Use of Aircraft for Insect Control: Mosquito Control ~ 1949 US Public Health Service

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Originally a public domain film from the U.S. Public Health Service, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_control

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Mosquito control manages the population of mosquitoes to reduce their damage to human health, economies, and enjoyment. Mosquito control is a vital public-health practice throughout the world and especially in the tropics because mosquitoes spread many diseases, such as malaria and the Zika virus.

Mosquito-control operations are targeted against three different problems:

Nuisance mosquitoes bother people around homes or in parks and recreational areas;

Economically important mosquitoes reduce real estate values, adversely affect tourism and related business interests, or negatively impact livestock or poultry production;

Public health is the focus when mosquitoes are vectors, or transmitters, of infectious disease.

Disease organisms transmitted by mosquitoes include West Nile virus, Saint Louis encephalitis virus, Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus, Everglades virus, Highlands J virus, La Crosse Encephalitis virus in the United States; dengue fever, yellow fever, Ilheus virus, malaria, Zika virus and filariasis in the American tropics; Rift Valley fever, Wuchereria bancrofti, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya and filariasis in Africa and Asia; and Murray Valley encephalitis in Australia.

Depending on the situation, source reduction, biocontrol, larviciding (killing of larvae), or adulticiding (killing of adults) may be used to manage mosquito populations. These techniques are accomplished using habitat modification, pesticide, biological-control agents, and trapping. The advantage of non-toxic methods of control is they can be used in Conservation Areas...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_application

Aerial application, or what was formerly referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known as aerial topdressing in some countries. Many countries have severely limited aerial application of pesticides and other products because of environmental and public health hazards like spray drift; most notably, the European Union banned it outright with a few highly restricted exceptions in 2009, effectively ending the practice in all member states.

Agricultural aircraft are highly specialized, purpose-built aircraft. Today's agricultural aircraft are often powered by turbine engines of up to 1500 hp and can carry as much as 800 US gallons (3,000 l) of crop protection product. Helicopters are sometimes used, and some aircraft serve double duty as water bombers in areas prone to wildfires. (These aircraft are referred to as SEAT, "single engine air tankers")...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticide

Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to be a major factor behind the increase in the 20th-century's agricultural productivity. Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; many are toxic to humans and/or animals; some become concentrated as they spread along the food chain.

Insecticides can be classified into two major groups: systemic insecticides, which have residual or long term activity; and contact insecticides, which have no residual activity.

Furthermore, one can distinguish three types of insecticide. 1. Natural insecticides, such as nicotine, pyrethrum and neem extracts, made by plants as defenses against insects. 2. Inorganic insecticides, which are metals. 3. Organic insecticides, which are organic chemical compounds, mostly working by contact...