Dwight's Gunleather

Close Air Support on the Homestead!

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  • 4570govt
    Moderator
    • Mar 2011
    • 16839

    Close Air Support on the Homestead!

    This morning while getting ready to do the morning chores, I heard a low rumble in the sky, this plane appeared flying at tree top level! The pilot put on quite an air show, he was making runs back and forth, spraying my neighbors pastures. These crop dusters are very common in the row crop areas, but not so common here in the hills.

    I've read that these same planes have been modified for close air support operations and may be used often in "low intensity conflict" areas. I bet they would work very well.
    "Keep 'em in the 10 Ring!"


  • 4570govt
    Moderator
    • Mar 2011
    • 16839

    #2
    Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

    Here's another one.
    "Keep 'em in the 10 Ring!"


    Comment

    • Shomway
      Machine Gunner
      • Oct 2020
      • 110

      #3
      Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

      Nice job with the pics!

      Comment

      • Sustinemus
        Sgt Major
        • Jun 2020
        • 4831

        #4
        Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

        Some are used for in-close firefighting as well. They are a very capable aircraft.

        Comment

        • Hawk
          Owner / Administrator
          • Mar 2011
          • 19826

          #5
          Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

          Great, they get to spray some sort of defoliant on our guys again that they will deny ever happened until a lot of our guys are gone.
          Semper-Fi! Hawk
          ....USMC 71-73

          Life Member 3rd Mar Div Assoc.
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          • wrwindsor
            Administrator
            • Mar 2011
            • 14511

            #6
            Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

            We have one of those working fields around us too.

            The good news is the fields are downwind (north and east).


            Member M14 Rifle Club Board Member

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            • Mud Pie
              First Shirt
              • Jun 2020
              • 2226

              #7
              Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

              Originally posted by Hawk
              Great, they get to spray some sort of defoliant on our guys again that they will deny ever happened until a lot of our guys are gone.
              That's what I was thinking.... what's he laying down ? Fertilizer ? Weed killer ? Bug killer ?
              The older I get, the more I realize "life in prison" is not that much of a deterrent.


              Member M14 Rifle Club Advisory Committee

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              • luigi
                Section Leader
                • Nov 2012
                • 577

                #8
                Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                They mostly spray "fields" for pests and weeds. Just stay out of the "fields" when they spray. This is one reason the US feeds the rest of the world. Spent my whole working life in sewage treatment plants, chemical plants, paper mills, manufacturing and turned 71 last Monday. Guess I am lucky?

                Comment

                • 9th
                  Administrator
                  • Mar 2011
                  • 4086

                  #9
                  Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                  Back when we still produced molasses. They would fly a helicopter with spray wands and apply defoliant on the cane, in preparation for a burn.

                  Now there is no more sugar cane. The fields are slowly being converted to grow other crops. Of course these super smart guys only grew cane for 144 years straight. Totally depleted the soil.

                  They actually shipped topsoil over barge after barge of the stuff. Airomatic, fertile soil. I see lots of citrus orchards being put up. Things grow pretty good out here. Just things like Cherries, Apples, Pears Peaches Nectarines...They don't do well here.
                  Remember our fallen...

                  sigpic

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                  • 4570govt
                    Moderator
                    • Mar 2011
                    • 16839

                    #10
                    Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                    Originally posted by Mud Pie
                    That's what I was thinking.... what's he laying down ? Fertilizer ? Weed killer ? Bug killer ?
                    He's spraying for Army worms, they get bad around these parts when it gets dry. He started around 0600, no wind. My neighbor told me the night before that they would be flying over. Best I could tell, no spray was applied over my property. I know that pilot did drop a load on some of the neighbors cattle, he was flying for.
                    "Keep 'em in the 10 Ring!"


                    Comment

                    • 4570govt
                      Moderator
                      • Mar 2011
                      • 16839

                      #11
                      Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                      Originally posted by 4570govt
                      He's spraying for Army worms, they get bad around these parts when it gets dry. He started around 0600, no wind. My neighbor told me the night before that they would be flying over. Best I could tell, no spray was applied over my property. I know that pilot did drop a load on some of the neighbors cattle, he was flying for.
                      The neighbor is a big property owner, the farm he owns next to me is 640 acres, with farms that big and bigger, spread around two counties. Raises cattle and leases out his row crop land to farmers for raising corn, beans, rice, etc.
                      "Keep 'em in the 10 Ring!"


                      Comment

                      • geardoc
                        Squad Leader
                        • Nov 2017
                        • 416

                        #12
                        Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                        Originally posted by 4570govt
                        The neighbor is a big property owner, the farm he owns next to me is 640 acres, with farms that big and bigger, spread around two counties. Raises cattle and leases out his row crop land to farmers for raising corn, beans, rice, etc.
                        It seems big to most of us, but to really make a living you need to run 1,000-3,000 acres to really turn a profit. The problem is that you "marry" it, and it is a mistress that is very possessive and takes all your time. When we used to get asked why we got out of running cattle on 400acres, dad would ask if the people ever had to fix fence on 1 acre ? Most people didn't get "it". Some did. Finally I made the statement "It was like having several hundred dependents that we could not count on our taxes." Even still we'd get that blank look.

                        When you said army worms- boy that took me back. We used to have the worst problems with those things. The webs they'd sling in trees and Lord love a duck if you ever got into one. Finally we could not get anyone to do a spray job. We were near "snail darter" country and people with planes would not take the chance of upsetting SWCS or EPA. Appalachia Dam was vital to TVA's power production infrastructure. If we continue to have the growth that we have this moment, TVA will be over taxed. But the snail darter was more important(rolls eyes).

                        The way we got rid of the army worms was I had a pair of HVAC welding cylinders filled with propane and hooked a propane torch to it. I would walk the 600acres of cattle land, and if I saw a nest, burn it, and then wait until I saw it extinguished. Walked the 600acres we ran in a pattern of soy beans, corn, rye, and another that was being subsidized for the early days of biofuel. I would walk those 400 acres dedicated to cattle and burn every nest.

                        I did it three years in a row and they were no more.

                        I had not thought of "stinging worms" or Army worms in years. I guess I was 15 when I walked around eradicating.

                        One of the few men who did crop dusting/spraying died recently. He'd had a Rotax engine on his plane. I helped him install a stroked Harley Davidson Shovelhead engine on the plane. The prop was a custom one of one, and was the most expensive part on the plane. There was a builder who was doing the HD CV carbs and he was willing to build a carb for the oxygenated fuel and altitudes he was flying. He had another plane that he did not use for crop dusting and I built the Porsche 914 engine he put in it. The FAA inspectors took footage of both planes and gave him certifications. Nearly always- "Hey, your funeral." I think they more came to see if he was bs'ing on the paperwork he was submitting. Later on, there were these weird little Hemmelbird planes and he got me into building performance VW engines that were cut down to 1/2(2 of 4 cylinders) and I built several of those.

                        Much later a young guy came to me asking about using the Shovelhead engine for aircraft use. He adapted a Vulcan V-twin to use.

                        Almost ALL of the farms we rented to get to 1000acres ? Only our family farm of 100acres in NC and 24+/- in Georgia is still in farm use.

                        Comment

                        • GunnyG
                          Platoon Sgt
                          • Apr 2014
                          • 1282

                          #13
                          Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!



                          So what kind of plane is it?
                          There were a lot worse places than Phu Bai and they weren't all in Viet Nam.
                          sigpic

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                          • 4570govt
                            Moderator
                            • Mar 2011
                            • 16839

                            #14
                            Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                            Originally posted by GunnyG
                            https://i.imgur.com/L5Ec79N.jpg

                            So what kind of plane is it?
                            I believe this particular plane is called " Air Tractor".
                            "Keep 'em in the 10 Ring!"


                            Comment

                            • wrwindsor
                              Administrator
                              • Mar 2011
                              • 14511

                              #15
                              Re: Close Air Support on the Homestead!

                              Originally posted by 4570govt
                              The neighbor is a big property owner, the farm he owns next to me is 640 acres, with farms that big and bigger, spread around two counties. Raises cattle and leases out his row crop land to farmers for raising corn, beans, rice, etc.
                              640acres is a square mile, btw.


                              Member M14 Rifle Club Board Member

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