Bet you didn't know that pilots name was John Walton, son of Sam Walton the Walmart guy. Silver star in Vietnam special forces, flute in us army band. Died in a plane crash in Arkansas.
I shot this documentary in the 1970’s just north of Greenwood Mississippi, in the delta area. It was produced for a PBS series at the time called “American Dream Machine” However I have lost records of what the pilots name was or followed his whereabouts.
Don, my father also would have been flying around the Delta at this time. He began spraying in 1972. My parents lived in Canton, MS, and dad sprayed the Delta for probably all of the 70s. We lost him in 2017 or I'd ask him if he remembered this PBS special. Thanks for posting. Brings back lots of memories of flying with him in an ag cat.
@@streamer47 john Walton was killed about 10 years ago in Jackson Hole, Idaho i think. His airplane nose dived after take off due some failure of the enpennage..
Probably the best footage of working Stearman sprayers and the crude, primitive ways and means of agricultural flying in the old days. They are a thing of the past now. Ag operators now have state of the art GPS swath management systems, automatic flaggers, turboprop engines, and radios. Very few converted Stearmans still exist in sprayer configuration and none of them are working that I know of. Most Stearman dusters and sprayers have now been scrapped or restored back to their original WWII trainer configurations.
Although I didn’t know this pilot (or service he was with) I grew up just 15 miles north of Greenwood and was a loader at an ag pilot strip (Walker Flying Service) in Philipp, MS, in the mid 70’s. I do remember seeing an open cockpit Stearman spraying crops near Greenwood in the early 70’s.
@cwr8618 he was flying a converted bomber - witnesses reported seeing it in flames before the crash. What i remember reading about that plane is that it was not known for responsiveness- pilots said they would "ask" that plane to do - whatever. Why they choose that plane for that job I don't know. Iv thought that choice was the mistake. Missed him since 1963. He flew for Pan Am & was getting certified for the jet engine at that time. Dusting on the side.
The pilot’s name is John Walton. Son of Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart). John was also a Green Beret in Vietnam and the recipient of the Silver Star for bravery in combat. I see he is wearing his old faded tiger striped fatigues. Blue skies and tailwinds John.
Mr. Guy, my props to you for the camera work on this. Even with all the access to camera tech we have today, not just anyone has an eye for what the viewer should see. It’s a huge responsibility as a documentarian, I’m sure. Thanks for this.
This brings back a lot of memories for me living on the farm in Gilbert, AZ back in the early 60's. There wasn't a day that went by where I wouldn't hear the familiar sound of the bi-planes crop dusting the cotton. Always the flagman walking his certain number of steps with each pass. No umbrellas, but large flags they would wave back and forth. The tight turns of the bi-planes at the end of each run. They switched to helicopters at some point. My Uncle flew both and would land on the road outside our home and take us for a ride. There were times I could feel it hit my skin, so I've wondered about the effects, now that I'm in my late 60's. I seem to be doing fine so far. My dad fell ill with parathion poisoning at some point, but recovered. Then, in the fall, we heard the sound again as they would do the same thing, only this time they would lay down the defoliant on the cotton so the leaves would fall off just as the cotton bolls would open. The defoliant had a distinctive smell to it and all the sounds and smells would tell me what time of year it was. I miss it.....and my Dad.
Awesome! Where exactly in Gilbert was this farm? Grew up there and wasn’t really mature enough to appreciate the agricultural history of the town until now 😁
Our farm was on the southeast corner of Guadalupe and Elliot. It was a yellow two story adobe house with a corrugated tin roof. Of course it’s long gone now. Guadalupe was a dirt road.
@@mmd195401 Do you mean Higley and Elliot? That’s at least where the silos are, so it’d make sense. Those 4 silos are still there, and Gilbert seems to use those as the towns main landmark now
Growing up in south Mississippi and living on a farm we would let the Air Tractors land on our flat 120 Acre field so they could fertilize the plantation pines that where grown for Warehouser paper co. After the work day ended the pilots Kenny and Steve would take me up for a loop as a 7-10 year old kid. I’ll never forget it. This was back in the 80’s
My folks had a crop dusting business in Peoria and Perryville, AZ. Dad was the pilot. This was in the 1950s to the late 1970s. Dad had a helmet and seat belts. He flew the Navy version of the Stearman (N3N). Thank you, this clip most accurately shows the life of crop dusting 🎉😂❤
Could you please tell me the name of your folk's dusting service? Both my father and I worked for Marsh Aviation in Litchfield Park Ariz. in the late 60's, and seventies. I'll bet my dad was aquainted with your folks. His name was Warren Parks. Ring any bells?
A dangerous job to be sure and it takes a brave man to do that kind of work. I live surrounded by farmland in an area similar to what's shown. Some of the passes that the crop duster pilots I watch make aren't for the faint of heart. Growing up, my best friend's dad was a crop duster pilot - flew an Air Tractor. He passed away a couple years ago after clipping a tree line while crop dusting in Texas - the plane crashed and burst into flames. He managed to crawl out and made it, if I remember correctly, around 100 yards to someone's house with 90%+ of his body having 3rd degree burns, but later died in hospital. He was a good man and I think of him often - reminds me of the fragility of life and how important it is. Rest in Peace, Thad.
Thank You Mr. Don for posting this video. As a third generation Ag Pilot , I can't thank you enough for letting me view the old days of this profession. My Grandfather was a 35 year operator, who was born and raised in Greenville,Ms. He learned to fly in WWII, and began his ag career in a 220 Stearman in the Ms. Delta. Again great video thanks for sharing it.
duster pilot there was an AG pilot, last name of Tabb as I recall, who was killed on the day he was retiring and was to start a new job next day. Any kin?
You could tell the season in the Delta by the smell and color of the spray on your car. Pre-emerge and post-emerge herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and defoliants. Each had their own bouquet and subtle colors 😂. A wonder we all aren’t brain dead or have cancer.
I grew up in far west valley in Phoenix, I loved watching the crop duster fly. Day and night with lights that looked like the sun when they turned em on. I swear they would fly under the power lines at the ends of the fields sometimes. I also got a kick out of watching the dragline operators clear out the field sumps, very skilled in ancient machines.
Wow, this is so neat!!!!!! I 'grew up' with this in NC Texas, 1953-'63. Dad, bein a ex AF combat pilot, WWII took me out to watch them work, when they first started comin thru our part of the world. We would go to wherever the dirt road intersections were that Saturday, that they were flyin out of. Damn it was neat for a 10 yr old boy! During refueling and reloading the hopper with dust, they let me stand on the wing. With the motor idling and the propwash blowin over me, I'll forever remember the smell of AV Gas and DDT dust. After refuelin, the pilot took off (no name, but Stearman painted green and silver), then turned and dived at us, and after givin us a custom FLATTOP haircut! pulled up. With that big radial putin out its characteristic low blubberin sound, he pulled up and put out his arms from the cockpit and waved them like he was flyin like a bird!!! Wow, what a show. That's what I want to do!!!!!! By the way, my wife Cindy did not post this, her husband, my name Rob, posted this!
Man, some of those moves, pulling up right before the trees, had my heart pumping harder than watching an action film. I had no idea that crop dusting was that intense!
You should look up some modern flying! We go much faster than they did. Power lines trees and cars are just a blink away. However our planes today are built to crash so these guys were in much bigger danger, hats off to them!
My father is a pilot, flies a small single prop. Seeing the maneuvers this man is pulling makes me so nervous. It truly is a completely different beast than more traditional flying, requiring a whole different set of skills. Very interesting documentary I'm glad I spent the time.
This guy is old school. I never flew an ag plane without a helmet and fortunately never had to mix chemicals. I got away with about 2000 hours worth of ag flying and didn't total any airplanes in the process but brushed some trees and took down some wires in the process.
Holy shite! I cut my teeth with some seasoned guys that started their careers in these days. We've come a long way since then. So grateful to know guys like this and so thankful to be sitting in an 802 today taking it "easy" compared to the good ol' days
I remember on the 80s as a 9 year old , fly on the same airplane as a co-pilot, same cockpit no seatbelts, it was one of the moments that I can´t forget, stearman!!!!!
@@JavierBrent it still wouldn't be a bad idea to get a cancer screening depending on what chemical you were using. Thanks for doing a dirty job for the rest of us.
I did this a couple of times on our farm as a kid. You definitely used the wind to your advantage and moved upwind as soon as the plane was lined up. they have GPS guidance in the planes now.
I am 67, Grandpa, uncle and his son my cousin were crop dusters, All dead before 55. I would get up at five and go over to the hangers where they were filling planes and auger trucks. Sometimes flagman rode in the hopper. Watching Cheesy prop the planes and soon all hit the strip. Hotty Potty, was the cry after priming that signaled the beast would sputter to life. Long about dark they would drift in and Grandpa would come in for a beer and some supper. A little tv and to bed. Yes black and white. We would watch Paul Bosch rasslin on the weekends. They live fast and furious. Always drove a caddy. Someone once gave him a chute. It made a good seat pad. Parachute useless otherwise. Dope room was interesting! My uncle went on to ag cats and tractors. Finally to turbo props. Cousin could back his into the hanger. The smells, noise and visions still live in my head. This film was VERY good and i am sorry for those that didn't get a chance to get a face full of stuff off the runway.Thank You Don Guy !
Great video! I remember as a kid in the late 60s and early 70s watching the crop dusters in Mexico MO fuel up and load up at the airport. Steve Bright and Odell Priest. Steve had an Ag Cat that was bright yellow. They would drop markers made of a piece of cardboard and toilet paper to see wind direction and when they were near my house they would give me a “wing wave” and drop a marker for us to catch. The sound of that Pratt and Whitney radial was awesome , great memories.
Haha, I have hand swung for myself like forty times and each time been truly grateful that the safety measures which I used worked. A mate of mine handswung solo for no good reason and was chased around the airfield by his 8GCBC until it nosed over!! Oh god happy days and lucky man indeed.
Don Guy Thank you for sharing this video. It absolutely captures the essence of crop dusting and spraying in the early to mid 20th century. I was not a duster myself but I was around it in the late 60s and early 70s. I also farm and we didn't know any better than to expose ourselves to these dangerous chemicals... and some we didn't yet know were dangerous. I was once very ill due to organo-phosphates used as an insecticide while planting corn. It opened my eyes. Great job putting this together Don !
Real old school. There weren’t that many Stearmans in use by the early 70s. I was flying Pawnees and Thrushes, in South Georgia and we had a competitor next to us on the airport that used a 450 Stearman. He was from South Carolina, and he had his son working as a loader boy. They would fly home some weekends with the son in the hopper.
Wow! Great story, thanks for posting this. The comments are also very informative. Thx to all for the xtra info! As an aside, there’s a great book out there about a crop duster who worked the Central Az and northern Mexico farms in the early 50’s. It’s titled “By the Skin of My Teeth”.
I remember these stearman back when I was kid . I remember a lot of crashes with highline wires and trees. One pilot used to fly under the wires and always had cotton stocks in his gear.
My cousin started crop dusting in the early 70's in the Mississippi Delta mostly in Sunflower and Tallahatchie County right out of high school in his early 20's. A massive heart attack is what stopped him in his middle 40's. He had to give it all up.
Old school flyin' right there. Parathion is banned, now, as is every other chemical I used to spray. I flew Pawnees (150 and 235) starting in 1972j as a young man. I did it for four years and got out. Great video, thanks for preserving that era, now gone forever.
@@He_that_has_eyes easy for you to day. as you type on your rare earth metal internet device, after a meal likely sourced and serviced with heavy logistics chains full of literal poisons and hazards aplenty... like, actually, sez u moment lmao gtf of here bozo 🤓🤓🤡🤡 p.s if you weren't such a total NPC you'd realize a) they made best due with what they had, and b) not always, or mostly for many, were sprayin food only. think textiles; cotton. but that'd require u to think, so, ultimately this comment will fall on deaf ears. such is life yapping into the void aka youtube comments section in the 21st century 🌌🌌✨
@dizzleslaunsen2372 when I plant my garden I take in to account that I am going to lose a portion to bugs. So I plant more so that I have the amount of crop I need whilst losing an acceptable amount to pests. Sure it sucks, but at least I know I'm not consuming chemicals. YOU are ignorant for blindly supporting spraying chemicals on your food. But hey, I'm not the one that eats it, you are😂
Fabulous, really takes me back to Bob Graves Flying Service at Scott Field in Tallulah, Louisiana back in the 1960s and early 1970s which brought me into flying! Too old to fly anymore but I sure enjoyed all my hours flying numerous tail traggers over the Mississippi River Delta. We also had Bob Gomitz Field, Gustafson, Red Beard and one of my favorite services at Tallabena, Louisiana! By the way, aerial chemical spraying and crop dusting were born in Tallulah at Scott Field where the first spray planes we're DeHaviland war surplus biplanes.
@@roxannejohnson4833 I never met your Dad. 1971 was kind of in between for me. I used to go to Scott Field as a kid in the late 1950s and 1960s, then married in 1972, moved to Tallulah in late 1973 and began flying out of Graves with Benny May in 1977. I knew many of the duster pilots then.
@@charlesfoster141, do you remember John Robert Hollingsworth up in Shelby, MS? My uncle, Bernard Threet, flew for him for many years. He then did some flying for somebody Foster... I wonder if your family might be that Foster.
@@megadavis5377 Hollingsworth rings a bell but I do not recall Shelby Mississippi. My grandfather had a farm that was sprayed by pilots out in Tallabena, Louisiana located right across the highway from his cotton farm. But that was around 1959 when I was a small boy. He died in 1962.
Thanks for posting sounds like an amazing person leaving the Corp world for a simple life where money was not everything, flying an amazing aircraft and setting back in a jet were the autopilot does all the work, But having a life where pilot skills are kelp sharp, and life is real. We should all be so lucky Thanks for making and posting this for at times people let us into their lives and possibly make one dream or open their eyes to new worlds or ideals
In the mid 1960's, while growing up in a farming community on the Central California Coast, my brother and I would climb the apricot tree in our backyard, and watch Stearman's and Pawnee's spray the lettuce field next to our house. As they pulled up over our house, the pesticides rained down upon us like rain! Of the five siblings in our family, my two sisters passed away from breast cancer at 41 and 57 years of age, while my oldest brother died at 67 from liver cancer. Dad passed away at 84 from prostrate cancer. I read in the comments below that pilot Walton had died in a plane crash, not related to dusting. Wonder if he had any cancer related health issues before he was killed . . .
@@tackywhale5664 My guess is they were applying DDT, but that's just a guess, since my brother and I were only 8 and 9 years old at the time. Yes, they still use aircraft for aerial application, particularly in the Central Valley, which is rich in agriculture.
The Delta is a very unique and beautiful part of this country. I was fortunate enough to be sent there for a year. Me and a buddy got to know a lot of those farmers since we were there to negotiate oil & gas leases with them. Some of the kindest and most generous folks I’ve ever met. I was born and raised in the south so that’s saying a lot!
What an amazing guy he was. My dream is still to be a AG pilot one day. I’ve recently got my pilots license and am working my way up a few hours at a time when I can afford it. Thanks to Johnn and Don for keeping the aviation dream alive.
I just want to say I really enjoyed your story it’s a blast from the past I too was in the same field pun intended however the pesticides got to me and killed off not one but almost 2 of my kidneys but I’m good and then between motorcycle accidents and other things over the years my flying career hit The end however… Nice story and blue skies to your brother.. and your dog to😉👍 ✈️
Thanks Don,a really good quality film, showing how it's done by a modest & skilled pilot, John Walton. Great shame he's passed on. It brings back lots of memories, the push-over into the crop, & the proceedure turn to get back onto the field asap. I flew Pawnees of various marks, never had a crack on the Stearman. I just fix them & other planes now, although I'm still flying as often as I can. Best regards. G
These fliers almost give us a crewcut over in Sunflower County Mississippi back when I worked for Illinois Central in the seventies. They were fun to watch.
Really impressed me how low he was flying...touching the crops with his wheels 😳 Dangerous but definitely having more fun than the people on the ground 👍
So for anyone who's curious, the pilot is John T Walton - son of Sam Walton (Wal-Mart). He died in 2005 in a plane crash... as the 11th richest man on earth.
I was an apprentice in aerial application company in the early 1970’s. All the pilots went to hospital at regular intervals to have their blood toxin levels checked. The pilot who was ahead of me in the training program got his application license. On the 2nd day on the job as a full fledged pilot he stalled and spun in and was killed. David had a legendary reputation for his stick and rudder skills. Me, just a mortal regular pilot got a wake up call. Most of the aerial application pilots died early. Was it their cigarettes and whisky or the chemicals that caused the cancer they all seemed to get?
I flagged for Roy McArdle, duster pilot in the S Tx RGV in the 60's....he had a '28 and '29 Travelair.....this pilot here is one of the Walmart heirs and was killed flying an extremely inexpensive ultralight---some fitting on the tail assembly failed.......he is obviously a damned good duster pilot. My boss, Roy bought the very first Snow S2B Duster....Leland Snow was from our town, Harlingen Tx, and had dusted with Roy in Nicaragua in the 50's. RIP Cropduster Walton.
Sam, what a touching and heartfelt remembrance, and your assumptions regarding your Father’s death may not be unfounded. You’re also spot on regarding the impact of agricultural chemicals. Thank you for taking a moment to share this. Regards.
Thanks for sharing these comments. I shot this film in the 1970's for a PBS show at the time called "American Dream Machine" and still trying to find out the name of the pilot.
George Lucas discovered this PBS documentary by Don Guy in the mid 70s, which inspired his characters Anakin and Luke Skywalker. They were both farmer boys and capable pilots with mechanical skills, and they possessed the personality, calm and physique of this pilot. You will even find some of the action shots from this documentary replicated in Star Wars. You can hear the TIE-Fighter sound around 3:40
Thank you TH-cam algorithm for sending me here. What a moment in time
Bet you didn't know that pilots name was John Walton, son of Sam Walton the Walmart guy. Silver star in Vietnam special forces, flute in us army band. Died in a plane crash in Arkansas.
@@kennardjohnson7875
Wow. Had to look that up it your shared info was so interesting.
@@kennardjohnson7875 Any chance he is connected to Game Composite?
i love how when he hand props the plane and it sputters, he death stares it back to life.
lol 6:07 yep right there is the stare... That was funny!
I was laughing at that, too!
“Don’t make Daddy come n do that agin, yahear?”
"My bad"
@@TheFlyingZulu Or start at 6:02 to start at the hand propping
I shot this documentary in the 1970’s just north of Greenwood Mississippi, in the delta area.
It was produced for a PBS series at the time called “American Dream Machine”
However I have lost records of what the pilots name was or followed his whereabouts.
Don, my father also would have been flying around the Delta at this time. He began spraying in 1972. My parents lived in Canton, MS, and dad sprayed the Delta for probably all of the 70s. We lost him in 2017 or I'd ask him if he remembered this PBS special.
Thanks for posting. Brings back lots of memories of flying with him in an ag cat.
I believe the pilot is John Walton
@@streamer47 john Walton was killed about 10 years ago in Jackson Hole, Idaho i think. His airplane nose dived after take off due some failure of the enpennage..
Probably the best footage of working Stearman sprayers and the crude, primitive ways and means of agricultural flying in the old days. They are a thing of the past now. Ag operators now have state of the art GPS swath management systems, automatic flaggers, turboprop engines, and radios. Very few converted Stearmans still exist in sprayer configuration and none of them are working that I know of. Most Stearman dusters and sprayers have now been scrapped or restored back to their original WWII trainer configurations.
Although I didn’t know this pilot (or service he was with) I grew up just 15 miles north of Greenwood and was a loader at an ag pilot strip (Walker Flying Service) in Philipp, MS, in the mid 70’s. I do remember seeing an open cockpit Stearman spraying crops near Greenwood in the early 70’s.
1963 my dad was dusting this area. He was also a commercial pilot. He made a mistake & died.
Sorry about your dad.
We all make mistakes.
@Kosmopoli yes & some mistakes are deadly.
@@lynnfarley7859 do you mind sharing what happened - for posterity?
@cwr8618 he was flying a converted bomber - witnesses reported seeing it in flames before the crash. What i remember reading about that plane is that it was not known for responsiveness- pilots said they would "ask" that plane to do - whatever. Why they choose that plane for that job I don't know. Iv thought that choice was the mistake.
Missed him since 1963.
He flew for Pan Am & was getting certified for the jet engine at that time. Dusting on the side.
The pilot’s name is John Walton. Son of Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart). John was also a Green Beret in Vietnam and the recipient of the Silver Star for bravery in combat. I see he is wearing his old faded tiger striped fatigues. Blue skies and tailwinds John.
Nice! The maker forgot the guys name
The Wikipedia article on this guy is insane, he lived life to the fullest
Dropped out of college to spend more time playing the flute, then joined the green berets.
yeah he lived the fullest
@@ceesay3842lived to the flutest
If anybody is wondering the song at the beginning is Hank Williams Jr.'s version of "Rainin' in My Heart".
Mr. Guy, my props to you for the camera work on this. Even with all the access to camera tech we have today, not just anyone has an eye for what the viewer should see. It’s a huge responsibility as a documentarian, I’m sure. Thanks for this.
This brings back a lot of memories for me living on the farm in Gilbert, AZ back in the early 60's. There wasn't a day that went by where I wouldn't hear the familiar sound of the bi-planes crop dusting the cotton. Always the flagman walking his certain number of steps with each pass. No umbrellas, but large flags they would wave back and forth. The tight turns of the bi-planes at the end of each run. They switched to helicopters at some point. My Uncle flew both and would land on the road outside our home and take us for a ride. There were times I could feel it hit my skin, so I've wondered about the effects, now that I'm in my late 60's. I seem to be doing fine so far. My dad fell ill with parathion poisoning at some point, but recovered. Then, in the fall, we heard the sound again as they would do the same thing, only this time they would lay down the defoliant on the cotton so the leaves would fall off just as the cotton bolls would open. The defoliant had a distinctive smell to it and all the sounds and smells would tell me what time of year it was. I miss it.....and my Dad.
Awesome! Where exactly in Gilbert was this farm? Grew up there and wasn’t really mature enough to appreciate the agricultural history of the town until now 😁
Our farm was on the southeast corner of Guadalupe and Elliot. It was a yellow two story adobe house with a corrugated tin roof. Of course it’s long gone now. Guadalupe was a dirt road.
@@mmd195401 Do you mean Higley and Elliot? That’s at least where the silos are, so it’d make sense. Those 4 silos are still there, and Gilbert seems to use those as the towns main landmark now
Some stories and pictures.
mikesrecollections.blogspot.com/?m=1
without we didnt had the polio scam
This was absolutely fantastic. Amazing America that has passed. Wow I miss it.
Growing up in south Mississippi and living on a farm we would let the Air Tractors land on our flat 120 Acre field so they could fertilize the plantation pines that where grown for Warehouser paper co. After the work day ended the pilots Kenny and Steve would take me up for a loop as a 7-10 year old kid. I’ll never forget it. This was back in the 80’s
My folks had a crop dusting business in Peoria and Perryville, AZ. Dad was the pilot. This was in the 1950s to the late 1970s. Dad had a helmet and seat belts. He flew the Navy version of the Stearman (N3N). Thank you, this clip most accurately shows the life of crop dusting 🎉😂❤
As we new it as children. My dad also.
Could you please tell me the name of your folk's dusting service? Both my father and I worked for Marsh Aviation in Litchfield Park Ariz. in the late 60's, and seventies. I'll bet my dad was aquainted with your folks. His name was Warren Parks. Ring any bells?
An N3N Is NOT A Stearman,,, The N3N Is a Completely Different Airplane,,, It's a MUCH Better Flying Airplane,,,
@@BigWheelHawaii kanaka he mai'kai k'eia- do not worry my brother. there is a time for such a debate but we are all pow
@@housemana”We gonna get there when we get there.” Hawaiian boat captain
A dangerous job to be sure and it takes a brave man to do that kind of work. I live surrounded by farmland in an area similar to what's shown. Some of the passes that the crop duster pilots I watch make aren't for the faint of heart. Growing up, my best friend's dad was a crop duster pilot - flew an Air Tractor. He passed away a couple years ago after clipping a tree line while crop dusting in Texas - the plane crashed and burst into flames. He managed to crawl out and made it, if I remember correctly, around 100 yards to someone's house with 90%+ of his body having 3rd degree burns, but later died in hospital. He was a good man and I think of him often - reminds me of the fragility of life and how important it is. Rest in Peace, Thad.
Wonderful film Don! As a doc filmmaker I appreciate the 70’s style of filmmaking.
That's what I call a crop dusting movie. I remember the 70s crop dusters. I remember a few crashes too.
Very cool! I woulda sworn you had go pros mounted in that stearman! Work of art! Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Thanks for posting Don!
Look who it is! I enjoy your videos 😁
Thank You Mr. Don for posting this video. As a third generation Ag Pilot , I can't thank you enough for letting me view the old days of this profession. My Grandfather was a 35 year operator, who was born and raised in Greenville,Ms. He learned to fly in WWII, and began his ag career in a 220 Stearman in the Ms. Delta. Again great video thanks for sharing it.
duster pilot ; are you related to Lee Abide?
duster pilot there was an AG pilot, last name of Tabb as I recall, who was killed on the day he was retiring and was to start a new job next day. Any kin?
You could tell the season in the Delta by the smell and color of the spray on your car. Pre-emerge and post-emerge herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and defoliants. Each had their own bouquet and subtle colors 😂. A wonder we all aren’t brain dead or have cancer.
That was tabb Huntley
Thank you for spraying poison all over our food
I grew up in far west valley in Phoenix, I loved watching the crop duster fly. Day and night with lights that looked like the sun when they turned em on. I swear they would fly under the power lines at the ends of the fields sometimes. I also got a kick out of watching the dragline operators clear out the field sumps, very skilled in ancient machines.
Wow, this is so neat!!!!!! I 'grew up' with this in NC Texas, 1953-'63. Dad, bein a ex AF combat pilot, WWII took me out to watch them work, when they first started comin thru our part of the world. We would go to wherever the dirt road intersections were that Saturday, that they were flyin out of. Damn it was neat for a 10 yr old boy! During refueling and reloading the hopper with dust, they let me stand on the wing. With the motor idling and the propwash blowin over me, I'll forever remember the smell of AV Gas and DDT dust. After refuelin, the pilot took off (no name, but Stearman painted green and silver), then turned and dived at us, and after givin us a custom FLATTOP haircut! pulled up. With that big radial putin out its characteristic low blubberin sound, he pulled up and put out his arms from the cockpit and waved them like he was flyin like a bird!!! Wow, what a show. That's what I want to do!!!!!! By the way, my wife Cindy did not post this, her husband, my name Rob, posted this!
lmao thx for sharing the story, cindy very cool 😅😎
(haha Rob ur a legend, jokes aside.. ty for sharing
Man, some of those moves, pulling up right before the trees, had my heart pumping harder than watching an action film. I had no idea that crop dusting was that intense!
You should look up some modern flying! We go much faster than they did. Power lines trees and cars are just a blink away. However our planes today are built to crash so these guys were in much bigger danger, hats off to them!
This is one of the best things I've seen in a while.
My father is a pilot, flies a small single prop. Seeing the maneuvers this man is pulling makes me so nervous. It truly is a completely different beast than more traditional flying, requiring a whole different set of skills. Very interesting documentary I'm glad I spent the time.
This guy is old school. I never flew an ag plane without a helmet and fortunately never had to mix chemicals. I got away with about 2000 hours worth of ag flying and didn't total any airplanes in the process but brushed some trees and took down some wires in the process.
Thanks for your service.
@feetgoaroundfullflapsC You literally just thanked him for poisoning your food. What an imbecile
How do you get into this kind of work?
@@feetgoaroundfullflapsC You thanking someone for poisoning your food is wild to me
@@brendanwakeley9103pilots license, full piss and vinegar.
these are some incredible shots from inside the plane and from the ground, very well done
This is definitely gonna blow up with millions of views!! It's so cool how videos like this can be a time capsule. Super amazing job!!
Holy shite! I cut my teeth with some seasoned guys that started their careers in these days. We've come a long way since then. So grateful to know guys like this and so thankful to be sitting in an 802 today taking it "easy" compared to the good ol' days
I remember on the 80s as a 9 year old , fly on the same airplane as a co-pilot, same cockpit no seatbelts, it was one of the moments that I can´t forget, stearman!!!!!
Dude the flaggers standing underneath the chemical spray is mind blowing to me.
They didnt know much about the dangers. Not all got sick from it.. I didnt.
@@JavierBrent it still wouldn't be a bad idea to get a cancer screening depending on what chemical you were using. Thanks for doing a dirty job for the rest of us.
But putting on food is a-okay?! Lmao 😂😂😂
@@JB-uk7mn 😂
I did this a couple of times on our farm as a kid. You definitely used the wind to your advantage and moved upwind as soon as the plane was lined up. they have GPS guidance in the planes now.
I am 67, Grandpa, uncle and his son my cousin were crop dusters, All dead before 55. I would get up at five and go over to the hangers where they were filling planes and auger trucks. Sometimes flagman rode in the hopper. Watching Cheesy prop the planes and soon all hit the strip. Hotty Potty, was the cry after priming that signaled the beast would sputter to life. Long about dark they would drift in and Grandpa would come in for a beer and some supper. A little tv and to bed. Yes black and white. We would watch Paul Bosch rasslin on the weekends. They live fast and furious. Always drove a caddy. Someone once gave him a chute. It made a good seat pad. Parachute useless otherwise. Dope room was interesting! My uncle went on to ag cats and tractors. Finally to turbo props. Cousin could back his into the hanger. The smells, noise and visions still live in my head. This film was VERY good and i am sorry for those that didn't get a chance to get a face full of stuff off the runway.Thank You Don Guy !
McNabb & Alford Flying Service, Alvin Texas.
Cancer?
@klxcountry prolly that + the drink + living full throttle maybe a crash here and there lol just being real!
What a piece of aviation/American history! Thank you for sharing this.
This movie is so beautiful. Great work Don. You captured a moment in time.
Great video!
I remember as a kid in the late 60s and early 70s watching the crop dusters in Mexico MO fuel up and load up at the airport. Steve Bright and Odell Priest. Steve had an Ag Cat that was bright yellow. They would drop markers made of a piece of cardboard and toilet paper
to see wind direction and when they were near my house they would give me a “wing wave” and drop a marker for us to catch.
The sound of that Pratt and Whitney radial was awesome , great memories.
Skill is apparent. If you’ve ever flown then holding this pattern is a major accomplishment
and if you haven’t flown, holding this pattern would probably make it the last time you ever flew
Exactly my thoughts. Imagine the hours this guy flew this plane to be that spot on. He knows his craft; pardon the pun.
These planes are a lot more maneuverable than most pilots experience on a day to day basis
Haha, I have hand swung for myself like forty times and each time been truly grateful that the safety measures which I used worked. A mate of mine handswung solo for no good reason and was chased around the airfield by his 8GCBC until it nosed over!! Oh god happy days and lucky man indeed.
Amazing in so many ways
so many safety protocols broken
Excellent documentary video. Thanks for sharing! RIP John Walton.
Don Guy Thank you for sharing this video. It absolutely captures the essence of crop dusting and spraying in the early to mid 20th century. I was not a duster myself but I was around it in the late 60s and early 70s. I also farm and we didn't know any better than to expose ourselves to these dangerous chemicals... and some we didn't yet know were dangerous. I was once very ill due to organo-phosphates used as an insecticide while planting corn. It opened my eyes. Great job putting this together Don !
Alan Peterson
Many thanks for your kind comments, and sharing your own experiences, very illuminating.
Don Guy
Real old school. There weren’t that many Stearmans in use by the early 70s. I was flying Pawnees and Thrushes, in South Georgia and we had a competitor next to us on the airport that used a 450 Stearman. He was from South Carolina, and he had his son working as a loader boy. They would fly home some weekends with the son in the hopper.
No way.. In the hopper?
The film is a masterpiece!
Wow! Great story, thanks for posting this. The comments are also very informative. Thx to all for the xtra info!
As an aside, there’s a great book out there about a crop duster who worked the Central Az and northern Mexico farms in the early 50’s. It’s titled “By the Skin of My Teeth”.
I remember these stearman back when I was kid . I remember a lot of crashes with highline wires and trees. One pilot used to fly under the wires and always had cotton stocks in his gear.
That was John Walton. I met him many times when I was flying for Walmart. Where did you get this video?
He shot the documentary
The use of the pesticide is the lesser of two weevils.
Crashing was more common..
Fun joke but the way US farmer's have used pesticides in our life time is nothing short of evil.
“It came from WW2 nerve gas… this particular farmer is using a lot stronger doses”.
Then starts handling it with absolutely no PPE whatsoever.
The 70s were a different time...
PPE lol
homie the only PPE happening in the 70s were goggles, maybe. :)
My cousin started crop dusting in the early 70's in the Mississippi Delta mostly in Sunflower and Tallahatchie County right out of high school in his early 20's. A massive heart attack is what stopped him in his middle 40's. He had to give it all up.
What an excellent video. Thanks for sharing.
Love the video, what a great record, just naked flying in that cool old Stearman!
Old school flyin' right there. Parathion is banned, now, as is every other chemical I used to spray. I flew Pawnees (150 and 235) starting in 1972j as a young man. I did it for four years and got out. Great video, thanks for preserving that era, now gone forever.
@@tennesseered586 Anyone that flew a 150 Pawnee has my deepest respect. No wonder you got out after 4 years.
@roadking52 anyone that poisons our food gets NO respect from me
@@He_that_has_eyes easy for you to day. as you type on your rare earth metal internet device, after a meal likely sourced and serviced with heavy logistics chains full of literal poisons and hazards aplenty... like, actually, sez u moment lmao gtf of here bozo 🤓🤓🤡🤡
p.s if you weren't such a total NPC you'd realize a) they made best due with what they had, and b) not always, or mostly for many, were sprayin food only. think textiles; cotton. but that'd require u to think, so, ultimately this comment will fall on deaf ears. such is life yapping into the void aka youtube comments section in the 21st century 🌌🌌✨
@@He_that_has_eyeswhat an ignorant comment……your choice as either spray the crops or lose them to insects and disease……
@dizzleslaunsen2372 when I plant my garden I take in to account that I am going to lose a portion to bugs. So I plant more so that I have the amount of crop I need whilst losing an acceptable amount to pests. Sure it sucks, but at least I know I'm not consuming chemicals. YOU are ignorant for blindly supporting spraying chemicals on your food. But hey, I'm not the one that eats it, you are😂
It's a great video. Thanks!
I started my ag carrer in a open cockpit stearman in ND just like this. Lots of metal 5 gal cans.
Absolutely brilliant filmmaking! Thank you!
Fabulous, really takes me back to Bob Graves Flying Service at Scott Field in Tallulah, Louisiana back in the 1960s and early 1970s which brought me into flying! Too old to fly anymore but I sure enjoyed all my hours flying numerous tail traggers over the Mississippi River Delta. We also had Bob Gomitz Field, Gustafson, Red Beard and one of my favorite services at Tallabena, Louisiana! By the way, aerial chemical spraying and crop dusting were born in Tallulah at Scott Field where the first spray planes we're DeHaviland war surplus biplanes.
My dad Donnie Mac Johnson started at Bob Graves in 1971.
@@roxannejohnson4833 I never met your Dad. 1971 was kind of in between for me. I used to go to Scott Field as a kid in the late 1950s and 1960s, then married in 1972, moved to Tallulah in late 1973 and began flying out of Graves with Benny May in 1977. I knew many of the duster pilots then.
@@charlesfoster141, do you remember John Robert Hollingsworth up in Shelby, MS? My uncle, Bernard Threet, flew for him for many years. He then did some flying for somebody Foster... I wonder if your family might be that Foster.
@@megadavis5377 Hollingsworth rings a bell but I do not recall Shelby Mississippi. My grandfather had a farm that was sprayed by pilots out in Tallabena, Louisiana located right across the highway from his cotton farm. But that was around 1959 when I was a small boy. He died in 1962.
@@megadavis5377 I went to school with John Roberts son, don't forget "Booger Bottom" at Alligator nor Charlie Christmas out of Shelby.
Thanks for a interesting piece of documentary.
Thanks for posting sounds like an amazing person leaving the Corp world for a simple life where money was not everything, flying an amazing aircraft and setting back in a jet were the autopilot does all the work,
But having a life where pilot skills are kelp sharp, and life is real.
We should all be so lucky
Thanks for making and posting this for at times people let us into their lives and possibly make one dream or open their eyes to new worlds or ideals
In the mid 1960's, while growing up in a farming community on the Central California Coast, my brother and I would climb the apricot tree in our backyard, and watch Stearman's and Pawnee's spray the lettuce field next to our house. As they pulled up over our house, the pesticides rained down upon us like rain! Of the five siblings in our family, my two sisters passed away from breast cancer at 41 and 57 years of age, while my oldest brother died at 67 from liver cancer. Dad passed away at 84 from prostrate cancer. I read in the comments below that pilot Walton had died in a plane crash, not related to dusting. Wonder if he had any cancer related health issues before he was killed . . .
What kind of chemicals were they using that are banned today? Is crop dusting even legal in California, anymore?
@@tackywhale5664 My guess is they were applying DDT, but that's just a guess, since my brother and I were only 8 and 9 years old at the time. Yes, they still use aircraft for aerial application, particularly in the Central Valley, which is rich in agriculture.
Thank you for sharing this history
The Delta is a very unique and beautiful part of this country. I was fortunate enough to be sent there for a year. Me and a buddy got to know a lot of those farmers since we were there to negotiate oil & gas leases with them. Some of the kindest and most generous folks I’ve ever met. I was born and raised in the south so that’s saying a lot!
I'm from Drew, MS. This is great.
I love how those old kickstart biplanes are simpler than a CARB compliant lawnmower.
What a great comment. My CARB compliant lawn mower thanks you.
Ethanol free leaded gasoline vaporizes and ignites a lot easier than ethanol blended fuels. They also don’t absorb water.
Ah the good ol days, back when they built equipment that nearly any farm boy could fix.
What an amazing guy he was. My dream is still to be a AG pilot one day. I’ve recently got my pilots license and am working my way up a few hours at a time when I can afford it. Thanks to Johnn and Don for keeping the aviation dream alive.
How’d we miss this for so long, looks like a hell of a day at the office don’t it
You're going to need tail dragger time and lots of it! Attend your local EAA chapter meetings, and fly-ins and find someone that will help you out.
attend the NAAA convention, ground crew for a season or two, yes on tailwheel time.
Beautiful documentary! It reminds me of what documentaries used to be, before they were all about clickbait.
This is some beautiful filmmaking, Don.
Great Vid Don Guy...reminds me of S.W Hanke Clio South Carolina..he had 2- stermans 1-was silver 1- was yellow..childhood memories late 60s and 70s.
Clio Crop Care flew the last Stearman that I know of.
I just want to say I really enjoyed your story it’s a blast from the past I too was in the same field pun intended however the pesticides got to me and killed off not one but almost 2 of my kidneys but I’m good and then between motorcycle accidents and other things over the years my flying career hit The end however… Nice story and blue skies to your brother.. and your dog to😉👍 ✈️
What a slice of America. Brilliant film.
Thanks Don,a really good quality film, showing how it's done by a modest & skilled pilot, John Walton. Great shame he's passed on. It brings back lots of memories, the push-over into the crop, & the proceedure turn to get back onto the field asap. I flew Pawnees of various marks, never had a crack on the Stearman. I just fix them & other planes now, although I'm still flying as often as I can. Best regards. G
That's insane we spray that stuff onto our farm land. Truly crazy the stuff we put in our bodies
These fliers almost give us a crewcut over in Sunflower County Mississippi back when I worked for Illinois Central in the seventies. They were fun to watch.
6:02 I loved how he stopped to look back it for a second as if to say “Don’t you dare!”
Absolutely awesome film making really enjoyable, thanks
What a Guy !
Thank You for Producing this !
Well Done !
This is a wonderful story! Didn’t know John was a duster! Great American story!
Nice job Don! Great to see some history on the Ag aviation history.
I always got to pull over an watch. Mesmerizing.
Really impressed me how low he was flying...touching the crops with his wheels 😳 Dangerous but definitely having more fun than the people on the ground 👍
believe it or not if u fly about 8 to 10 ft the patern is better
@@tgh223 oh so he was actually going a bit too low? interesting. Yeah I guess it would spread out better a little higher
the algo hath brought me here from the future. what a gem. thank u~
Is this the Vietnam Era Green Beret turned Crop Duster connected to the Walmart Dynasty ?
Yes, it's Sam's son, John T. Walton..
yes was worth 13 billion at the time
love the old stearmans
the piloting skills are nothing short of Ninja.
Fascinating slice, thank you
I love the establishing shots.
Thanks for sharing!
Awesome video....thanks for sharing.
So for anyone who's curious, the pilot is John T Walton - son of Sam Walton (Wal-Mart). He died in 2005 in a plane crash... as the 11th richest man on earth.
No.
That is some kick ass fly-in. Notice the tiger stripe camo pants
I was an apprentice in aerial application company in the early 1970’s. All the pilots went to hospital at regular intervals to have their blood toxin levels checked. The pilot who was ahead of me in the training program got his application license. On the 2nd day on the job as a full fledged pilot he stalled and spun in and was killed. David had a legendary reputation for his stick and rudder skills. Me, just a mortal regular pilot got a wake up call. Most of the aerial application pilots died early. Was it their cigarettes and whisky or the chemicals that caused the cancer they all seemed to get?
Thank you for uploading. 🥰
Spectacular flying (in his T-shirt!)
But boy-oh-boy, are those 2 still alive?!
What is that sound at the beginning, when the fly is onscreen??!?
Pilot John Walton was MAC SOG ...an amazing story by itself. He died in an aircraft accident in his 50s...RIP Sir.
I flagged for Roy McArdle, duster pilot in the S Tx RGV in the 60's....he had a '28 and '29 Travelair.....this pilot here is one of the Walmart heirs and was killed flying an extremely inexpensive ultralight---some fitting on the tail assembly failed.......he is obviously a damned good duster pilot. My boss, Roy bought the very first Snow S2B Duster....Leland Snow was from our town, Harlingen Tx, and had dusted with Roy in Nicaragua in the 50's. RIP Cropduster Walton.
What a happy dog! Reminds me of mine. 😁
Sam, what a touching and heartfelt remembrance, and your assumptions regarding your Father’s death may not be unfounded. You’re also spot on regarding the impact of agricultural chemicals. Thank you for taking a moment to share this. Regards.
Thank you sir
Cool flyin', man. He looks so comfortable just about 12-3 feet above the ground. Impressive. Happy landings!
Wow, that 1970's GoPro footage a
Still looking good 👌
Amazing, thank you Don
Thanks for sharing these comments. I shot this film in the 1970's for a PBS show at the time called "American Dream Machine" and still trying to find out the name of the pilot.
@EDDIE M -- Yep.. That Jon Walton, jr... Great Pilot. Anyone can fly a jetliner these days. They are like School Buses. All automatic..
@@feetgoaroundfullflapsC Wait a minute. I started in Cubs and fly airliners now. We hand fly them still. I even use the rudder.
@@feetgoaroundfullflapsC you have no idea what you’re talking about.
George Lucas discovered this PBS documentary by Don Guy in the mid 70s, which inspired his characters Anakin and Luke Skywalker. They were both farmer boys and capable pilots with mechanical skills, and they possessed the personality, calm and physique of this pilot. You will even find some of the action shots from this documentary replicated in Star Wars. You can hear the TIE-Fighter sound around 3:40
Awesome documentary man!