2012-2013 Program Summary
The 2012-2013 PAASS Program will celebrate its 15th year of safety-education programming by presenting the module topics outlined below.
Human Factors in Agricultural Aviation – “Stall Spin Avoidance and Other Wisdom”
Stall/spin accident prevention is not a new topic to the PAASS Program or the ag aviation industry. An earlier program led to the production of a video titled “Turn Smart,” which was made available on DVD and given to 2010-2011 PAASS attendees. In this video, Wayne Handley, a well-known aerobatic pilot and former ag operator, explained the techniques for avoiding and recovering from potentially serious aircraft attitudes while operating near the ground. In this year’s module, NAAREF President and PAASS Presenter Rod Thomas interviewed Wayne and ag operator/aeronautical engineer John “Dusty” Dowd about this and other topics. This informal discussion yielded many informative jewels of safety and operational information. It is a discussion you will not want to miss.
Spray Drift Reduction – “Drift - High Speeds & the Insurance Perspective”
The module addressing drift mitigation and pesticide stewardship will utilize the wind tunnel at Agricultural Research Service’s facility at College Station, Texas, to illustrate the effects of speed and nozzle pressure on droplet characteristics and their potential to drift. This knowledge can be especially important during passes made at the edge of a field near a sensitive area. Like speed and pressure, the use of different chemicals and adjuvants may change the droplet’s properties. Understanding these characteristics will help in preventing movement of spray materials from the target area.
Agricultural Aviation’s Airfield Watch
This module once again will stress the importance of facility security through the Ag Airfield Watch program to curtail public perception of ag equipment being used for terrorism. PAASS will outline a program by which state and regional associations can quickly notify their membership of urgent security and safety issues.
Hangar AG Flying – “Topics of Interest to Ag Operators”
This module will include an analysis of ag accidents that occurred during the 2012 application year, enabling attendees to learn from others’ experiences and increase pilot safety. An in-depth review of accidents that occurred during the period of 2007-2011 will be presented and studied. Feedback has shown a significant number of attendees believe they need a refresher course on basic aeronautical knowledge and the FAR’s they work under. PAASS has developed a fun session called “Are you smarter than a student pilot?” which promises to be informative and entertaining.