While that quote was most likely uneducated flame bait, it was also one of the least intelligent things to ever be posted here. Good job.
I won't bother making airline and ag comparisons, because there really isn't any, nor need there be. Suffice it to say that ag aviation is no entry level career track...really more of a way of life based on the commitment necessary...and hardly a fallback for folks who won't make it to entry-level areas of the industry.
Night flying is a specialty that requires more than a fair amount of skill; it pays accordingly. It's an operational requirement in some areas and for certain types of application.
I've had bird guts down my collar in flight, but never bugs in my teeth. Open cockpit spraying is history that's not often fondly remembered by those who've seen a sulfur fire chasing their airplane in flight, or those that got a mormon cricket stuck in their mouth at an inopportune time...or those who've had to choke back dust or spray. They say you can tell a happy motorcyclist by the bugs in his teeth, but I can't say the same about an ag pilot. You can tell a happy ag pilot because he's eating. And working. And his family is eating when he's working.
Union? If it weren't so ignorant, it might be funny.
If you're planning on training yourself, here's a shortcut. Skip the airplane; go cut down a powerline, wrap it around your neck, stand on top of the powerline, and jump. Save time, cut to the chase.
How are you going to borrow an ag airplane and "build" ag time?
If you want to get trained, keep driving across the country, ask every ag operator you meet for an opportunity to load and mix chemical, and the chance to eventually work into a flying position. Plan on several years of doing this, and be sure you arrive with mechanical skills and your own tools, a good working knowledge of farms, tractors, crops, insects, chemicals, aircraft, conventional gear and low level operations. Have some good conventional gear experience under your belt. Prepare to have lean winters, and to switch jobs seasonally. Be prepared to move to find work, to be gone as necessary, to live in rural areas, and to change your life.
