Seeding and feeding Delmarva

Aerial application, the industry’s preferred term for spraying or crop dusting, has come a long way since those early days, and Hudson’s humble business has blossomed into the largest operation on the Delmarva peninsula. The peninsula is aptly named for this agricultural mecca that comprises Delaware and the eastern portions of Maryland and Virginia.

In 1956, Hudson put a 10-year-old Allen Chorman to work picking up sticks at his operation’s home airport on what is now the privately owned fly-in community Eagle Crest-Hudson Airport (DE25), located between Milton and Lewes, Delaware. Ten years later, Allen began spraying for Hudson in a Boeing Stearman PT–17. In 1987, Allen bought Hudson’s business, and it has expanded with multiple subsidiaries denoting the many services Chorman now provides. Chorman Spraying Inc. is the service for which the business is best known. Today, the whole operation is run by Allen’s son, Jeff, who took over the reins in 2011.

Coastal Delaware has exploded in popularity over the decades as nearby beach towns are inundated with visitors from the area. “Lower, slower Delaware” is no longer an applicable description in the summer months. By 1991, Allen Chorman moved the operation inland to what is now Chorman Airport (D74) between Greenwood and Farmington, Delaware. The paved runway and adjacent grass added operational flexibility. Getting away from the busy coastal areas also allowed room for growth.

And grow it has. Today, Chorman Spraying consists of 26 aircraft, including two Bell 206 helicopters. There are hangars for all aircraft, including a gaggle of historic airplanes owned by Jeff (see “Jeff’s Toy Box”). Allen hung up his goggles in 2016 and was awarded a spot in the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame. He worked in the office until 2019 when he retired.

Like his father, Jeff grew up around the business and took to flying at a young age. He soloed six different airplanes on his sixteenth birthday. “I grew up at the airport. All I wanted to be was an ag pilot. I never really thought about anything else,” said Chorman. Not only has the business grown, but the operation has diversified with Part 135 charters in a Bell 206 and seasonal waterfowl surveillance in two Cessna 172s and a 182. Chorman also provides artificial reef surveys for the state using a Beechcraft Baron. Since the Joe Hudson days, the operation has been providing mosquito control using a Beech 18 and a rare Beech AT–11, a bombardier trainer based on the Beechcraft Model 18.

Aerial application is the heart of the operation, however. Five Thrush, three Air Tractors, and two Grumman Ag Cats do the majority of the heavy lifting. “Ayres and Air Tractor are the Ford and Chevy of ag airplanes,” says Chorman. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. These purpose-built aircraft are a far cry from the converted Stearman PT–17s that his father flew years ago. Aerial application is a serious business and these multimillion-dollar machines are designed to return on that investment. “I’m in this business because I love to fly, but to a farmer, that’s their livelihood in the field and they’re hiring us to protect their investment,” said Chorman.

Aerial application is also a dangerous business. Flying less than 10 feet above the ground and performing steep course reversals all while monitoring guidance gear is not something your average general aviation pilot can just pick up on a whim. “We don’t want cowboys here. It’s a very serious operation that we’re doing. Things are very expensive and there’s a lot of liability, so you want the right person in that airplane,” said Chorman. Minimum requirements are a commercial certificate and high-performance, complex, and tailwheel endorsements, but most important to Chorman is good common sense and the ability to fit in.

“We try to homegrow our pilots,” said Chorman. “It can take five years to get someone productive and safe to the point where I don’t have to worry about them. [Prospective pilots] can expect to spend a year on the ground learning the operation, mixing chemicals, washing airplanes, working the hours.” At Chorman, it’s essentially all on-the-job training. Pilots put about 50 hours in an Aeronca 7EC Champ to get them comfortable with tailwheel aircraft and low-level maneuvering.

Pilots can expect to make around $50,000 per year at first, although Chorman uses incentives based on how many acres are covered. Senior pilots who cover a lot of acreage can make up to $200,000 per year. Chorman pilots stick with the same airplane and work the same areas to increase safety through familiarity with the airplane and the fields they often spray.

“Every field has a prescription,” says Chorman. “When we get the map [of the field], the first thing I look at is what’s around it, what sensitive crops can we hurt, housing developments, power lines, what’s the best time to do it, do I need to contact law enforcement [who may receive calls about low-flying airplanes]?”

Chorman utilizes five main base airports scattered around the peninsula. In addition, he has secured permission from owners of 12 satellite airports to mobilize the operation closer to the target fields to maximize cost effectiveness. Chorman staff bring in the fuel and the seed/chemical creating a mini home-away-from-base operation. This saves time and money by reducing ferry times to/from target fields. Like a jet, the Air Tractor and Thrush ag planes have single-point hook ups for uploading fuel as well as the seed/chemical hopper in minutes without needing to shut down the engine.

“We are 100-percent weather dependent in everything that we do. You have to work the weather the best you can for the person you’re working for,” said Chorman. And when that weather is right, these pilots may be working sunrise to sunset up to 100 hours per week at peak times. A 12-hour day isn’t unusual for Chorman and his team. But today’s airplanes accommodate the pilots much better than those of the old days. Open cockpits, biplanes with lousy visibility, and temperamental radial engines have given way to turbine power and reliability, air conditioning, and superb guidance methods to ensure the minimal amount of product is placed exactly where it needs to be.

In 2012, Chorman Spraying transitioned to an all-turbine fleet. “It’s something we should have done 25 years sooner,” said Chorman. “There’s nothing wrong with a radial engine at all but we had just outgrown the amount of work they could do per airplane.” While the turbines burn much more fuel with engines that cost as much as a nice home, the productivity and long-term reliability more than pay off those expenses. Overhaul intervals for the turbines is 7,000 to 8,000 hours versus 1,200 to 1,600 hours for a piston radial. Where the turbines shine is the ease of maintenance for the amount of per-acre production. While the pistons can cover 70 acres per hour, the turbines can do 150 to 200 acres. Finally, there’s the fuel availability and cost issue of avgas compared to Jet A. A friend and business acquaintance once told Chorman “the best sound you can ever hear is your competitor running a radial engine.”

Chorman Spraying’s success is all about its staff, says Chorman. There are 30 employees including six full-time mechanics, ground crew, office support, and 10 pilots. Those mechanics have a great place to work too. We were welcomed into Chorman’s huge air-conditioned hangar on a hot June day to witness repairs being made to several airplanes. “We spare no expense on maintenance,” Chorman said.

For nearly 40 years, Chorman Spraying has been a staple of the Delmarva peninsula. Many residents of the Delmarva know “those little yellow airplanes” quite well. The diverse services the company provides help assure its future survival. Since Chorman, an only child, is in his mid 40s, we can assume he will carry that torch for many years—as did his father, Allen. When you do the math on Chorman’s age versus 33,000 hours of flight time, you become acutely aware of his work ethic. He, too, was inducted into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame in October 2024 joining his dad, Allen, and company founder Joe Hudson. Chorman’s wife, Molly, recently soloed, as did his daughter, Lucy, marking the possibility of the third generation of Chorman pilots to actively run the business.

Peter A. Bedell is a pilot for a major airline and co-owner of a Cessna 172 and Beechcraft Baron.

Jeff's toy box

Like most airplane fanatics, Jeff Chorman not only flies for a living but also for fun. Over the years, he has amassed a small collection of airplanes that are special to him and his father, Allen, who ran the business from 1987 to 2011.

His Beech AT-11 was a former bombardier trainer in World War II. Later it was used for mapping and was converted to spray for mosquitos in the 1960s. A 1944 Beech C18S, a former U.S. Coast Guard airplane, also does mosquito-control duties. Chorman has threatened to replace them with a Beech King Air C90, but so far, loyalty to the classics is winning that argument.

Chorman’s 1943 Boeing Stearman was a former spray plane that was owned by company founder Joe Hudson. In the early 2000s, it met with an unfortunate runway collision with an errant Mooney pilot. Chorman chose Minnesota’s Rare Aircraft to complete one of its exhaustive ground-up restorations of the Stearman to create what is now an immaculate example of the type.

Also from 1943, is a former Marine Corps North American SNJ4 that was flown by Allen and Jeff’s primary instructor, Jim Vreeland, a Piedmont Airlines pilot who loaned Allen money to continue training after he soloed. It had been out of the picture for years, but Jeff tracked it down and later bought it when it came up for sale.

Finally, Chorman recently acquired a 1955 North American T–28B. “I wanted a P–51, but I couldn’t afford it,” said Chorman. Jeff performs light aerobatics and often gives rides in the yellow T–28. It, too, has had the airframe and 1,400-horsepower radial rebuilt. —PAB