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Pyjama PilotsAuthor: Jimbo Burgess
Three Ag Pilots based in New Zealand, talk about their aviation adventures from around the world. Jimbo Burgess, Pete Blake, and Sam Hood Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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#20 Ag Aviation vs Technology: Is Variable Rate Worth It?
Episode 20
Sunday, 15 March, 2026
In this episode, Jimbo, Hoodie and Pedro dive into the debate around modern spreading tech — variable rate systems, cockpit mapping, and whether it’s actually improving outcomes or just adding cost and complexity for farmers. Is the technology genuinely helping pilots and cockies get better results, or is it a half-finished system that’s shifting risk and responsibility onto the people flying the job?The conversation drifts (as it always does) through real stories from the cockpit — dodgy fert density, spread tests, long days in Gizzy, and the reality of life as an ag pilot when the weather, the boss, and the cockies all have different expectations.Along the way the lads also get into:Why constant-rate spreading actually is an improvementWhen automation helps… and when it becomes a distractionThe pressure pilots face when new systems don’t work as advertisedEarly mornings, endless seasons, and the micro-climates every ag pilot learns to readElectric aircraft experiments, drones, and where ag aviation might be heading nextIt’s part industry discussion, part hangar-talk, and part therapy session for anyone who’s ever worked in agricultural aviation.Expect strong opinions, plenty of laughs, and the usual sideways detours into aircraft, war stories, and the realities of flying for a living.
