How I make money after retirement.

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goingnowherefast
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by goingnowherefast »

Sure it's narcissistic, but nowhere in this thread has cat claimed he's better than anybody or been hypocritical. He just does it in other threads, then wonders why we call him on it. I'm leaving it alone because this is actually an improvement.
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YYZSaabGuy
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by YYZSaabGuy »

Cat Driver wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 10:59 am
Thanks, isn't it amazing that the forum trolls who take every opportunity to belittle me about my flying history are silent on this thread?
Nothing amazing about it, really: you finally managed to post without bragging about your accident-free career which, as I've commented elsewhere, really isn't all that exceptional. Absent that, there was nothing to call you on. Try a bit of humility going forward and you might find the ragging dwindles or even ceases entirely.
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Rockie
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Rockie »

Cat Driver wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 10:59 am
Incredible piece of writing, Mr. ., this is the best post I have seen on this site in a very long time. i appreciate you taking the time to share it.
Thanks, isn't it amazing that the forum trolls who take every opportunity to belittle me about my flying history are silent on this thread?

Why would that be? :| :|
Careful flinging around the forum troll accusation Cat. As for your story...solid gold without a hint of ego in it. Keep it up.
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Cat Driver
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Cat Driver »

Of all the flying jobs I ever had crop spraying was hands down the best, especially with the Hughes 300.

So here is a story I wrote about agricultural flying.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************


The Tobacco Fields - By . .

For generations the farmers of southern Ontario have planted cared for harvested and cured tobacco in a small area on the northern shores of lake Erie. Our part in this very lucrative cash crop was aerial application of fertilizers and pesticides better known as crop dusting.

At the end of the twentieth century this form of farming is slowly dying due to the ever-increasing movement of the anti-smoking segment of society. Although few would argue the health risks of smoking it is interesting that our government actively supports both sides of this social problem. Several times in the past ten or so years I have rented a car and driven back to the tobacco farming area of Southern Ontario, where over forty years ago I was part of that unique group of pilots who earned their living flying the crop dusting planes.

The narrow old highways are still there, but like the tobacco farms they are slowly fading into history as newer and more modern freeways are built. The easiest way of finding tobacco country is to drive highway 3, during the nineteen forties and early fifties this winding narrow road was the main route from Windsor through the heart of tobacco country and on to the Niagara district. Soon after leaving the modern multi lane 401 to highway 3 you will begin to realize that although it was only a short drive you have drifted back a long way in time. Driving through the small villages and towns very little has changed and life seems to be as it was in the boom days of tobacco farming, when transients came from all over the continent for the harvest. They came by the hundreds to towns like Aylmer, Tillsonberg, Deli and Simcoe, these towns that were synonymous with tobacco have changed so little it is like going back in time.

Several of the airfields we flew our Cubs, Super Cubs and Stearmans out of in the fifties and early sixties are still there. Just outside of Simcoe highway 3 runs right past the airport and even before turning into the driveway to the field I can see that after all these years nothing seems to have changed. I could be in a time warp and can imagine a Stearman or Cub landing and one of my old flying friends getting out of his airplane after another morning killing tobacco horn worms, and saying come on . lets walk down to the restaurant and have breakfast. The tobacco hornworm was a perennial pest and our most important and profitable source of income. Most of my old companion's names have faded from memory as the years have passed and we went our different ways but some of them are easy to recall.

Like Lorne Beacroft a really great cropduster and Stearman pilot. Lorne and I shared many exciting adventures in our airplanes working together from the row crop farms in Southern Ontario to conifer release spraying all over Northern Ontario for the big pulp and paper companies. Little did we know then that many years later I would pick up a newspaper thousands of miles away and read about Lorne being Canadas first successful heart transplant. I wonder where he is today and what he is doing?

There are others, Tom Martindale whom I talked to just last year after over forty years, now retired having flown a long career with Trans Canada Airlines, now named Air Canada. Then there was Howard Zimmerman who went on to run his own helicopter company and still in the aerial applicating business last I heard of him. And who could forget Bud Boughner another character that just disappeared probably still out there somewhere flying for someone.

I have been back to St. Thomas, another tobacco farming town on highway 3 twice in the last several years to pick up airplanes to move for people in my ferry business. The airport has changed very little over the years. The hanger where I first learned to fly cropdusters is still there with the same smell of chemicals that no Ag. Pilot can ever forget. It is now the home of Hicks and Lawrence who were in the business in the fifties and still at it, only the airplanes have changed.

My first flying job started in that hangar, right from a brand new commercial license to the greatest flying job that any pilot could ever want. There were twenty-three of us who started the crop dusting course early that spring, in the end only three were hired and I was fortunate to have been one of them.

With the grand total of 252 hours in my log book I started my training with an old duster pilot named George Walker. Right from the start he let me know that I was either going to fly this damned thing right on its limits and be absolutely perfect in flying crop spraying patterns or the training wouldn't last long. It was fantastic not only to learn how to really fly unusual attitudes but do it right at ground level.

To become a good crop duster pilot required that you accurately fly the airplane to evenly apply the chemicals over the field being treated. We really had to be careful with our flying when applying fertilizers in early spring as any error was there for all to see as the crop started growing. This was achieved by starting on one side of the field maintaining a constant height, airspeed and track over the crop. Just prior to reaching the end of your run full power was applied, and at the last moment the spray booms were shut off and at the same time a forty-five degree climb was initiated. As soon as you were clear of obstructions a turn right or left was made using forty five to sixty degrees of bank. After approximately three seconds a very quick turn in the opposite direction was entered until a complete one hundred and eighty degree change of direction had been completed. If done properly you were now lined up exactly forty-five feet right or left of the track you had just flown down the field.

From that point a forty-five degree dive was entered and with the use of power recovery to level flight was made at the exact height above the crop and the exact airspeed required for the next run down the field in the opposite direction to your last pass. Speed was maintained from that point by reducing power.

To finish the course and be one of the three finally hired was really hard to believe. To be paid to do this was beyond belief. When the season began we were each assigned an airplane, a crash helmet, a tent and sleeping bag and sent off to set up what was to be our summer home on some farmers field. Mine was near Langdon just a few miles from lake Erie.

Last year I tried without success to find the field where my Cub and I spent a lot of that first summer. Time and change linked with my memory of its location being from flying into it rather than driving to it worked against me and I was unable to find it. Remembering it however is easy, how could one forget crawling out of my tent just before sunrise to mix the chemicals? Then pump it into the spray tank and hand start the cub. Then to be in the air just as it was getting light enough to see safely and get in as many acres as possible before the wind came up and shut down our flying until evening. Then with luck the wind would go down enough to allow us to resume work before darkness would shut us down for the day. The company had a very good method for assuring we would spray the correct field.

Each new job was given to us by the salesman who after selling the farmer drew a map for the pilots with the location of the farm and each building and its color plus all the different crops were written on the map drawn to scale. As well as the buildings all trees, fences and power lines were drawn to scale. It was very easy for us to find and positively identify our field to be sprayed and I can not remember us making any errors in that regard.

Sadly there were to many flying errors made and during the first three years that I crop-dusted eight pilots died in this very demanding type of flying in our area. Most of the accidents were due to stalling in turns or hitting power lines, fences or trees.

One new pilot who had only been with us for two weeks died while doing a low level stall turn and spinning in, he was just to low to recover from the loss of control. He had been on his way back from a spraying mission when he decided to put on an airshow at the farm of his girlfriend of the moment. This particular accident was to be the last for a long time as those of us who were flying for the different companies in that area had by that time figured out what the limits were that we could not go beyond.

Even though there were a lot of accidents in the early years they at least gave the industry the motivation to keep improving on flying safety, which made a great difference in the frequency of pilot error accidents. Agricultural flying has improved in other areas as well especially in the use of toxic chemicals.

In 1961 Rachel Carson wrote a book called "The silent spring. " This book was the beginning of public awareness to the danger of the wide area spraying of chemicals especially the use of D.D.T. to control Mosquitoes and black flies.

For years all over the world we had been using this chemical not really aware that it had a very long-term residual life. When Rachels book pointed out that D.D.T. had began to build up in the food chain in nature, she also showed that as a result many of the birds and other species were in danger of being wiped out due to D.D.T. Her book became a best seller and we in the aerial application business were worried that it would drastically affect our business, and it did.

The government agency in Ontario that regulated pesticides and their use called a series of meetings with the industry. From these meetings new laws were passed requiring us to attend Guelph agricultural college and receive a diploma in toxicology and entomology. I attended these classes and in the spring of 1962 passed the exams and received Pest Control License Class 3 - Aerial Applicator.

My license number was 001. Now if nothing else I can say that I may not have been the best but I was the first. Without doubt the knowledge and understanding of the relationship of these chemicals to the environment more than made up for all the work that went into getting the license. From that point on the industry went to great length to find and use chemicals less toxic to our animal life and also to humans.

It would be easy to just keep right on writing about aerial application and all the exciting and sometimes boring experiences we had, however I will sum it all up with the observation that crop dusting was not only my first flying job it was without doubt the best. I flew seven seasons' crop dusting and I often think of someday giving it another go, at least for a short time.
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
flaps78
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by flaps78 »

Hello dogone,

A slight correction. In 1972/1973 Boreck only had 1 DHC-6 (CF-ABW). It was flown primarily by Merv McCarrol (deceased) and based out of Rae Point flying for Pan Arctic. In the summer of 1972 Northward had 1 DHC 6, I DHC-3 and a Pilatus Porter based in Eureka as well as a Dornier DO28A based in Nord Greenland. Bradley was based in Resolute and mainly did the Polar Shelf contract. Atlas Aviation was the biggest charter/sked operator and was based in Resolute. During the Summer of 1972 Weldy had sold out to Kenting Aviation but stayed on (along with his St. Bernard - Brutus) to ensure a some transition. Yes, I was there.

Flaps 78
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Rockie
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Rockie »

Jesus .. Those stories are simultaneously entertaining and educational because what you describe are basic survival strategies that believe or not can be applied to any aircraft. Where the hell has this side of you been all this time? I like it. :smt038 :smt038 :smt038

A word of friendly advice you can take or leave...you’ve got nothing to prove. Don’t feel like you have to.
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Cat Driver
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Cat Driver »

Thanks Rockie, your opinion is important to me believe it or not.

If you knew me one on one you would understand I do not ever feel I have anything to prove because my life has been very busy doing really interesting things and I gravitated towards interesting and relatively risky flying for a lot of my flying career because deep down I like challenging jobs.

Risk taking requires close examination of how to minimise the risk as much as possible..

The flying risks were no where near the risks we were exposed to in a lot of the areas we flew in.

I was fortunate to have been in the employ of TF1 French television for several years flying all over Africa in Project Okavango and South America flying the route of Aeropostale for the French government.

Probably the most worrisome thing for me was the constant risk of malaria in a lot of Africa, we could not take drugs to reduce the risk because of the long time frames we were there, several of our people in the project did come down with malaria and one sadly died from it.

By the way malaria is still prevelent in some of South America.

So I guess I am a thrills junkie and for sure do not feel I have anything to prove.

I will post another short story when this thread gets really slow.
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
Phlyer
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Phlyer »

Glad to see this .. I remember Duke posting his stories and I always hoped the senior folks on here would post their best stories too. Experience comes hard fought and it is not only entertaining but educational for all. Cheers
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Spandau
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Spandau »

You have a gift, .. As was said of Ernie Gann's writing, "You can smell the fear in the cockpit." Great stories - stick with it.
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justwork
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by justwork »

Thanks for sharing Cat. Really enjoy stories like these.
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TG
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by TG »

Great stories.

This part is unfortunate
Cat Driver wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:14 pm
Probably the most worrisome thing for me was the constant risk of malaria in a lot of Africa, we could not take drugs to reduce the risk because of the long time frames we were there, several of our people in the project did come down with malaria and one sadly died from it.
Unfortunate that you and your collegue were led to believe that anti malaria drugs were more nocive in the long run then getting malaria itself.
I too know someone who got convinced about the same thing by some South African guys. As a reward he almost passed away from getting cerebral’s malaria.


I grew up in Africa religiously taking « nivaquine » everyday until we moved out (in my teens)
This stuff was way more nocif to take at that time than what it’s available now. But whatever its side effects, it still would outrun malaria by a long shot.


Sorry, back on topic, yes! Great reading...
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Cat Driver
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Cat Driver »

I would like to reply to your opinion on taking drugs to prevent malaria TG,

The drug we were taking was Larium and it was supplied by the people we were working for TF1 French Television.

I stopped taking it on the advice of my Aviation doctor who did not want me taking it due to its side effects.

I am well aware of the different opinions on this subject but in my case I took the advice of my Aviation doctor and quit taking it. Instead I used misquito repellent and wore long sleeve shirts etc.

Fortunately I never contracted malaria either in Africa or South America.
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by confusedalot »

Cat Driver wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:14 pm Thanks Rockie, your opinion is important to me believe it or not.

If you knew me one on one you would understand I do not ever feel I have anything to prove because my life has been very busy doing really interesting things and I gravitated towards interesting and relatively risky flying for a lot of my flying career because deep down I like challenging jobs.

Risk taking requires close examination of how to minimise the risk as much as possible..

The flying risks were no where near the risks we were exposed to in a lot of the areas we flew in.

I was fortunate to have been in the employ of TF1 French television for several years flying all over Africa in Project Okavango and South America flying the route of Aeropostale for the French government.

Probably the most worrisome thing for me was the constant risk of malaria in a lot of Africa, we could not take drugs to reduce the risk because of the long time frames we were there, several of our people in the project did come down with malaria and one sadly died from it.

By the way malaria is still prevelent in some of South America.

So I guess I am a thrills junkie and for sure do not feel I have anything to prove.

I will post another short story when this thread gets really slow.
Wow, you are a forgiving soul, which makes you a bigger man. Can't say that have I that in me, being mentally retarded and all. :lol:

Carry on.
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Hockaloogie »

There's no need to worry about .'s ability to make money after retirement. After all, he's been dining out on that Arcturus story since at least 2006. :mrgreen:

http://www.ebushpilot.com/arcturus.htm
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Spandau
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Spandau »

I don't mean to hijack the thread here, but my first couple of tours in Africa I took a tablet daily of "Malarone" (my spelling might be off a little) that could be taken daily as a preventative, or in much larger doses, as a cure, but I was informed later that besides being hard on the liver (and my liver has never been cut much slack) that taking the drug as a preventative could give you a false negative if you got sick and they tested you for malaria. After about two tours I switched to just keeping it in my pack in case I got sick. Fortunately, despite being in some fairly nasty places, I came home malaria free but I was wondering if anyone had ever heard of having a false negative test result because of taking the preventative medication? I still laugh when I remember the prescription on another drug that I carried: "For memorable diarrhea." Mexico has nothing on Africa! :shock:
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Last edited by Spandau on Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cat Driver
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Cat Driver »

No problem about hijacking the thread, the more people who share their experiences the better.

Did you take medicines to protect you from the night fighters? :mrgreen:
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no


After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by Spandau »

It seemed the best course of action was to leave the nightfighters to the Russians! :-)
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Re: How I make money after retirement.

Post by cncpc »

Great story, well written, ..
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