Another Imperial Valley pioneer was Jim Vedder, who organized Visco Flying Service, operating out of El Centro and Imperial. Vedder's ag flying career began inauspiciously when he talked Russ Parkhill of Wenatchee Air Service in Wenatchee, Washington, into letting him apply lime and sulphur to apple orchards
in a J-3 Cub in 1946. On his second day, Vedder made an extremely late pull up and hung the Cub in an apple tree, demolishing both the aircraft and his embryonic career with Wenatchee Air. Vedder temporarily gave up ag flying. He bought a surplus B-18 at Jackson, Mississippi, and converted it to carry passengers and cargo. For a year or so, he used the plane to haul freight and Marines out of the San Diego area. In 1947 he returned to ag flying, working with Bill Wood at El Centro and finally with Dick Hyde of Ag-Air, who operated a fleet of Stearmans. In 1951 he organized his own firm, Visco Flying Service, with a Stearman fleet that steadily grew. Vedder had a strong impact on ag flying in the Imperial Valley and was among the first to introduce helicopters to the area. This is a facet of his business that has continued into the present.
Stearman of Visco Flying Service, Imperial, California, doing night flying on cotton. Pilot is Chuck Quigley.
Continuing next month with chapter 3 The Move Westward.
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