Cropduster from Above

I never tire of watching ag pilots dance above Mississippi Delta crops. These planes dive and dart, nearly touching the earth as they release chemicals meant to support growth. They fly straight toward tree lines and to the uninitiated it must appear they will surely crash into the branches. Yet, at the last possibly moment, they climb - like a roller coaster - only to dip downward again once the hazard has passed.

This dance never bores me. Never.

I still get excited when a yellow plane flies nearby. It’s somewhat similar to how I still want to encourage a truck driver to honk his horn when passing a big rig on the interstate. But I don’t watch the trucks the way I do the planes. I just don’t.

In 2011 I flew with Jimmy McHardy in his handmade ultralight plane. The goal was to gather aerial photographs of the Mississippi River flood that wreaked havoc that spring. I did make those photos, but we also spent much of the flight above this duster. I loved seeing the ag dance from that vantage.

My friend Amy connected me and Jimmy. She died a few months ago. We lost Jimmy last week. Now when i see this photo, I think of the two of them.

Jimmy was wild and attacked life in a way I admired. I’ll never forget what he told me as we were preparing to land on the makeshift runway cut into a wheat field behind his house.

“I think landing is my favorite thing about flying. It ain’t nothing but a controlled crash.”

Then, true to his word, we landed with one wheel askew, bounced in a way that should have scared me more than it did, and jerked off of the runway and into the wheat field. The planes propeller clip the crop like a giant weedeater. I caught my breath. Jimmy laughed.

“We can’t end that way,” he said.

So when we made it back to the runway, he stopped, checked the propeller, gave me a thumbs-up and a huge grin, then took off again. As the small plane rose into the air he said “We’re gonna crash right this time.”

We circled. I put my cameras away. I don’t know why I trusted Jimmy, but I did. My work was done for the day, and I wanted to just enjoy seeing the Delta the way Jimmy did. We cruised for a few minutes longer before Jimmy steered back towards the runway and eased earthward. This time the landing was smooth. Jimmy grinned again and when we pulled to a stop and he cut the engine my host slapped me on the back.

“Now that’s how you’re supposed to crash.”