Early next month, five pilots will make the four-hour flight from Michigan in Air Tractor turbo-props and, in 140-mph passes over the city, begin attacking Charlotte's cankerworms.
Al's Aerial Spraying of Ovid, Mich., hired by city officials this week, is part of a growing network of family-owned aviation companies that do everything -- from fertilizing crops, to killing gypsy moths and boll weevils, to fighting fires from California to Connecticut.
It's an industry almost as old as American flight, yet is surprisingly high-tech: Pilots often have engineering degrees and GPS devices, which show where they've flown and where they're headed.
In 48 states, there are about 3,200 pilots and 1,600 companies -- virtually all mom-and-pops -- who seed rice and wheat, fight forest and grassland fires, protect crops, melt snow, control mosquitoes, feed fish and help clean oil spills. A far smaller number are able to handle a complicated job like Charlotte's.
Business is steady year to year, rising and falling with the seasons.
The industry has the potential to grow, too, given the booming agriculture economy fueled by a strong global demand for grain and rising interest in ethanol production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that cash receipts from crops will reach $184 billion in 10 years, up 29 percent from 2007 -- providing fertile work for aerial spraying companies.
"It's exciting work," said Andrew Moore, executive director of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. "It's work that requires focus, and it's work that, even from a bystander, is interesting to observe."
Expected to start April 7
On Monday, Al's Aerial Spraying, a company with its own airport called Schiffer Acres and six to 16 employees depending on the season, beat two other companies for a $1.2 million contract to combat cankerworms across 63,000 acres, including oak-rich Myers Park and Eastover. The spraying is expected to start around April 7.Al's sprayed in Charlotte once before, 5,800 acres a decade ago. When its planes return, they'll coat Charlotte's trees with the Foray 48B insecticide.
Sometimes, especially in urban areas, people voice concerns about spraying, Moore said.
"In rural areas, (spraying) is more commonplace," he said. "When you're in a new area, it raises more questions."
But the pesticides must meet strict safety requirements, he said.
For brothers Al and Mike Schiffer, who own Al's Aerial Spraying, it's a venture built on two loves: farmland and flying.
"When you can take off as the sun peeks over the trees, and it's the end of the day, it's just beautiful," Mike Schiffer said.
"It's one of my favorite parts of the day."
The Schiffers' pilot's licenses are up to date, according to Federal Aviation Administration records, and the brothers maintain that their planes are safe.
In 2005, an independent contractor filed a lawsuit against the Schiffers and their business, saying his aircraft's engine failed, forcing an emergency landing. He argued that the failure was the result of the Schiffers' negligent ownership of the plane.
The suit was dismissed about six months later.
The incident was the only accident the company has had in 30 years, Mike Schiffer said, adding that his pilots attend training every year.
"We take that very seriously," he said. "We stand by our safety."
Firm opened in 1978
The Schiffer brothers and their two sisters flew their first solo flights on their 16th birthdays.
Al Schiffer, now 53, opened his own spraying company in 1978 after earning his aeronautical engineering degree from Purdue University.
Mike Schiffer, 51, joined in 1980 after graduating from Michigan Technological University with a mechanical engineering degree.
Al's Aerial Spraying works for individuals and the government. About 95 percent of its business is spraying pesticides; the rest involves seeding and fertilizing.
The company is often hired to kill gypsy moths, and about 70 percent of its business is over residential areas and cities, including Milwaukee, Detroit and Chicago.
Often, the competition is fierce, with 15 to 20 companies who do the kind of specialized and complex work Al's does. Mike Schiffer declined to give the company's annual revenue, but said it does 10 to 20 big jobs a year, covering about 1 million acres.
"There's enough of us that there's competition," he said. "I know all my competitors, but I don't know that I'd call us tight-knit."
The profession is laced with other difficulties, including long days and a negative public image, said Tim Whitfield of Tim Whitfield Aviation Inc., an Eastern North Carolina-based company that does pest control and aerial seeding.
There are parts of the job that keep it worthwhile, though, he said.
"We're out here on the coast, and it's just absolutely beautiful," Whitfield said.
"We see the sunrises and sunsets, the lights over Ocracoke and Hatteras."
Soon, from their base in Michigan, the Schiffers will get word that the cankerworms have hatched in the treetops above Charlotte.
And five yellow spray planes will be there to meet them.
Agricultural pilots
Before pilots can spray, they must get licenses from the Federal Aviation Administration. Training continues throughout their careers, including classroom work and clinic work.
Pilots are under the eye of federal and state agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the FAA, the Department of Transporta- tion and state departments of agriculture, ecology and the environment.
Pesticides are licensed with the Department of Agriculture, and planes have to pass annual inspections and be calibrated and characterized to make sure the proper amount of liquid comes out during sprays.
