2024-2025 PAASS - Missouri AAA

Born and raised in southwest Missouri, Sam was next to the youngest of six kids - four brothers and a sister.  He joined the Air Force after graduating high school 1976.  While serving four years as an avionics components specialist, Sam enjoyed being stationed in Colorado, Idaho and Germany and working on F-111 Aardvark and F-15 Eagle fighter jets.  Sam earned his private pilot license at U76 during his stint at Mt. Home AFB. 

In 1981, Sam graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri.  He is a licensed professional engineer and maintains a consulting business providing primarily residential and commercial site development engineering services.

Sam’s desire to fly and escape the big city life pushed him to pursue an agricultural aviation career in 1992.  Attending Ag Flight provided some basic agricultural pilot training, at least enough to get insurance for the first season of flying for an “optimistic” operator.  The following flying season Styron, with his vast experience of 300 hours ag flying, became an operator in a farming area just south of Kansas City.

Sam operates as 1Lowflyer, Inc. using an AT602, AT402 and Cessna AGtruck to treat wheat, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and pasture, as well as, spreading fertilizer and cover crops in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa.  Sam has become the “optimistic” operator and is breaking in a new pilot to help treat the increasing number of customer acres.

Sam and Pattie, his wife of 30-some years, have three grown children.

Scott grew up on a farm in northern Illinois before attending the University of Illinois, where he received his Ph.D. He spent 14 years an Extension Specialist in Application Technology with the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Scott’s work focused on providing technical assistance on pesticide application equipment, nozzle selection and usage, drift reduction technologies, and sprayer calibration.

Since 2017, Scott has served as the Director of Policy, Education and Safety for NAAA. He assists with protecting aerial applications during the pesticide registration review process, creating the PAASS program, and other NAAREF safety efforts. Scott is an Operation S.A.F.E. analyst and conducts the fly-ins for Illinois as well as other locations. 

Scott has been involved with PAASS program development since 2004 and has been a PAASS presenter since 2008.  He is honored to help deliver the program. While he is not an agricultural pilot, Scott has a strong belief in the importance of the industry and is committed to helping enhance the efficacy and safety of aerial application.