Anyone know what crop dusting pays?????

[avbug]

As far as experience yeah I learned to fly at a quaint little place called Ft. Rucker from guys that flew in NAM. Low level yeah a little NOE at night with goggles... crappy old 5's no less. loved the weight bag on my $800.00 helmet from uncle sugar. Couple of thousand hours later...with a few Pitts & Decathlon hours to spice things up oh yeah lots of instructing too.

In other words, no experience, then. Thanks for clearing that up.

As Bugchaser noted, the pay varies widely...what does it pay? Almost anything. You might fly hundreds of hours in a year and thousands of acres, or you might not. You might have a mechanical problem that costs you the use of the aircraft, and all your profits. What you can expect from a given season varies greatly with the crop and the year itself. I've seen years in which there was nothing, and then suddenly a run of russian wheat aphid, and we couldn't fly enough...then three weeks later it was over.

You could find yourself fertalizing trees all winter; you'll fly until you're sure you've made a big mistake taking the job, and you will make little for doing it. You might spray blueberries and make good money, you might do winter wheat and get average money, you might get a year round job doing stam on rice or something similiar, and have a decent job in the eighty thousand range. All depends. Go spray poppies in Colombia and make ninety grand for two weeks on, two weeks off.

The guys who go get themselves killed are the ones who think they've got it down. You think you've got it down, and you have zero experience. That will get you killed. Regardless of how many "nam" vets trained you.

Flap your gums all you like. You don't appear to be presently paid for holding a spray handle in your hand, which doesn't really give you much room to talk. Listen to Bugchaser. He wasn't an inexperienced kid; he's been around the patch more than once, and you don't see him doing it now, either. In fact, of those that did respond, most of us are doing other things too, or altogether, or several of the things mentioned at the same time. Ag work is great when the work is there, but it's impossible to predict, and in the ag business, life really does come at you fast. It's all NOE, it's all close to powerlines, and it's all precision work. One farmer doesn't pay for the chemical, and you're done for the year, in some cases, especially where the chemical is worth five times your hourly rate per gallon. It happens.

Pony up the money, got sit your butt in an agcat or a pawnee at an ag school somewhere, and get a sampling, then hit the road and ask every operator you see for a job.

You might get lucky.

 

[670X]

Thanks bug chaser I think that is exactly what I wanted to know.

 

[svcta]

Geez, people, it's not like he insulted your mothers. Get over yourselves.

 

[A Squared]

Well 670X, you're right, the arrogance here *is* overwhelming. The thing you likely don't grasp is that you're the primary source. I'll help you out a little with recognizing it, although I doubt that you'll pay any attention. That's OK, becuse there are other readers, and maybe they'll read it and resolve not to be like you, so it won't be entirely wasted.

Anyway, just this one line speaks volumes about you:

All you $1,400 a month SJS guys need to reply somewhere else. I'm looking for answers.

Right, now go back and point aout which are the $1400 SJS pilots. That that point in the thread, responses to your question were posted by:

414driver, who is/was in aerial fire supression and if he hasn't flown ag himself has flown with a lot of pilots with a lot of ag experience.

RightPedal, who has flown ag, and has family that has been in the ag business for decades.

Avbug who was flying ag when he was in his teens

Waldom, who was flying ag in stearmans, very likely before you were born.

Bugchaser, who has flown ag for 15 years

Nosehair. In all the years I've been reading his posts, I don't recall him mentioning flying ag, but I do know that he's been flying about as long as I've been alive, and I've got a pretty good start on my fourth decade, so he's not some fuzzy cheeked newbie.


So, could you please point out which particular posters you think are "$1400 SJS guys" ?

Right. Not a single one of them. Every one of them is in a postion to know far more than you about the ag business. yet you dismiss thier input, apparently because the answeres weren't the answers you wanted to hear.

There's a lesson in there someplace, but I suspect it will go whizzing right over your head. Perhaps some other readers will get it, and my time won't be wasted.

 

[gsrcrsx68]

There's a lesson in there someplace, but I suspect it will go whizzing right over your head. Perhaps some other readers will get it, and my time won't be wasted.

Here is one lesson, with as much respect as possible:
Nobody cares about how people did it 30 years ago, walked up hill both ways, it was a lot harder back then, yada, yada, yada. It really is that simple.

The guy ask for some facts about pay, if the guy wanted other sorts of opinions he would have asked.

 

[gsrcrsx68]

And as far a calling a pilot arrogant: Why be so redundant?

 

[A Squared]

Nobody cares about how people did it 30 years ago, walked up hill both ways, it was a lot harder back then, yada, yada, yada. It really is that simple.

OK, let's count:

Rightpedal was flying ag not long ago, this decade I beleive. I don't know when Avbug last flew a swath on crops, but I know from personal correspondence with him that he still follows the industry closely and would get back in should the right situation come up. Bugchaser was flying ag as recently as last year.

So when you yap on about "30 years ago" you're pretty much running your mouth without having the faintest idea what you're talking about.

 

[gsrcrsx68]

See above, the part where I already told you I don't care.

 

[svcta]

Seriously, this degenerated in to a pretty low grade pissing contest pretty rapidly. Probably the worst I've seen on this board. GSR is right in so much as that the guy just asked a question and a bunch of people sort of blindsided him. It's like listening to a bunch of motorcycle salesmen talk about their weekend trip while a customer stands there trying to get some attention.


In the interest of clearing this up, how would you people suggest that someone find out about the pay situation in your too-cool-for-us business?

 

[A Squared]

See above, the part where I already told you I don't care.

I'm not particularly surprised. I'm sure that someone who posts twadle that is as far off base as yours really doesn't care to have that fact pointed out.

 

[A Squared]

Seriously, this degenerated in to a pretty low grade pissing contest pretty rapidly. Probably the worst I've seen on this board.

Oh, it gets much worse, trust me.

You might take a look at the first 8 posts or so and ask yourself who's primarily responsible for it becoming that way. The original poster asked a question that was based in a rather presumptious and ill informed premise. (that ag flying is something that you do in youre days off) Despite that, the responses were all fairly polite. Even avbug who tends to get excited on occasion posted a fairly mild response. It wasn't until 670X posted his second post, calling folks "SJS guys" and generally acting like a complete jerk tht the thread went south. It's all right there in the thread.

GSR is right in so much as that the guy just asked a question and a bunch of people sort of blindsided him.

You know, I've always been curious about this penomenon, and perhaps you can provide an answer. How is it that people come to a public discussion board, post something and have the expectation that the thread will go exactly the way they want, that only the questions asked will answered and nobody will say anything that hurts the poster's feelings? Where does that expectation come from? I ask you, as you seem to be espousing this fallacy, so maybe you can provide some insight. It's a public forum for discussion. If you post, you can exepct a discussion. Why is that so difficult to grasp?

In the interest of clearing this up, how would you people suggest that someone find out about the pay situation in your too-cool-for-us business?

well. *my* suggestion would be to go back and read the thread, the question has been answered, in a fair amount of detail. There was also some other information that would be useful to someone with an interest in becoming an ag pilot.

I have to ask, have you actually read this thread?

 

[Denizen]

You know, I've always been curious about this penomenon, and perhaps you can provide an answer. How is it that people come to a public discussion board, post something and have the expectation that the thread will go exactly the way they want, that only the questions asked will answered and nobody will say anything that hurts the poster's feelings? Where does that expectation come from?

I know the question wasn't directed at me, but I think it is just the general sense of entitlement people have today.
When I first came here I asked for information and got great insight from a poster named Mar, and Cruxx. I asked simple questions and got good advice. I suppose it is all in the way you ask.
But it does seem like no one wants the advice they ask for. Often times it seems like they just want to be re-assured that they are making the right decision, even if that decision isn't supported by the facts. That seems to happen all the time on the FAR type questions.

 

[svcta]

It also depends on where you post it. I've shifted focus away from certain parts of this board as my job description has changed over the years. This one and the regionals and majors boards are the worst.


And yes, I've read this thread. In general it seemed as if it sort of turned in to a tag-team smackdown after someone decided that they disapproved of the tone.

 

[avbug]

The guy ask for some facts about pay, if the guy wanted other sorts of opinions he would have asked.

He did ask, and he got what he asked for. He just didn't like it, and whined about it. Then got righteous about it. He specifically asked for the insight of qualified people. He got it.

In the interest of clearing this up, how would you people suggest that someone find out about the pay situation

It's already been given. Repeatedly.

I don't know when Avbug last flew a swath on crops,

I'm current.

Here is one lesson, with as much respect as possible:
Nobody cares about how people did it 30 years ago, walked up hill both ways, it was a lot harder back then, yada, yada, yada. It really is that simple.

The information given is current. Not 30 years ago, but here and now. Welcome to the real world.

 

[A Squared]

It also depends on where you post it. I've shifted focus away from certain parts of this board as my job description has changed over the years. This one and the regionals and majors boards are the worst.

That could be, I don't hang out on those forums much.

And yes, I've read this thread.

OK, I guess I'm at a loss here, your question about where to go to find out the pay suggests you didn't see that the question was answered, but you say you did read it......???? OK, not important I guess.

In general it seemed as if it sort of turned in to a tag-team smackdown after someone decided that they disapproved of the tone.

Yeah, it did turn into a smackdown, but I think that calling posters condescending names and telling them to post thier opinions elsewhere had a lot to do with that.

Like I said in a previous post, people are going to contribute various things to a thread, and it may be something more then the anrswer to the specific question you asked. That's the nature of forums, the nature of conversations in general. To expect (and even insist) othewise, as 670X does, is pretty arrogant.

Maybe you can see what I mean if use a hypothetical, instead of the current discussion which is probably beyond salvage. OK, let's say I popped up on a bush flying forum and asked if anyone knew the price of a good Ercoupe, as I wanted one to transport fishing clients at the wilderness lodge I was planning to open. Now, I would expect (hope, even) that the other, more informed forum members would point out some of the difficulties of what I propose, the low useful load, poor short field performance, the fact that you can't put floats on an Ercoupe, etc. Even if I chose to disregard thier advice, I'd at least be more informed about the challenges I was facing with my project.

What I would *not* do, however, is call them names and tell them to post thier opinions elsewhere, because I only asked the price of Ercoupes and wasn't interested in anything else. And that is *exactly* what 670X has done.