To say that Pat and his family deserved this recognition is an understatement.  Pat has had a long, successful career as a spray pilot, and now has added Sun Valley Aviation, a full-service FBO in Harlingen to his portfolio.  It is definitely a family affair, with his beautiful wife Teresa and all three of his children integrally involved in the dusting service and the FBO.  

Pat has also been honored over his career by being elected to serve as President of TAAA, and also of our national association NAAA.  His counsel and wisdom have served the agricultural aviation industry well.  And he has engrained the responsibility to give back to the industry in his family.  Pat’s youngest son, Austin, is currently on the TAAA Board, and his son Clyde, is a past president of TAAA.  

Set forth below is the entire presentation (minus all the pictures) from the Awards Banquet:

Pat grew up seeing pictures on the wall of the heavy bombers his father flew for the British Royal Air Force in WWII.  Intermixed with those photos were many pictures of ranch life and horses.  Pat and his brother, like many Kornegay’s before them, grew up on horseback and were no strangers to long days and hard work.  

Pat graduated high school in May 1974 and only two months later he earned his commercial pilot certificate on his 18th birthday. At this point he was congratulated by his father and lovingly told to collect his belongings and follow his ambitions, whatever they might be.  Good luck son!  Pat moved out but continued to work cattle for his father.  During this time, he also found work flagging for Ken Medders who owned Sun Valley Dusting Co. in Pat’s hometown of San Benito TX. 

1975 was big year for Pat… at 19 yrs. old he got a job as a loader for Garrett Flying Service in Danbury Texas.  He began his flying career there as well; learning and spraying in both a supercub and a stearman when not loading airplanes.  Later that same year he went on a greenbug run in Kansas flying an ag-wagon while living in his car.  After the greenbug run he flew a stearman sold by Ken Medders from San Benito TX to Costa Rica.  On the airline flight home, he intentionally stopped in Nicaragua as he had heard a pilot could find work there and wanted to see if it was true, it was but the season hadn’t started yet.  

Back in Texas he worked horseback on his father’s cattle feedlots saving up money to get back south when he found an opportunity.  As luck would have it, a pilot had been hired to deliver a brand-new Thrush to Nicaragua but had broken down in Veracruz Mexico claiming a magneto failure.  The pilot had abandoned the airplane there and the owner was desperate to get it moved.  

Pat convinced the owner he was a ‘ol Thrush pilot even though up to that point he had never even sat in one.  So, he rode the bus to Mexico with a replacement mag.  Turns out there was no mag problem and he quickly got the Thrush delivered.  He lived off his $750 delivery pay determined to find a seat and stayed until he got hired on with an operation and flew the season down there. The following year he was flying a ‘C’ model Snow in Sinton TX and then headed south to fly the Nicaraguan ag season again.

Sun Valley Dusting can be traced all the way to 1939 when it began as Valley Star Dusters.  It later became Sun Valley Dusting and was one of the first five Ag-Cat dealerships awarded in the late 1950’s.  From its inception Sun Valley had always been a family-owned operation.  Not always the same family but always a family.

It was still a going concern and had seen better days in January of 1977 when Ken Medders sold the company to Pat for $15,000 hoping the young man could keep it going.  It was owner financed and included no airplanes but came with a spot on the local city airport on a leasehold owned by the Medders family.  Pat bought an ‘A’ model 600 cat that was a rebuilt wreck for $38,000 and became an operator. When Pat acquired Sun Valley Dusting there were 42 operating crop-dusting companies in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas…now there are three.  

In 1978, Pat unexpectedly had to move the company off the public airport.  While working the ag season in Nicaragua, he learned the Medders family was selling the leasehold on the airport where he was operating.  He was given the chance to buy the lease, but couldn’t afford it as he had just bought a second 600 Ag-Cat for the operation and could not take on anymore debt. The leasehold was immediately sold to his competitors, Rio Dusters. He was told he would need to vacate the property and his customers were told he was going out of business.  

Luckily he was able to get a local pilot to help relocate the airplanes to an abandoned airstrip that still had a usable hangar until he could return from Central America.  The old airstrip and hangar was the same facility were Leland Snow got his first job loading duster-planes as a teenager. The runway was now a road as the area was being developed into residential properties but was still not used widely and served as a temporary holding spot for the airplanes.  

Thanks to hard work, loyal customers, and his pilots pay working in central America he was able to develop an airstrip nearby on private land where Sun Valley Dusting still operates today.  Pat has flown and worked as an applicator in the US, Mexico, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.  He was even licensed in some of those places!  He has also done ag-training in Costa Rica and Ecuador in AT-504’s…while making applications on bananas.  

Pat retired as an ag-pilot after the 2021 season and has begun the process of transferring the ag operation to his sons, Austin and Clyde. Both boys are pilots flying 502A’s with many years of spraying under their belts as they begin to take on more of the company’s administration going forward. In addition to his overseeing the flying service, Pat still flies almost daily in everything between a super-cub and Citation, and serves as President of Sun Valley Aviation, a full service FBO.  This is a feat he could not accomplish without the help of his daughter, Katie, who oversees the daily operations at the FBO and who makes sure his head stays screwed onto his shoulders. 

Pat and his wife Teresa will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary this April.  Tere’s devotion to her family and to the ag operation have been invaluable over the years.  She oversees the office administration, and keeps the operation running smoothly ensuring everyone has what they need to get through the day. 

This year marks Pat’s 46th year as an ag-operator in Texas. Throughout these years the company has serviced south Texas growers without interruption while also selling aircraft, aircraft parts, holding fire-fighting contracts and sending both airplanes and pilots all over the country and sometimes out of it.  Sun Valley Dusting currently operates 4 late model Air-Tractors out of 4 locations scattered throughout the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  On top of all this and raising a family, Pat has also dedicated many years to helping our association and has served as President of both TAAA and NAAA.  Please join me in congratulating our 2023 operator of the year, Sun Valley Dusting! Pat, Teresa, Clyde, Austin, and Katie!      

Special thanks to Bryan Daniel and his wife Jaclyn, along with the Kornegay family for putting together such a wonderful presentation!