In a job that requires them to travel at 200 miles per hour, 10 feet off the ground, crop dusters are a rare breed.
With roots dating back to World War I pilots who still had that need for speed came home and helped create a new industry. First spreading chemicals in a dust form over crops, that evolved into liquids that were sprayed and these days are more atomized and applied in smaller doses in pinpointed locations using GPS and other gadgets that help not waste the valuable pesticides and insecticides and fungicides.
I’ve interviewed plenty of men who have flown for decades. There’s been a recent lack of pilots in the industry but when those men who looked around the MAAA convention room a few years back and didn’t see any young pilots, they put their heads together. With the help of Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a program was started at Delta State University to start training these boys to become men and carry the next generation of farmers forward to breaking even with their crops.
My daddy’s cropduster was the late Bill Lang. I spent a lot of time at his airstrip as a kid and was always fascinated by the planes and the men who finessed them through the air. The lanky pilot was also a member of Cordy Brake Hunting Club so there was more than just the airport time. That cadre of men at the club were one of a kind. They took care of the camp and made it a great place to hunt and relax and just enjoy time together.
Many of them were Veterans with a heart to just take care of things and people. Lang kept flying, kept hunting, raised three boys – John, Calvin and Garrott – and kept Miss Cornelia happy in a house filled with men. In addition to running his business, Choctaw Flying Service, he found time to run the town of Inverness as Mayor for 18 years after serving four years as alderman. To me he seemed the “John Wayne” of cropdusters. A born leader who headed up the Lions Club as President, was a Mason and worked tirelessly for his industry serving on the Mississippi Ag Board, President of the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association where his service garnered him the outstanding service award from the MAAA, The Lee Abide Award (highest award issued by MAAA recognizing one who has made outstanding contributions to the world of agricultural aviation) as well and the Inverness Chamber dubbed him the Citizen of the Year.
Cancer took him at the age of 63 back in 2004, much too early but he lived a full life in the air and on the ground. He conquered the air with swagger and I’ve been told he may have buzzed the Ole Miss campus once in his airplane.
I interview a lot of ag pilots for work and show them the appreciation and respect that dates back to more decades than I want to admit. They are a special breed of men who conquer the air while giving it the respect it is owed. I talk to a lot of pilots and there are many “Bill Lang” types in the mix making their communities better and stronger and creating strong families that make the Delta a better place each day.
I wish he were here today to interview because there are a lot of stories I’d love to hear from Mr. Bill Lang. But until we meet in heaven, I’ll keep listening to the stories of those still making a living at 200 miles an hour, 10 feet off the ground.
