The National Agricultural Aviation Association is founded to, among other things, be the “recognized public policy advocate for the agricultural aviation industry.” Before this period, much of the industry was organized via regional associations, as well as operators and pilots exchanging information at “fly-ins.” Some in the industry, such as a group in the Great Plains region, wanted to regulate themselves to better control the application of pesticides before the government would step in. However, 14 CFR, Part 137 was promulgated by the Federal Aviation Administration and put into effect Jan. 1, 1966, establishing new federal regulations for agricultural aircraft operations. The new rules and restrictions imposed in the original draft of the Part 137 regulations, coupled with farmland being converted to suburban neighborhoods whose inhabitants were unfamiliar with agricultural practices, plus the release of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, which was critical of pesticide use, rankled independent-minded aerial applicators to such an extent that they decided to establish a national association to monitor and influence federal policies and legislation that could impact agricultural aviators. The National Aerial Applicators Association, as NAAA was originally known, was officially founded on Nov. 28, 1966.
