On my way to a morning assignment I spotted a bright yellow airplane flying over rural North Iowa. It would dive low to the ground, jump up and make hard looping turns that placed the wings in a vertical position.
After shooting a detassling project (those of you in Iowa and rural midwest know what that is), I spotted the yellow plane flying above another field. I chased, and the moment I pulled over to the side of a dirt road and opened my car door the plane made one final swoop and then disappeared into the horizon.
Bummer.
I went back to the office to process my morning stuff and had some free time during the afternoon, where I returned to the place where I had before seen the plane. A large part of me knew it was a long shot if the plane was there, but the inquisitive side of me was hopeful.
I drove a little further north and pulled onto a gravel road. I didn’t care where I was going, just wanted to find an open spot to scan the skies for a little yellow speck.
It didn’t take long to find. Nor was it a speck. The plane jumped up from a copse of trees near a farm house and made a wide loop and dive-bombed back down towards the field.
I raced across the rural road, hoping to get something to make my day worthwhile. I had a rotten morning, and was looking for some redemption. Something to make me forget walking through a corn field on a muggy Iowa morning, getting pegged in the head by a corn stalk (collateral damage at the hands of a youthful detassler who was aiming at a friend), arriving at an assignment a day earlier than scheduled, and a shortage of coffee (I’m still bitter at the lack of a Starbucks in North Iowa).
My fear was that I’d miss the plane again. I wanted to get close, but I also wanted a clean shot of the plane. I pulled over to make an image quick. It was just out of range with my 300 for anything other than a landscape shot, but at least I would have something to show for my efforts.
After I had a couple of half-decent composed pictures that I felt good about it was time to get closer. I chased it for another 10 minutes across gravel roads before I caught up with it.
The pilot had just started on a new field, so I had some time to play. Not too much time, though, because the plane was laying down chemicals and I didn’t want to spend a lot of time breathing it in.
I used a Web site to identify the plane’s registration number on the tail, made a call to the company (located in Mississippi), and had all the info I needed, including the pilot’s name.
Pilot Vince Muzzi of Greenville, Miss., applies pesticide on a soybean field on a farm east of Manly on Tuesday. Muzzi is employed by Gooden Lake Flying Service of Mississippi and has been spraying various fields in North Iowa. This time of year farmers spray for soybean aphids, and also apply fungicide to prevent from the attack of certain diseases.
