AgAv pioneer, J.O. Dockery
Stuttgart, Arkansas
(deceased December 1997)
Began organized agricultural flying in 1926 in Mississippi and one of the first commercial firms in existence at Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1933.
Inducted — 1984
J.O. Dockery was a pioneer airman, being a self-taught pilot that began flying in 1922, soloing at age 13. In 1926 he helped build a dry dispensing unit for Finklea Brothers of Leland, Mississippi and installed it on a Standard to perform a dusting job for the famous Delta and Pine Land Company at Scott, Mississippi.
“Dock” worked in the late 1920s for Curtis Quick and then in Mississippi as a pilot for the famous Finklea Brothers’ operation during the 1930s. He organized his own firm in 1933 at Clarksdale, Mississippi and operated there until about 1959, while also operating a flying service in Stuttgart, Arkansas.
“Dock” is credited with the first aerial rice seeding in Arkansas in 1938. He was instrumental in bringing ag flying to Wisconsin in the 1940s dusting English peas for the canning companies. “Dock” was also one of, if not the first, to adapt the P&W R-985 450 hp radial engine to a Stearman in 1946. He continued flying into his 80s, checking out pilots in Stearmans and flying sightseeing tours in the panhandle of Florida.
For more details with pictures about the life of J.O. “Dock” Dockery, refer to Mabry Anderson’s book Low and Slow – An insider’s history of agricultural aviation; pages 25-26, 29-31, 30, 32, 34, 36-37. 37-39, 49, 81-82, 125.
