Learning the trade

According to Ross Pay of Scone, NSW based Pay’s Air Services, most pilots who come through for an ag rating do so with an agricultural background. “A lot of them are guys from a rural background and may have seen the planes come in and spray the family farm, and have developed an interest in aviation since then. ” Pay adds that younger candidates are naturally easier to teach and train than those who may be coming to the industry later in life. “My general belief is the younger they start the better. I much prefer to train someone in their early 20s than their late 30s. For an older guy to come in and start doing it from scratch, I think it’s a big ask. I generally find the younger guys are more adaptable and easier to train. ” As with all flying careers, ag pilots are required to hold a commercial pilot’s licence before starting training for an ag rating. Given that the majority of agricultural aircraft are taildraggers, a number of the instructors also require the pilot to have completed a tailwheel endorsement before moving into training.

Pay adds that most operators also prefer pilots to have some understanding and experience of the industry. “One of the big things we like with someone doing an ag rating is we like them to do a bit of ground work for an aerial operator first. That way they’ve spent a year or two loading an aircraft, getting an appreciation of the chemicals we use and an appreciation of the industry to make sure they want to be a part of it before they spend the money to be an ag pilot. ” That money can be significant, as training for an agricultural rating starts from approximately $17,000 and comes on top of the costs associated with gaining a CPL and other relevant endorsements.

The initial training for an Ag 2 rating includes a generous mix of both theory and practical flying. Naturally, the flying aspect includes a lot of low level aerial operations, while the theory has a large focus on managing the risks associated with it, such as being able to identify powerlines and other low level obstacles which are hazards for ag operators.

The theoretical training also deals with the safe operations, handling and dispersalof chemicals as part of the Aerial Agriculture Association of Australia’s Spraysafe training package. This allows pilots to gain a vital chemical distribution licence.

While the theory does involve a lot of reading and studying for exams, Pay says that more is taught from exposure to the day to day operators. “A lot of it’s theory that is not what you would learn from a book, but from practical experience. That’s where learning from ground crew is really important,” he said.

Following the completion of the 40 hour ag course, there is an intense 110 hour supervision component, which Pay says is the more important part of ag pilot training.

“The initial 40 hours is like the licence to learn, and then it’s really important that the next 110 hours is where they are learning from the other pilots and operators,” he said.

From there, pilots can progress to completing the necessary theory and flying examinations to receive their Ag 2 rating, which clears them to start operating, initially in smaller piston engine aircraft such as Piper Pawnees and Cessna 188 Agwagons. This tends to continue until the pilot has been able to amass between 500 and 1000 hours, after which time most operators will move them up into the larger turbine powered aircraft, such as the Air Tractor range which forms the backbone of the local aerial application industry.

The length of time taken to reach that goal can vary significantly. “If there’s been lots of rain and lots of spraying to do, you can get through that fairly quickly and it may only take 12 months or so before you get the experience up to get into a turbine,” said Pay. “But other people strike it at the wrong time during an extended drought period and sometimes it takes them four to five years to get their hours up. ” As such, many fresh pilots often have to move around after gaining their rating to pursue the best work opportunities. “As a fresh Ag 2 or just initially building experience, they’ve probably got to be prepared to be a bit nomadic. Maybe things are quiet in New South Wales but they have a big winter season in WA or elsewhere. ” Pay says that while natural skill can be advantage, commitment to the industry is what makes a great agricultural pilot.

“You get some guys come through who are very good stick and rudder and you know they’re going to be a good pilot. Then you have the other tradesmen-like people who take a bit of extra work but you persevere with them because they’ve got a commitment to the industry and with experience will make a good, solid pilot.

“Within the first few days of flying and talking with them you can pick whether they are going to be suited to the industry or not. ” After new pilots gains 1000 hours, they can then move on to gain an Ag 1 rating, although Pay says that currently there is little difference between the two ratings.

“There’s some contracts out around that demand the pilot be an Ag 1, but all it means is that he has done 1000 hours and had a flight test. ” With a number of aerial ag operators now cross-utlising their aircraft to provide aerial firefighting services, ag pilots are increasingly getting the opportunity to utilise the skills that they have built up in a different way. For many pilots, this presents a nice complement to the ag work, although it comes from having done the hard yards in ag.

“Firefighting is not something you can just go straight into also because you’ve got to come up through the ranks of the ag work and get into flying those larger aeroplanes that are used on fires,” said Pay.

In recent years, the opportunities for new pilots have been severely impacted by the drought in the major irrigation cropping regions of eastern Australia, which has slowed the rate at which new pilots are entering the training stream. While some areas, such as in southeast Queensland, have started to see rain, the opportunities elsewhere have been limited.

“I’d have to say right at the minute that the opportunities are not that good, but with a little bit of rain, that can soon turn around,” said Pay.

A concern for the industry is the limited pool of agricultural instructors, with many focused on training their own pilots rather than offering external services. Nevertheless, with the drought in recent years, Pay says that there are enough to go around. “There’s not a lot of ag instructors out there, but there’s probably enough at the moment to do the volume of students that are coming through. ” Longer term, Pay expresses some concern which has been echoed by others in the industry of a possible skills shortage, created in part by the challenging conditions turning people away from the industry.

“Unfortunately what’s going to happen is we will end up with a bit of a gap. A lot of the experienced pilots are getting a bit older, and we don’t have the young blokes coming through to fill their positions as they retire. ” Despite the immediate challenges, Pay does see some good opportunities ahead for those pilots who are able to stick out the tough times, as many industry veterans have done. “I think in the next few years, providing we get the rain, there will be some good opportunities for those guys to come through, and it’s going to be those guys who are really committed and want to make a career out of it who will come through,” he said.

“Unfortunately what’s going to happen is we will end up with a bit of a gap. A lot of the experienced pilots are getting a bit older, and we don’t have the young blokes coming through to fill their positions as they retire.”