Tora, Tora,
 

...Tora!

So, I'm sitting out in the back of the Domain this morning about 8:30am, drinking my coffee while watching calves enjoy their morning milk when I realize that in the background there's the distinct voice of a radial engine coupled to a trans-sonic propeller. You can hear it maneuvering, first the ratchety sound of the exhaust as the airplane is headed away, then the prop talk increasing in pitch as the aircraft turns and picks up speed in a dive.

Hmm...WTF? Sounds like Pearl Harbor is next door.

It takes me a minute to realize it's a crop duster working the Brazos bottom land about 4 miles to the north of us.

Never, ever a dull moment...

my mom used to tell us stories about her and her brothers & sisters running out into the fields when they heard the crop duster. they'd try to get out under it as it flew over to get sprayed!

northern maine, such simple folks! :D

could be
 

A buddy of mine used to fly "Ag Cats" if I remember the name correctly. It was a biplane, with a big radial in it. If I remember there was a regular and turbo or supercharged version.

This friend was a risk taker. He ended up hitting a high voltage power line at the end of a run. One wheel went over, one went under the power line. These Ag Cats have a NASCAR like roll cage. He said the next thing he remembers is walking down a dirt road next to the field, in a daze. He was very lucky. The plane was totaled.

We have a guy just north of us that has several old fashioned Biplanes.
Don't know if they are remakes or what.

Noisy, yea. But fun to watch. Sometimes he does some tricks.

Funny though I was gonna post this.
Had an Avantair (?) twin pusher property corporate style go over head.

Dang that thing was noisy, we have corp jets go overhead regulalry on their way to Palwakee (Chicagoland Exec) and some are almost silent.
And I think they are lower than that Avantair thing was.

Although it is a really neat looking plane.

After a few years of working on Chinook helicopters I still think of their noise as being a normal part of my day, even though it is a long time since I worked on one... most of my neighbours disagree though!

Not as romantic as a radial - the USA is great for old aircraft. I did see a Dakota flying here in Holland last year though when they were doing jollies at the local airfield it was a lot better than the modern stuff they usually have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmoSOdZhAvs


Oh you were referring to the original, my mistake :)

IIRC, that's where tooth paste and tooth brushes were invented.

Was it one of these units? A Piaggio Avanti P.180?

http://www.forbestraveler.com/media/...t/HR-Jet-d.jpg

Or some other sort of Piaggio...

http://files.myopera.com/MrQuangHai/....jpg_thumb.jpg

Yep one of them.

Avantair is the fractional ownership for them.

guy here in town that runs the airport also cropdusts and he has crashed at least 6 different planes and has walked away from all of em.his kid is following in his tracks.he crashed one this summer.

If you don't die in a crash, cancer will eventually get you.

Whenever I see those cropdusters in action I wonder how they avoid crashing.

Do they really do that much good for the crops?

It seems like a lot of toxic stuff floating in the air.

alot of times the ground is too wet to get into the fields,or the crops are too tall.like this year there was a fungus that came on because of the wet summer.the only way to spray was by air.

Makes sense. I always wondered why you see them sometimes and not others.

tough way to make a living
 

Here's a video of the Agcat....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KpQH0coKYw