Saturday November 16th, 2024 2:52PM

I loved the smell of DDT in the morning

By Ken Stanford Contributing Editor
Another summer has come and gone, a season that brings back memories of growing up near the cotton, peanut and tobacco fields of south Georgia and watching in awe on many a summer morning and afternoon as the crop dusters did their thing.<br /> <br /> It was probably that exposure to those low-flying and noisy planes that first sparked my interest in planes and flying.<br /> <br /> And, yes, it was DDT from what we were told that they were using on the fields, At one time when we were living near Tifton, cotton fields bordered to of the four sides of the lot our house sat on. <br /> <br /> This, of course, was long before DDT was deemed too hazardous a material to be used in pesticides and, so, there's no telling how much of the stuff I and my brother and people all over the country inhaled over the years.<br /> <br /> But for me, there was nothing like dashing outside as soon as I heard the approaching plane for a up close view of the pilot and his craft. Yes, the pilot, because they flew so low that it was easy to distinguish the person at the controls. <br /> <br /> Most of the planes were Piper Cubs that had been converted to crop dusters. There was, as I recall, little, if any spraying done, it was all dusting and there were few, if any, custom-made crop dusting planes like they are today.<br /> <br /> The planes would come swooping down over trees or power lines at one end of the field and zoom skyward at the last minute at the other end, just in time to clear whatever obstacle was there, more power lines and/or trees, usually. For many pilots over the years, they misjudged and ended up crashing, never around our house, with many of them losing their lives.<br /> <br /> I thought crop dusting might be one of the ten deadliest jobs in the country, given the very nature of it - flying low and fast with no room for error and dodging such things as power lines and trees. But it isn't, according to a report I came across that was detailed on CNN.com a couple of months ago. Airplane pilot did make the list, coming in third behind fisherman and loggers, but not specifically pilots of crop dusters. <br /> <br /> So, here's a tip of the hat to those daring men and women who still carry on, dipping low over fields of rows of crops, unleashing their deadly load of spray or dust, hoping to wipe out the worms, beetles and other critters that, if left unattended, would lay waste to acres and acres and acres of crops across the country.<br /> <br /> Your forerunners kept two young boys enthralled, as they grew up in the 1950s, with their daring maneuvers.<br /> <br /> I don't know about Ed but "I loved the smell of DDT in the morning." Cough, cough.<br /> <br /> (EDITOR'S NOTE: And, thanks to the writers of a Viet Nam war movie, Apocalypse Now, for the inspiration for the title of this column and to Robert Duvall, who delivered it. Following a scene in which fighter jets had just made a bombing run, delivering a load of napalm on the enemy, Duvall's character declared: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning.")<br /> <br /> <I>(Ken Stanford is the longtime Newsroom Manager for WDUN, WDUN-FM, 1240ESPN Radio, and AccessNorthga.com.)<I>
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