The 2020 NAAA Ag Aviation Expo has several hours of educational sessions and programming to help with your career as an operator and/or ag pilot! Attend the Ag Aviation Expo in Savannah, Dec. 7-10 to learn, be inspired and potentially earn CEUs for your state. The following are just a few of the informative education sessions to consider attending while you are in Savannah. Pre-register by Nov. 7 to take advantage of the pre-registration pricing (save $75/person), avoid long lines on-site and receive a refund if you need to cancel.

Low-Altitude Airspace and Aerial Crop Scouting/Imaging Session: A panel of professionals will discuss a variety of issues related to low altitude aviation ranging from FAA tower and drone policies designed to make the national airspace system safer for low-flying manned aircraft to field scouting using the AgroScout AI drone platform to find bugs and disease faster and potentially further diversity your aviation business. You will hear also hear from researchers at Mississippi State University on the culmination of a three-year research effort made possible by the support of NAAA members through GPS flight log data donations. The focus of this research is to model agricultural aircraft performance, and to use the resulting model(s) to inform and educate Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operators on how to operate in agricultural environments safely and responsibly.

Chemical Session: The Chemical Session will feature a panel of chemical company representatives discussing their products that can be applied aerially. Topics will include a review of those products, labeled crops, targeted pests, timing and crop state for applications, safety considerations and label guidelines relevant to aerial application. New products as well as existing products will be covered. Attend the session to learn about the latest and greatest products that can be applied using agricultural aircraft.

Engine Sessions: Join panel discussions to hear about radial, TPE 331 and PT6 engines.

Helicopter Session: Rotorcraft use is growing as part of the aerial application fleet in the U.S., according to NAAA’s 2019 Industry Survey. The subjects for the helicopter session roundtable will be brought up by attendees. Attend to ask your questions and learn from others!

Relationship Drift Session: Attend this session with your spouse and/or office crew! The Relationship Drift Session will look at how personal relationships affect pilot decision making and safety and will be a similar in format to the popular Compaass Rose program, but instead of better facilitating relations between inexperienced pilots and more experienced operators, the new session is designed to facilitate relations between operators/pilots and their spouses or significant others.

NAAREF Safety Session: The 2020 NAAREF Safety Session features Fran de Kock of Battlefords Airspray in Canada. He graciously allowed NAAREF to film him instructing his students on two important safety topics: emergency dumping procedures and how to land with a fully loaded aircraft. In agricultural aviation the goal of course is to apply the load in the hopper to the intended target area. Situations can change, and it is important the pilots know how to conduct both procedures, and just as importantly how to safely practice doing them. Fran was filmed both in his classroom and in a dual-seat AT-504. He covers both topics in depth, including the difference between how dumping is typically practiced versus how it will occur during an actual emergency. Don’t miss this chance to improve your knowledge about how to practice dumping a load and landing with a load. The session will be valuable to both experienced and inexperienced pilots.

Register for the 2020 Ag Aviation Expo to Network, Learn, Have Fun & See Your Friends!