The Vinton Veteran’s Memorial Airport was abuzz with activity Thursday morning. About a dozen Aerial Applicators, commonly called “Crop Dusters” from across the Midwest arrived in Vinton for a voluntary certification process hosted by Noe Aviation.
The airplanes filled the sky as they descended to the same altitude commonly used when spraying – usually from twelve to fourteen feet above crop canopy. Once at that altitude, the pilots discharged water with a pink dye from their hoppers as they crossed over a thin string. The string is then fed into a computer which tells the pilot the width of their swath to optimize their spray pattern. Another test shows the droplet size in any given area to assure that the correct amount of product is applied to the crops.
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