2026-02-12

Allen Chorman, a well-known and respected aerial applicator and founder of Allen Chorman & Sons, Inc., in Milton, Delaware, passed away on Monday. Born and raised in Sussex County, Delaware, Chorman’s passion for aviation and agriculture took root early. He began working at Joe Hudson’s aerial application operation in 1956, first helping on the ground and then learning to fly. By 1965, he was piloting crop-spraying flights and quickly became Hudson’s protégé.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently released its General Aviation (GA) Activity Survey of data collected by U.S. GA pilots nationwide in 2024. The information includes total hours flown in the agricultural aviation industry and other important statistics that NAAA uses to determine accident frequency and the effectiveness of industry safety programs such as PAASS. In 2024, agricultural aviation pilots flew a total of 949,149 hours.

The aerial application industry was released a few weeks ago, but we need far more ag operators and pilots to answer the call for data. The participation rate for the last industry in 2018 was over 35% – it’s important that at the very least we match that response rate with this survey. The current survey has 25% fewer questions than the 2018 survey, so NAAA is hoping for an even greater response rate this time.