One of NAAA’s charter members and early officers has passed away. Terry K. Pfeil died June 12 in Chandler, Ariz., four days after his 82^nd birthday. Pfeil, who was known as T.K. to many of his peers, operated Sky-Farmers Aerial Sprayers Inc. in Waseca, Minn., and founded Sky-Tractor Supply, also in Waseca, before later selling the aerial ag equipment distributor business to Ron Deck.

Pfeil on the cover of NAAA’s May 1975 issue of The World of Agricultural Aviation.

Prior to retiring from the industry in the early 1980s, Pfeil had been extremely devoted to advancing the professionalism of the agricultural aviation industry and active at the state and national levels. He was a charter member of NAAA when the National Agricultural Aviation Association was formed in November 1966 and founded the Minnesota Agricultural Aircraft Association, serving as its president in 1968 and ’69. Pfeil was elected to NAAA’s Board of Directors in ’69 and served as NAAA’s treasurer in 1970 and vice president in ’71.

Pfeil got his start in agricultural aviation in 1958, after completing an aerial application course at Johnny Dorr’s Flying Service in Merigold, Miss. He married Gayle Gabriel that same year, and the couple remained married for 61 years until T.K.’s death.

Pfeil flew Piper J-3 Cubs for an operator in Ohio for a couple of seasons and then took the owner up on an offer to buy the operation. Pfeil briefly operated North Star Aerial Sprayers and would travel the country picking up odd jobs where he could, from spraying cotton in Mississippi to treating wheat in Montana. Perhaps realizing that relying on odd jobs around the country was not the most sustainable way to make a living, in the early ’60s the Pfeils moved back to Terry’s native state of Minnesota, where they built their own airport and started Sky-Farmer Aerial Sprayers Inc. in Waseca, Minn. There Pfeil transitioned to a much steadier customer base by doing mostly contract spraying for major canning companies.

Several years after they built up Sky-Farmer Aerial Sprayers’ business, Terry and Gayle started Sky-Tractor Supply to provide ag aircraft equipment, supplies and aircraft sales to other pilots in the industry. Sky-Tractor Supply became a fixture at NAAA’s annual convention and exposition and other state conventions. Pfeil also became a Grumman Ag-Cat distributor.

Wanting to do something special for NAAA’s 1976 convention to commemorate the United States’ bicentennial, Pfeil arranged to get a brand-new white Cessna Ag Truck from Cessna Aircraft Company. He spent months painting it red, white and blue until the aircraft looked like a flying American flag. Pfeil experienced one of the proudest moments of his career when he brought the U.S. flag-painted Cessna to NAAA’s ’76 convention and Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon, walked up and stood on the airplane. “Terry thought that was the best thing that ever happened,” his wife Gayle says.

Terry and Gayle’s affinity for aviation was even reflected in the names of their two daughters. Their oldest daughter Piper was named after Pfeil’s first plane, the Piper J-3 Cub. Taylor was named after the precursor to the Piper J-3, the Taylor J-2 Cub. Continuing the tradition of aviation-inspired names, the Pfeils have a granddaughter named Cessna.

After selling Sky-Tractor Supply to Ron Deck in 1982, Deck moved the company to Hillsboro, N.D., and the Pfeils moved to Arizona. Unable to fly anymore after an illness cost Pfeil his medical certificate, Terry and Gayle got into a new line of work in Arizona, opening a pet boarding service for cats and dogs. Ever the entrepreneur, the boarding service later expanded, as the Pfeils branched out to dog training and breeding as well. “It wasn’t near as exciting as crop dusting,” Gayle told the NAAA eNewsletter, but it was in keeping with Pfeil’s philosophy for success. The formula is simple, Pfeil explained to NAAA’s The World of Agricultural Aviation (WAA) magazine in a 1975 profile, “Pick out a specialty, and be damn good at it!”

Throughout his career in agricultural aviation, Pfeil was a leader in the efforts to the improve the safety, professionalism and reputation of crop dusters. He worked hard to transform the image of the stereotypical barnstorming crop duster of yesteryear into an industry made up of highly skilled and dedicated professional agricultural aviators. “That was very, very important,” Gayle says. “He wanted to work away from the old barnstormer, barrel-rolling image of old … to have a much more professional image.”

Pfeil also was very committed to pilot safety and was outspoken about the subject of ag flying safety. As he explained to WAA magazine:

In his view, “On-board safety equipment for ag aircraft [in the early to mid-1970s] has not kept stride with other advancements, such as performance and payload capacity.” He is especially vocal on the issue of fire-on-impact accidents, the incidence of which has increased alarmingly. “The necessary hardware — on-board extinguishing systems and foam-filled tanks — exists, but we’re preoccupied with the technology which will turn out more work,” Pfeil comments.

Pfeil may not be well known to most current members, but the continued presence of Sky-Tractor LLC, which remains in the Deck family, means a part of Pfeil’s spirit is still with the agricultural aviation industry to this day. The many small but persistent steps Pfeil took to improve the industry and his fellow ag pilots helped spur a giant leap forward in the professionalism of the industry. NAAA celebrated his impressive accomplishments and career in the agricultural aviation industry by presenting Pfeil with its Outstanding Service Award in 1985.