Times Advocate, 1997-08-27, Page 5IT'S YQUR BUSINESS
Heads up flying keeps sprayer in skies Home building bounces
back in month of July
•1•ittu•s-Ailvac'ale, August 27; 1997
luxe
Flying at Tess than 10 feet above the crop at 90 miles per hour, Jim
Horvath keeps his complete focus on the task at hand.
By Kate Monk
T -A Reporter
EXETER.- Jim Horvath's lose of
flying»as turned into a 30 -year ca-
reer in.whal most people call crazi-
ness. He is the owner and operator
of Jim's Flying Service. the only
aerial crop spraying, fertilizing and
seeding company in Huron. Perth
and Middlesex counties. He is cur- -
rently spraying Nabisco's sweet
corn fields in the Exeter and Kirk -
ton arca for corn borer.
Born and raised oh a tobacco
farm near-Tilsonhurg, Horvath's
first recollccliotrof !lying was sec-
.ing• a crisp dusting airplane. AI -
though he. wanted to be a. hush pi-
lot. he lacked experience and opted
lir agricultural spraying instead.
Horvath starlet] crop dusting in
the days when dry .chemicals wcrc
_ applied and windy conditions Were
favored with' tuost of the spraying
done on tobacco. In the late 5(1's
and early 60's. dusting went by the
wayside and the new chemicals
were Iiquid sprays.. -
Horvath estimate:: there are only
a handful of aerial crop sprayers
left in Ontario since many farmers
has c opted tau high clearance .
ground equipment, Although he ad -
mils he can't compete with'ground
• machines in short. term ceonomics.
he thinks that when a conics time
to harvest the crop. using his ser -
s ice pays off. Even under dr con-
ditions, there is sunrc trampling and
compaction sl iih . ground applica-
tion. • • -
"If they tramp two bushels (of
wheat. grain or barley) an- acre. it
• more than pays for the aerial scr-
11,iisath also secs an advitntagc to
acral scedn►g of winter wheal into
soybeans the wheat gets an early
start (up to four inches) before the
hcans arc harvested. •
Precision flying
Anyone who has seen Horvath at
work knows his skills are a .spce-
tacular example of precision flying: .
He is Waxiest about his ability and -
has great respect -for pilots who can
. do acrobatics or instmrntent flying
- which also • require specialized
skills.
According tot. Horvath- a .pilot
wanting to _spray crops doesn't
have to have amazing skills but
necds'a lot of practice—he has be-
tween 808) and 9,000 hours of
ing experience.
"It's heads"up !lying all the way."'
explained 1 tory _nth. adding' he "has
to be able -to Its and !cel the aur- •
plane without using the instruments
and work at lower alliludes.•.
Fortunately, ideal sprajrng lines
coincide with perfect flying condi-
tions --no wind -or a light breeze.
no rain and cool temperatures. • -
Consistency is the key to getting
a -good application. said Horvath.
To spray insecticide. he (lies be-
tween live and 10 tee! ahovc the
crop but when he- applies fungicide -
hc flies with the wheels on top of
the Crop.
`'You have to holt( a rinistant al-
titude above the crop," he said. add-
ing-. "lb's all about hcing precise."
: While flying at• such- a Ions al-
titude. he is travelling Ixtwccn 90
and _100 miles per hour and avoid-
ing obstacles such as wires. huild-
ings and trees. Add to that positi'vc
and negative "g forces"• and you
have the recipe for a very fatiguing
flight.
To keep track of his coverage
arca in a field. he estimates the
number of passes requited and di -
Vides up the Held accordingly. He
applies the product through swaths
- up and down the►Meld or on a race-
track pattern. - -
"You're always counting. It takes
• a -lot of practice."
While admitting he will Ily under
lower Iincs•if they're in Ihej:midst
of a ticld, Horvath says he doesn't
enjoy i1.. •
it's not hcing a. hot dog...I do it
because of tante and the quality of
the job."
A flying tractor
•
Horvath currently uses a factory ---
built -agricultural aircraft, the Piper.,
Pawnee which he keeps in -"top
shape." It's 20 years old, • made of
'fabric and uncial and has a 540 cu-
hic inch Lycoming engine. He is
very pleased with the aircraft call-
ing it a " (raetor with wings on it."
His motto is "We fly the skies
with a tractor in disguise.
It's quite a. different plane from
the 85 horse power • Piper 73 C'ub
Horvath darted on 31) years ago.
The ('uh wars adapted for spraying
by adding .a 50 -gallon tank in the
passenger scat. In 1968. he chatnged
to a 450 hp. Stearman and then a
Cessna Ag -(ruck.
Although Nabisco -is Horvath's
main -client, he also works for in-
dividual Jarners.
"There.'.slots here dr,rt'would sup-
port agrtctiltural planes but every-
-
......"21� . .
The man Inside the plane.
Jim Horvath, owner and op-
erator of Jim's Flying Ser-
vice, has been in the busi-
ness for 30 years. He is
currently flying out of the
Sexsmith air strip near Exet-
er while applying insecticide
to Nabisco corn fields. Fly
ing at a constant altitude is
=tife=key-to-aerial �sprayfng
Jim Horvath flies between
five and 10 feet above the
corn when applying insecti-
cide.
OUTAWA - National. housing -
starts went up by 2.7 per -pent in`
one jumped On the bandwagon with July, •reaching a_ seasonally Adjust -
ground equipment," he explained. 'cd annual rate tSAXR)` nf-
In some -areas in the United 144.700 units from a -rate of
States, 90 per cent of the - seeding 140 9(1).units in June, according to
and spraying is done by aircraft, es-% Canada Moflgage and .. Housmng •
tecially in arcas.gros4,ing a lot of C'orporahtin (('MIK'). - -
vegetables, - In 'urban centres, single=detached
He expects. to he spraying in- •construction incrcascd 1.6 per cent -
secticide until mid-September Ily- from 67.8111 to 68.9(1) unrtT while
ing out of Sctsrnith Airport near multiple•dwclling starts moved up
Exeter and Wayne Prance's grass 6.5 per cent to 52.700 units from
strip near Kirkton: Ile may do some. 49,500 in June.
aerial seeding afterwards. "Increased Construction in multi-
- Horvath • has moved from Win- . pies accounts for Most of July's
throe jo "i'illsonhurg but says the performance," said Louis:Ironer.
new owner will keep the grass strip Economist at CMHC's Market
in tact. In the off season. Horvath isAnalysis C'entrc."Low rnortgagc
a real estop: salesman in "rill- rates, faster job creation, anti -im-
sonhurg which he finds. totally dif-
Icrenl and is 'a quiet change from
the high-intensity flying.
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proving 'consumer.•confidence can
tinue to have a' pt►shrve impact on
single -detached construction."
In Ontario, urhan starts increased -
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43,401) in 'June.., Multiple starts -
jumted by 34.7. per cent as a result
of incrcascd rental and. condomin
turn construction, • -
Quclec: • -construction activity.
posted a 5,7• per tent increase in -
July. reaching 20.501) units from .
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'condouunium and rental starts ac-
count for much of the-. increase in ,
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