ground airspace.
I've always wondered if he still reads AT and reads about the upswing in drones in aerial spray ops.
Dont know who you're talking about, but its a valid concern. I fly fixed wing ag and have had two very close calls with drones the past 2 years. I'm not totally against them, they have their place, but it seems like the majority of people operating them need a lot more education on the rules and regs, and the guys I've talked to at the FAA agree. A lot of them don't seem to understand the implications of hitting an aircraft with one of them, and also that manned aircraft have the right of way...at all times. So if an aircraft gets to a field he wants to spray and there are drones close by, they need to get on the ground until the manned aircraft is out of the area. Another thing that has turned a lot of people off is that it seems like a lot of guys seem to think the best way to get business is to go around telling everyone that will listen how bad of a job an airplane or helicopter does, yet I spray for people who have tried drones and were not happy. I've seen bad applications from aircraft, but have seen worse from drones. The technology will get better, the spray patterns will get better, and they will definitely put a dent in the acres currently being applied with manned aircraft, but when they do a few hundred acres a day and an 802 can do 4000 on a good day, who are the farmers going to call when disease pressure is high?
Anybody spraying with a drone?
