CERTIFIED-PROFESSIONAL AERIAL APPLICATOR SAFETY STEWARD PROGRAM (7/7/22): NAAA announced its new Certified-Professional Aerial Applicator Safety Steward (C-PAASS) program, which launches in 2023. It is a volunteer program for ag pilots to participate and further augment their safety and application accuracy while also showing their insurers, chemical suppliers, customers, regulators and the public the professional nature of our industry. The voluntary requirements for C-PAASS certification ensure aerial applicators are consistently exposed to the best available educational opportunities for agricultural aviation. Read more

NAAA’S ‘FIND AN AERIAL APPLICATOR’ DATABASE CONNECTS FARMERS WITH AERIAL APPLICATORS (5/23/22): America’s aerial applicators are primed and ready to support farmers in need of fast, timely and effective applications this growing season. If they don’t have an existing relationship with an aerial applicator, farmers in need of an aerial application service provider should search NAAA’s “Find an Aerial Applicator” database at AgAviation.org/findapplicator to look for one in their area. Read More 

NAAA EXHIBITS AT AG DAY ON THE MALL (3/24/22): NAAA and Helicopter Applicators Inc. from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, exhibited at Ag Day on the Mall, a two-day event, and talked to a multitude of policymakers, regulators, media members and everyday citizens who checked out the Bell 206 LongRanger helicopter on display halfway between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument. Read More 

NAAA RELEASES BOOK OF THE CENTURY—A CENTURY OF AG AVIATION! (7/28/21): Thirty-five years after the first great historical account of the industry—Mabry Anderson’s Low & Slow: An Insider’s History of Agricultural Aviation—comes a new, updated account of aerial application’s history from the National Agricultural Aviation Association: Agriculture’s Air Force: 100 Years of Aerial Application. Order your copy today! Read More

WATCH 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF AERIAL APPLICATION CELEBRATION FROM AUG. 3! Aug. 3, 2021, was a momentous day for the aerial application industry because it marked the 100^th birthday of the first aerial application! On Aug. 3, 1921, Lt. John A. Macready flew a Curtiss JN-6 from McCook Field in Ohio to a nearby catalpa tree grove grown for the wood that was used for railroad ties and poles. Lead arsenate was applied over the grove to kill sphinx moth larvae. The speed, efficiency and overwhelming effectiveness of the aerial dusting experiment spawned the birth of the aerial application industry. On Aug. 3, NAAA hosted a centennial celebration in Leesburg, Virginia, to commemorate this anniversary. NAAA and Rusty and Lea Lindeman presented to the American public (represented by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum) a full-sized, fully flight-capable replica of Dusty Crophopper, the “star” of Disney’s 2013 popular animated feature film Planes and 2014’s Planes: Fire & Rescue. Watch a video of the event here.

100TH ANNIVERSARY PRESS ROOM AVAILABLE TO FACILITATE MEDIA COVERAGE (7/28/21): One hundred years ago, on Aug. 3, 1921, an aerial crop dusting experiment spawned the birth of the agricultural aviation industry. To assist the media in their coverage of this momentous occasion and the industry in general, NAAA has set up a 100th Anniversary Press Room that contains photos, video b-roll and background material, including a 100-year timeline of agricultural aviation history and an informational video. Read More

ADDITIONAL $1.9 TRILLION STIMULUS LAW INCLUDES POTENTIAL AIDE FOR GENERAL AVIATION AIRPORTS, AG AVIATION BUSINESSES AND ASSOCIATIONS (3/18/21): President Biden signed a new $1.9 trillion stimulus package titled The American Rescue Plan Act on March 11. The bill provides $1,400 direct payments to individuals making up to $75,000 annually, $350 billion in aid to state and local governments and $14 billion for vaccine distribution, among other things. Read More

NEW NON-MEMBER PRICING ESTABLISHED TO ATTEND THE AG AVIATION EXPO (3/10/2021): NAAA is excited to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the aerial application industry in Savannah during the 2021 Ag Aviation Expo, Dec. 6-9. With the multiple extravaganzas planned to celebrate the centennial this year at the Ag Aviation Expo and to encourage ag aviation operators, pilots, crew, allied businesses, and affiliated individuals to join the association, NAAA leadership established a policy that to avoid a higher attendee fee, NAAA recommends NAAA membership to attend the show and save money. Read More 

AG AVIATION’S CENTENNIAL YEAR KICKS OFF WITH NEW TRAILER (1/7/2021): To kick off the National Agricultural Aviation Association’s yearlong celebration of the aerial application industry’s centennial, watch this short video on the industry’s legacy after a century of agricultural aviation! Watch Now

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM GREENLIGHTS INSTALLATION OF DUSTY CROPHOPPER AG PLANE (1/2021): Dusty Crophopper was immortalized on the big screen in the Disney animated films Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue. Now America’s favorite ag plane is going to be immortalized at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Read More 

DURING DRONE SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK, NAAA URGES UAS OPERATORS TO BE ALERT TO LOW-FLYING AGRICULTURAL AIRCRAFT (11/16/2020): As part of the FAA’s National Drone Safety Awareness Week, Nov. 16-22, the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) is reminding Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operators to be aware of low-altitude agricultural aircraft operations. Read More

NAAA PROVIDES PROOF OF DISTANCE NEEDED TO SAFELY TURN AN AG AIRCRAFT TO REFUTE CLAIMS MADE BY WIND FARMS, TOWERS, OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS (7/23/2020): NAAA has developed useful information to refute proposed setback distances from wind turbines and other tower-like obstructions. The information may be used by operators and state associations when dealing wind farm and tower companies claiming that their obstructions do not hamper aerial application activities to crops. Read More

NAAA ESTABLISHES AERIAL IMAGING MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY WITH FOCUS ON PRECISION AG: NAAA’s voting members overwhelmingly approved a new aerial imaging membership category for those collecting aerial images for crop-sensing, precision agriculture or other related purposes. Additionally, a Precision Agriculture Committee has been established as a new advisory committee to NAAA’s board of directors. Read More

FIVE FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AERIAL APPLICATION AND UAVS: Over the last few years, NAAA has consistently needed to set the record straight about inaccurate and/or misleading claims made about how unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology can act as a wholesale replacement to manned aircraft applying crop protection products. NAAA believes UAV application technologies can be a valuable tool for growers by complementing manned aircraft. But it is vital for those desiring aerial application services to know the facts about the capabilities of manned aircraft and UAVs before making financial decisions. Here are five facts regarding the more commonly repeated inaccurate claims about manned aerial application. Read More 

NAAA UPDATES CHECKLIST FOR PILOTS SUBJECT TO THE DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM TARGETING AN AG AIRCRAFT: In response to a series of shooting threats and incidents in 2019, NAAA updated its checklist of actions operators and pilots can take in the event someone threatens to or discharges a firearm at their aircraft. NAAA has now updated that checklist to cite the specific federal laws that are violated when someone shoots, or threatens to shoot, an aircraft. Read More

MARK AND LOG TOWERS TODAY TO AVOID LIABILITY AND COMPLY WITH UPCOMING FAA REGULATIONS: Many landowners and farmers might not be aware that due to provisions in both the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016 and the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, towers between 50 and 200 feet tall with an above-ground base of less than 10 feet in diameter in rural areas are legally required to be marked and/or logged in a database the FAA is currently developing. Read More

NAAA AD ENCOURAGES GROWERS TO LEARN BEFORE THEY LEASE TO WIND ENERGY COMPANIES: NAAA has created a new ad that encourages landowners and growers to consider all the facts and potential ramifications before they lease their property to a wind energy entity. The ad is available to members in a variety of sizes and colors to place in their local newspapers and ag publications. Read More

VIDEO AND NARRATIVE UNDERSCORING TOWER MARKING’S EFFECTIVENESS AVAILABLE: NAAA is making available video showing the challenge low-level agricultural pilots have in seeing unmarked towers and the difference in visibility if those towers are marked and lighted. The video was provided to NAAA with permission by Roger Dreyer and Karen Allen. Read More

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