The winds were blowing just as bad this morning as the were when we landed yesterday. The windsock stuck straight out all day long. When we got to the airport we pulled the planes out of the hangar, fueled up, loaded the bags and went back into the pilot's flight planning room to figure out our next move.
We figured that we would be flying west together for a while, then Art would split northwest, and I would go southwest. Then I called Flight Service and got the bad news. Albuquerque New Mexico was covered over in a layer of cumulus clouds. The mountains surrounding the airport were obscured. There would be no flying into Albuquerque this morning. Of course the clouds would burn off later in the morning, but by then they would be turning into thunderstorms.
Art's course was clear, but windy. So this is where we split up. We shook hands, agreed that we had indeed lived out a pilot's fantasy, and we would fly together again soon. Then it was done. I watched him take off into the high winds and still could not help thinking what a beautiful airplane it is.
As I'm standing there admiring Art's plane turning northwest, a couple of local types come up to me and start asking about my Waco. It turns out that these two guys are local crop duster pilots, and they both own Grumman Ag Cats. The Ag Cat is first and foremost a biplane, so it already qualifies as a great airplane. Additionally, it is a real workhorse, built like a tank, and is usually flown by some of the world's best pilots who fly the nuts off it. Duster pilots have always been my heroes, right up there with fighter pilots and carrier pilots. The difference is that duster pilots get paid better than fighter pilots, and they don't normally get shot at, and they get to fly very low, under bridges and wires, and it's legal! What a great life.
Well, we get to talking, and it seems that these guys have been waiting for years for another biplane pilot to come along so they could tell them every crop duster story they knew. And I loved it! We talked for several hours and then they even bought me lunch so we could talk some more. They had nothing else to do because it was just too windy for spraying.
Jim Floyd and Carlin Lawrence are your basic duster pilot legends, but they wouldn't agree to that. They tell stories of other guys who are still dusting crops and are well into their seventies. Jim and Carlin are only about 60 or so. But to hear some of their stories you would swear that they should never have gotten that far. Stories about hitting wires ("If you KNOW you're going to hit a wire, the best thing is to head straight for it, put the wire smack dab in the middle of your prop."). Stories about running out of fuel as a routine. Jim calls it "Bingo fuel". Maybe because you are going to go straight down... Bingo! Stories of extraordinary spraying missions such as the one Jim does once a year for $80 (but you get the impression that he would PAY for the opportunity to do this run. It's a straight run lasting about a mile and a half, and it is directly over a railroad track, in a long deep gully, and the run takes him under one bridge, and on the other side of the bridge, a set of wires. The bridge is only a couple of feet wider than his wings. He says he measured it on the ground before he flew it the first time. His advice for this kind of run? Get down as low as you can, enough to know that you will clear the obstacle, then keep looking straight ahead, never look up at the bridge or wires because the tendency is to pull a bit back on the stick and fly right up into it.
Carlin has so many stories, and knows so many other great duster pilots that he wants to write a book on the crazy stuff these guys do. I have to agree that it would be a classic.
I learn that there are a couple of schools that actually teach crop dusting. I make a mental note to enroll as soon as humanly possible.
Liberal Kansas has a major attraction for pilots. Right on the airport is the Mid America Air Museum, a very complete collection of aircraft of all kinds, most in very good condition. I was really looking forward to checking the place out, so I was not at all disappointed that Albuquerque was socked in. The star of the museum was the F4U Corsair, flown by Navy and Marine pilots in W.W.II. It was so superior to Japanese planes that they called it "Whistling Death". I stood there for a long time trying to imagine what it would have been like to fly this incredibly powerful, awesomely beautiful aircraft, with carrier takeoffs and landings in heavy seas, low visibility, and in battle. And it was done by twenty year old kids! And they flew circles around the enemy.
When you meet people like Jim and Carlin, and contemplate the history of the Corsair pilots, it is a humbling experience indeed. I have much to learn.
The plan for tomorrow is to be at the airport before daybreak for preflight planning. Take off at first light when the winds are less severe. Head southwest to Dalhart Texas then to Tucumcari New Mexico, then refuel and continue to Albuquerque. One step closer to home.