Spent some time with John O’Connell back in October as he was finishing up crop dusting. It recently ran in our Feb. edition of Farm and Ranch, and I even wrote the story too.
MJ Aviation has its own personal airstrip that runs just short of 241st Street into Letcher. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell climbs into the cockpit of his airplane before heading out to a field on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 in Letcher. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell goes over his checklist inside the cockpit of his plane while Rodney Bahm watches prior to heading out to a field on Thursday, October 8, 2015 in Letcher. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell flies his Thrush Aircraft plane spraying over a field five miles east of Letcher on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 in Sanborn County. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell flies his Thrush Aircraft plane spraying over a field five miles east of Letcher on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 in Sanborn County. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell flies his Thrush Aircraft plane spraying over a field five miles east of Letcher on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 in Sanborn County. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell goes over his checklist inside the cockpit of his plane before heading out to a field on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 in Letcher. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell started M.J. Aviation in Letcher back in 1973 after returning from Vietnam as a Medevac helicopter pilot. (Matt Gade/Republic)
Rodney Bahm, left, works on the GPS on the bottom of the plane while Mark Becker tests out the computer screen in the cockpit as Marvin Northrup, right, watches, after John O’Connell came back after spraying over a field on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 east of Letcher. (Matt Gade/Republic)
John O’Connell checks the damage to his wing as Rodney Bahm, left, and Mark Becker watch as O’Connell had hit a duck while spraying a field earlier in the day on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 in Sanborn County. (Matt Gade/Republic)
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