Page 12 Daily Nebraskan Wednesday, August 24, 1983
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Life's up in the air
for crop duoter
Usually, Tom Doryland never knows what he will
be doing from one day to the next. He spends a lot of
time at the Weather Bureau Office at Lincoln
Municipal Airport trying to figure that out.
He makes a living spraying farmer's fields with a
variety of pesticides. Some chemicals can be sprayed
from as high as 20 feet. Most are applied from 4 to 6
feet off the ground. The wheels of his plane some
times touch corn and grain sorghum leaves.
Doryland can't spray unless the conditions are
just right. If it's too hot, the pesticide may evaporate
before it kills any pests. If it's too windy, or blowing
in the wrong direction, the pesticide may go places it
isn't needed, such as shelter belts or farm gardens.
When the conditions aren't right for flying, he
walks his customers' fields, checking for infestations
of aphids, green bugs, corn borers and other pests,
depending on the season. He works for about 150
farmers, all in the vicinity of his hanger, which is
about 10 miles north of Lincoln.
Doryland, 69, has been flying since World War II.
He taught basic flying to army and navy pilots at
Lincoln's defunct Union Airport. After the war, he
decided to continue flying as a crop duster because
he said he doesn't like commercial flying. He has
logged 20,000 hours, or more than two years in the
air.
When the conditions are right, Doryland warms
up his plane, named Bessie, and takes off from his
grass runway for what he calls "enjoyable flying."
"You don't have to talk to anybody on the radio,
unless you're near the tower (at Lincoln Municipal
Airport); you just fly," he said.
At last count, four Nebraska crop-dusters had
crashed their planes this spring and summer. One,
who crashed near Shelton, lost his life, said Hale
Dodge, operations specialist at the Nebraska Depart
ment of Aeronautics.
Doryland says he never thinks about crashing. He
said he read somewhere that being a barber is more
dangerous than flying.
Watching Doryland fly 4 feet over the ground, his
wheels kissing the crop, then gliding under the
telephone wires before turning around, it's very
hard to believe.
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Story and photos
by Chris Velcch
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Top photos: Doryland
prepares his plane for a
spraying run. Above left:
Doryland examines grain
sorghum plant for green
bug. Above right: Low
flying means four to six
feet off the ground.
Above: Doryland sprays
a field near Prairie Home.
Far left: Doryland indi
cates the pump unit he
uses to fill his plane with
pesticide. Left: The pilot
heads home after spray
ing three fields early in
the morning.