2023-2024 PAASS - CREDIT

The 2023-2024 PAASS Program will be four hours in length and cover several topics including preventing human factor related accidents, environmental professionalism for aerial applications, and the importance of having an operational security plan in place. The program will begin with a review of agricultural aviation accidents from the 2023 season. It will also include a discussion of accident trends seen over the 10-year period from 2013 to 2022. Studying agricultural aviation accident trends allows participants to better understand the causes of accidents, information they can use to prevent similar accidents from occurring at their operations.

For the human factors segment, PAASS will take on the subjects of stall spin accidents and overly aggressive flying. Participants will hear from a variety of sources, some with advice on how to safely turn an aircraft and others with a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when an ag pilot turns too aggressively. Fran de Kock of Battlefords Airspray in Canada provides both classroom and cockpit instruction on how to turn an agricultural aircraft safely, training to learn how an aircraft feels as it approaches a stall, and why agricultural aviation is not aerobatics. Segments from an updated version of the Turn Smart video will display the four left-turning tendencies that impact a fixed-wing aircraft in a turn and how they can lead to a stall in an unsafe turn. A survivor of a stall spin accident will provide a glimpse of how severe the consequences can be when an aircraft is turned aggressively. For those pilots who feel they must fly fast and turn hard in order to get their work accomplished, one pilot explains how he learned that slowing down can speed you up. The subject of how to safely turn a helicopter will also be covered.

PAASS will go back to the basics in environmental professionalism – discussing the importance of droplet size and boom length. Using larger spray droplets and reducing the length of the boom are both proven techniques for reducing drift. The 2023-2024 program will use graphics based on the AGDISP spray drift model to visualize how various droplet sizes move once they are released from the aircraft and how the release point along the length of the boom further impacts their movement. The results of spray pattern testing conducted by the USDA-ARS Aerial Application Research Technology Unit will demonstrate how different droplet spectrums, based on nozzle selection, and boom length impact the effective swath width from an agricultural aircraft.

To reinforce the importance of security at ag aviation operations, the 2023-2024 PAASS program will provide details on an incident where a perpetrator attempted to steal an agricultural aircraft. By learning about this incident, operators and pilots can better assess their own security measures in order to prevent criminals from stealing or damaging equipment and contaminating fuel and agrichemicals. PAASS will also provide an update on FieldWatch, ADS-B usage in agricultural aircraft, and how technology designed to improve accuracy and safety can sometimes become a distraction. The PAASS 2023-2024 program will also include a question-and-answer session to improve aerial applicators’ knowledge.

NAAREF strongly recommends attending the PAASS Program in-person at your local state/regional convention. However, for those who were unable to do so, this virtual option to view the PAASS program will serve as the sole Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC). Specifically, this is a Zoom webinar recording of the 2023-2024 PAASS Program given by two veteran PAASS Presenters.

Duration: Approximately 4 hours, however, you will have 7 days to complete the program once you start it.

Register for this course using the green Register button to submit payment. This course is available for NAAA members only.

Damon Reabe

Dairyland Aviation Inc. / Reabe Spraying Service Inc.

Damon is a third-generation aerial applicator from Wisconsin who grew up on the family airport and farm. He was taught to fly by his grandfather Roy Reabe who started the family business in 1945. Damon left the family farm and business after high school and graduated from Mankato State University with a BS in Aviation and Marketing. At the end of his colligate studies Damon launched a 15-year career as corporate pilot flying jet aircraft throughout the world. As a corporate pilot, Damon worked his way from line pilot to being one of only three flight standards pilots of the largest corporate aircraft management company of the time. He was responsible for developing, implementing and ensuring compliance of company safety procedures.

Damon got his start as an aerial applicator in 1997 under the tutelage of his father, Tom Reabe, and began helping out as a part time pilot. In 2009, Damon resigned his position as a flight standards pilot and took his father’s place as President of Reabe Spraying Service, a Wisconsin aerial application company. Over the past twenty seasons Damon has been actively spraying in Piper Pawnees, AT-400’s, AT-502’s, S2R-660, Bell 206 and an AT-802. Damon served the Wisconsin Agricultural Aviation Association as President from 2010 until 2016 and currently serves on the NAAA Board of Directors as the Wisconsin representative. He is currently serving as chairman of the Government Relations Committee.

During the winter of 2016-2017, the family executed a succession plan allowing Tyler Reabe and Curt Meister to become part owners in Reabe Spraying Service and forming Dairyland Aviation which operates out of Waupun, WI. Damon is the President of both Dairyland Aviation and Reabe Spraying Service.

Damon is fortunate to have met and married his wife of 13 years, Mary Reabe, who does the book keeping for both companies. They are raising their two children, Caroline and Max in Ripon, WI. Damon says, “I have been very lucky to have a spouse that not only puts up with the demands of this job and industry, but supports participation in safety programs such as PAASS.”

Dominique Youakim

Aerinova Aerial Inc.

Dominique Youakim of Charleston, Ill., is the owner and operator of Aerinova Aerial LLC, an aerial application business located in Mattoon, Ill. He also owns a helicopter tour business in St. Louis and Branson, Mo., and is an authorized Robinson helicopter dealer. He has two children, a son and daughter, Aiden and Aubrey.

Before finding his niche as an aerial applicator, Dominique worked in corporate America as a vice president of operations for a manufacturing plant. He worked for the manufacturer from 1995 to 2005. During that same period, he earned his commercial pilot certificate. Ready for a less travel-intensive career, Dominique gave up his corporate job for the opportunity to become an agricultural pilot in 2005. His mentor, Rick Reed of Reed’s Fly-on Farming, hired him as a full-time pilot that year. In 2013, Dominique purchased Reed’s Mattoon-based operation, which now operates under the name Aerinova Aerial LLC.

In 2006, Dominique completed the NAAA/Syngenta Leadership Training Program, which develops new leaders and advocates for the agricultural aviation industry. He served as secretary/treasurer of the Illinois Agricultural Aviation Association in 2007–2008. He joined NAAA’s board of directors as the Illinois AAA’s state representative in 2009. From 2012 to 2016, Dominique chaired NAAA’s bylaws committee. In 2016, he served as the association’s vice president and was elected president for 2017.

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