crop spraying

[goaround7]

I'm in the process of finishing my comm and have been investigating going into crop spraying. I'm likely to fly in South Africa where they have this kind of work and probably get my rating(s) in the US as they seem to be the only place with dual seat crop spray planes (makes the rating a lot cheaper to get that way). I haven't seen anything relating to crop spraying (or fire bombing) in UK or Europe.

Does anyone know if there is any such activity in Europe ?

Ta.

[hansi]

French Spanish Greeks and Portugese all use canadair firebombers.
The Portugese ones are run through a Company based near lisbon, used to have Catalinas.
Sorry bit vague on the details I'll try and dig them out.
Don't know much about the others, I've seen the French ones off the coast at Canne a couple of times abd the Spanish ones at Jerez.

[goaround7]

Thanks Hansi, that's great news ! SA is a terrific place to fly but the Rand doesn't offer much in the way of a pension fund !

Look forward to any more details you might be able to excavate...

[Dan Winterland]

Not much done these days in countries with Health and Safety rules - and for good reason!

Speak to any cropspraying veteran - they all seem to be affected by the chemicals they have ingested over the years. Anyone remember the rantings of a character called 'Chemical Man' on jet blast a couple of years ago?

[A Very Civil Pilot]

Since the 1990's FEPA - the Food and Environment Protection Act - put paid to most of UK crop spraying. Along with public opinion and miles of red tape it wasn't economical.

Aus and NZ are good places for it. NZ for fertilizer top-dressing, and Aus for amongst others, rice sowing. I was offered a job, but couldn't take it due to work permit problems, so changed tack to commercial aviation.

The first pilot that I knew that died was a crop sprayer. A tree got in his way.

[goaround7]

Thanks for the gen chaps. I figured that a combination of one engine, low flying, and a cargo of toxic chemicals wasn't the best recipe for a long healthy flying life.

However I've got it under my skin now (unlike the chemicals I hope). What I figured though, was that it could be a way into firebombing/fighting and possibly flight test work/avionics development as most crop spraying is GPS based and I've 'logged' a few years as an IT contractor (only to pay for my comm, I hasten to add !).

This may seem a little churlish as I'm lucky enough be holding a right seat offer in small turbo props in SA already but I fancy something a bit different, hence the crop spraying interest. I love the idea of the rice seeding job. I'll have to add that to my list - and no chemicals !

Do you think some time in these more 'unusual areas' would work for or against me should I want to join an airline later ?