FEW AVIATION CAREERS HAVE CHANGED MORE OVER THE YEARS THAN agricultural flying. What started out as semi-nomadic "crop dusters" literally dropping powdery chemicals from radial-engine biplanes has evolved to something quite different. Ag pilots now fly turboprops almost exclusively, and the flow from the liquid chemicals they disperse is computer-controlled to match satellite images showing where more or less is needed. Instead of following signals from a "flag man" standing at the edge of each field, ag pilots follow precise GPS grids with each pass-resembling an IFR pilot flying a localizer approach. The GPS provides lateral guidance, and the pilot is in charge of terrain and obstacle separation. "The flying is so precise that it's got to be almost second nature," said Graham Lavender, publisher of Ag Air Update, a trade magazine for the agricultural flying industry. "Being successful in ag flying requires a special set of skills, and flying the airplane is only a part of it."
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