Dusty Crophopper

Dusty Crophopper is a single-preparer plane, that was a aero racer, who competed in various aero races and sports events, including Wings Around the Globe, Reno Air Races, Jetsky 100 and Red Bulldozer World Championship, in all of which he had a championship title. He debuted in aero racing scene in 2013 when he competed in Wings Around the Globe race which he won a championship.

In 2014, he had become a firefighting plane in his hometown, Propwash Junction, Minnesota, United States. Before his racing career, he used to be a crop dusting plane.

Planes
In Planes, Dusty is first seen dreaming of out-running two fighter jets. He is introduced as a crop duster that works for Leadbottom, and dreams of competing in the Wings Around the Globe Rally, but is afraid of heights. After qualifying for the competition, Dusty comes in sixth place, meaning he can't be in the competition. However, the next day, Roper comes to Propwash Junction and tells Dusty and his team that the plane ahead of him was using illegal fuel, and was disqualified, so Dusty was now eligible to compete. After meeting his racing idols, most of which were mean to him for being "just a crop duster", Dusty made friends with El Chupacabra. He was told by Bulldog that it was a competition, and that every plane was in it for themselves. During the second leg, Bulldog sprung an oil leak, and the wind forced the oil into his eyes, blinding him. Dusty saved Bulldog by navigating him through the castle.

At the next leg of the race, Dusty fell in love with Ishani, who gave him advice to fly low, so he didn't get scared when flying high. Dusty followed Ishani's advice, only to nearly die by being hit by an oncoming train.

Later in one of the legs, Ripslinger's henchman Zed broke off Dusty's antenna, and he got lost at sea, but was rescued by two fighter jets. On the way back to where he should be, Dusty was caught in a storm, and sunk, but was rescued once again by a pitty. At the hospital, Dusty was severely damaged, including having a broken wing. The next day, all of the competitors gave Dusty new parts so he could race again.

While Dottie repaired him, Chug watched some of Ripslinger's races, and figured out that before every victory, Ripslinger turns to his right side so the cameras can get good photos of him. During the final leg, Dusty fought Ned and Zed, while Skipper took on Ripslinger. After Ned and Zed got stuck between each other in between two rocks, Dusty caught up to Ripslinger when he was close to the finish line, and when Ripslinger leaned to his side, and Dusty saw the chance he was looking for, and sped by Ripslinger at the last second.

At the end of the film, Skipper and Dusty were onboard the flight deck of the Jolly Wrenches ship, and the two flew over the sea, back to Propwash Junction.

Planes: The Video Game
Dusty appears as a playable character in both versions of Planes: The Video Game. His five chapters are Training Mode, Trouble in Propwash (cleaning up a damaged Propwash Junction), Himalayan Hero (helping out the local village), Ripslinger's Revenge (a race against Ripslinger wanting revenge while finding a sponsor in Dubai), and Blown out of Proportion (Dusty facing off against tornadoes).

Dusty has his Racing and Turbo skin exclusive to the console version, and his navy paint job and modifications, exclusive to the handheld versions.

Planes: Fire & Rescue
In Planes: Fire & Rescue, Dusty, at first, races around the world again with most of the racers from the Wings Around the Globe, and is going to perform at Propwash Junction's annual Corn Festival. However, while he does a training run with Skipper, his engine sputters, causing him to fall into a spin before luckily regaining control. Skipper guides him back to the town for an emergency landing, and Dottie finds out that his gearbox became damaged due to too much over-revving. To make things worse, that type is out of production, meaning that Dusty can't race anymore.

To prevent him from crashing, Dottie installs a warning light on his panel that will go off if he redlines, meaning he has to slow down. While at the Honkers bar, Chug and Sparky tell Dusty that they will try to find a new gearbox for him, though Leadbottom offers Dusty to go back to his job of crop dusting, to which Skipper, Chug and Sparky do not agree, saying that Dusty will be back to racing soon.

However, when none of them are looking, Dusty goes on a defiant flight testing his limits. But in doing so, he has a hard landing with engine trouble at Propwash Junction's airport, causing a fire at Chug and Dottie's Fill n' Fly. Mayday, the town's fire truck, tries to put it out with his hose, but later finds out that the hose is leaking everywhere, failing to supply water. Dusty, Chug, Mayday and Skipper then work together to topple the water tower and put the fire out. However, the next day, a government inspector named Ryker declared the airport closed until a second firefighter is hired, which means that no planes can fly to Propwash Junction to attend the Corn Festival if it was closed.

Mayday later explains to Dusty about aerial firefighters, who drop water instead of dusting crops like Dusty used to. This gives Dusty the idea of becoming Propwash Junction's second firefighter, and he travels to Piston Peak National Park so to be certified by Mayday's old friend Blade Ranger.

When he gets to Piston Peak, he meets his biggest fan Lil' Dipper, a heavy-lift helicopter called Windlifter, and the ex-military transport heavy plane Cabbie. Afterwards, an emergency horn blares, with the team's informant Patch alerting them that there is a wildfire to fight. Dusty gets so interested, that he went along with the planes.

As the team arrive at the scene of the wildfire, Blade is already on the scene, which he, Dipper and Windlifter drop fire retardant while the Smokejumpers parachute out of Cabbie and dig a fire line so that the fire won't spread. When Dusty arrives, Blade tells him to get out of the airspace, before he flies through the retardant.

After the fire gets put out, Maru, the firefighters' mechanic, washes the retardant off Dusty, before Blade orders him to replace Dusty's landing gear with a pair of pontoons. Blade then trains Dusty, starting with flying under a bridge and pulling straight up in front of a waterfall at Augerin Canyon, but Dusty pulls power when learning that he would have to go to max speed with his gearbox. Next, Blade teaches him scoop water from a lake to fill his tank. However, Dusty almost collides into the trees. Blade then tells Dusty about the different types of fire attacks along with that all aircraft must be on the ground exactly thirty minutes after sunset. Later, Blade sets up some flaming barrels on the runway. Dusty flies over them, and tries to douse them with retardant while being coached by Blade on the radio, only to keep getting informed that he is not doing it right, by releasing his retardant too early, too high and too low. Blade then gets Dusty to try and scoop water from the waterfall again, but he still backs off when the alarm on his warning light goes off. However, Blade warns Dusty that he won't get certified if the course is not completed. After days of training, Dusty's friends in Propwash Junction tell him that they have found a new gearbox which will arrive in a few days.

He then meets the park's superintendent Cad Spinner, who invites him to come to the Grand Fusel Lodge's grand reopening party to impress the Secretary of the Interior. Dusty later learns that Blade was formerly an actor who played a police helicopter on the TV series CHoPs (parody of CHiPs).

The next day, Dusty tries to help put another wildfire out that was caused by a thunderstorm, but Blade tells him that he is flying too high for releasing the retardant as it would disperse. Blade tells Windlifter to finish the spot, then the Smokejumpers get trapped by the flames in the forest. Blade orders Dipper to help them, but Dusty goes in and releases retardant over the trees for the Smokejumpers to proceed.

That night, Dusty goes to Cad's party along with Dipper, Windlifter and Maru. Dusty sees all kinds of fun activities, even noticing André, the concierge, talking to a married couple. As he looks around, Cad sees Dusty, and tells him that he will soon get a promotion from the Secretary of the Interior. While there, Dusty meets a sweet old RV couple called Harvey and Winnie, who are celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary by going to the part of the park where they had their first kiss.

The next morning, Dusty is devastated by a call from his friends at Propwash Junction, noting that the gearbox which arrived is not the right one, and all attempts at finding a replacement gearbox have failed, meaning that his racing career is over. Maru then alerts Dusty that there are two fires heading towards the Fusel Lodge after visiting VIPs flew too low during the grand reopening of the Grand Fusel Lodge and made air eddies which blew embers about. Soon, Dusty and the firefighters arrive at the scene, where Blade tells Dusty to drop half of his retardant on the fire so that the rest is saved. However, Dusty gets distracted by the news of his gearbox, and releases all of the retardant. Blade orders Dusty to return to the base, but Dusty doesn't listen as he goes to reload at the lake. However, the strong crosswinds pull him down the rapids and towards a waterfall. As Dusty gets his engine clear, Blade tells him to redline so that he can take off before the waterfall. However, Dusty pulls back as the warning light goes off, and falls over the waterfall before getting grabbed by Blade's hoist, taking all of Blade's strength to swing Dusty to the ground safely.

As the fire closes in, Dusty and Blade head for the safety of an abandoned mine. Dusty, however, refuses to go in it, saying that they will suffocate, but Blade explains that it is their only chance and that they will let the fire burn over. Dusty decides to find his own way out of the fire, but Blade mentions that he would do it like finding his way out of the rapids, making Dusty reply that he didn't want to push his engine. Hearing this, Blade then gets angry that Dusty would not listen to his orders. Dusty then chooses to give up firefighting, to which Blade then tells him to go back to racing, making him finally explain about his broken gearbox. Upon knowing Dusty's physical limitation, Blade then advises him not to give up, reminding him of all the lives he could save, and the two hurry into the mine.

As the fire rages outside the mine, Blade shields Dusty from its heat. Eventually, the fire burns past, but Blade is too damaged to fly, as he rises a few feet before crashing on the ground. Dusty calls for Windlifter to carry Blade, hoping that Maru would repair him. While Blade is recovering, Dusty discreetly learns from Maru that Blade's co-star from CHoPs, Nick Loopin' Lopez, was killed during a stunt gone wrong on set and Blade was helpless to stop, so he decided to become a firefighter to save lives for real.

Later, the firefighters get informed about the fire blocking the tourists' access to the park's exit. Despite the rule of not going out at night, the firefighters eventually decide to fight the fire with Windlifter in command. Maru tries to fill Dusty, Dipper and Windlifter with fire retardant, but finds that the hoses are dry due to the water being selfishly switched by Cad to his lodge's roof sprinklers. Windlifter infroms everyone that they only have what is left in their tanks, and that they would have to make it count.

Soon, the firefighters arrive at the blocked exit, where Windlifter and Dipper make perfect drops as Dusty lines up and releases his fire retardant, completely putting the flames out, while the Smokejumpers parachute out of Cabbie and remove the debris off the road. The firefighters then get alerted by Patch that Harvey and Winnie are trapped on the burning bridge at Augerin Canyon. Dusty races to the scene, and tries to refill his water tanks from the river, but it is too shallow, twisty and rocky for him to scoop from, forcing him to push his engine to the maximum to climb vertically up the falls to scoop up some of its water. Meanwhile, Blade, who recovered in time, shows up out of the blue and holds the collapsing bridge with his hoist. Dusty successfully drops water and extinguishes the fire so the RVs rush to safety as the bridge collapsed shortly after their sucessful escape, but his overstressed gearbox fails completely, causing him to crash into the forest.

Unconscious, Dusty is airlifted back to base, where he wakes up five days later to learn that not only has his structure been fully repaired, but Maru has built a superior custom refurbished gearbox for his engine to allow full performance again. Ol' Jammer and Pulaski visit the fire crew, and Dusty learns that Jammer is the new superintendent after Cad got fired by the Secretary of the Interior for not caring about the park, but just about the lodge. Impressed at Dusty's skill and heroism, Blade certifies him as a firefighter. Propwash Junction is reopened with Dusty assuming his duty as a firefighter, and given permission by Mayday to have any day off for racing. The town then celebrates with an aerial show starring Dusty and his new colleagues from Piston Peak.

Physical description
Dusty is inspired by the Air Tractor AT-502, Cessna and the PZL M-18 Dromader. He has a horsepower of 680 1/2. His wingspan is 23 feet (7 meters).

Dusty's crop sprayer is a M5000 model.

In his turbo design, Dusty is equipped with a four-bladed Sky Slycer Mark Five propeller and two T33 wings.

He is painted orange and white, with black stripes, a single propeller and two long wings.

For the first two legs of the Wings Around the Globe, he has a white "D7" on his vertical stabilizer, and the Jolly Wrenches insignia on his model.

In Germany, his black stripes are replaced with different-shaped blue stripes and a black-outlined white circle with the number 7 on his sides and right wing. His name is also inscribed on the sides. His tailplane is also changed from orange to blue.

In his turbo design, the blue stripes on his wings are changed back to black. The white at the bottom back of him is changed to orange, and his front is changed from orange and white to gray. His vertical stabilizer and tailplane additionally have a bit of gray. The orange on Dusty's wings is removed and put on the ends.

After being honored by the Jolly Wrenches, he has a gray navy paint job.

At the start of Planes: Fire & Rescue, he goes back to his original racing paint job while keeping the wings. After arriving at Piston Peak National Park, Maru replaces his landing gear with gray pontoons that have ocean blue and black stripes, and removes his tip tanks. After he gets certified as a firefighter by Blade Ranger, he is painted red with "07" printed on his vertical stabilizer in white, and on his right wing in black. His pontoons are colored white with black stripes, and his fan cowl door is painted black.

Personality
Dusty is brave and courageous, although he was formerly afraid of heights. He eventually overcomes this.

Love interests
In Planes, he fell in love with an Indian racing plane, named Ishani. However, after Dusty was nearly killed by a train because Ishani recommended him to fly along a railroad track, his feelings for her quickly went down. They then became friends after Ishani offered Dusty the propeller that Ripslinger gave her. It is currently unknown if they are still in a relationship, because Ishani did not appear in the Planes franchise since Planes and Planes: The Video Game.

In Planes: Fire & Rescue, however, a rescue plane named Lil' Dipper developed a big crush on Dusty, being his huge fan. Despite Dipper considering herself as Dusty's girlfriend, it is currently unknown if Dusty is in a relationship with her.

Aliases
Chug occasionally calls him "Duster" and "Dustmeister" throughout the series, while Sparky refers to him as "Dusterino" when Chug and Dottie tell him the news of coming to Mexico. He uses the nickname "Strut Jetsteam" given by Chug for entering the Wings Around the Globe Rally qualifying, before later explaining to Roper about his actual name.

Ripslinger at one point refers to him as a "farm boy" after he arrives in New York City.

In Planes: Fire & Rescue, Dipper calls him different names numerous times, such as "Dust Storm", "Dust Muffin", "sweet SEAT" and "Dusty-poo". Blade Ranger refers to him as "Champ" until after he saves Harvey and Winnie, when Blade starts referring to him by his real name. He is also mistaken as Ripslinger by Cad Spinner at first, to which he corrects Cad on his actual name. Cad later mistakenly refers to him as "Dusty Cropslinger" when leaving the Air Attack team's base.

Appearances

 * Planes
 * Meet Dusty
 * Planes: The Video Game
 * Air Traffic
 * Curiosity
 * Emergency Landing
 * He Does It His Way
 * In the Training
 * Speed is Main
 * Useful Rally
 * Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * Planes: Fire & Rescue: The Video Game
 * Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular

Planes

 * Bios
 * "Dusty is a plane with high hopes-literally. Crop duster by trade, this single-prop plane sees himself soaring alongside his high-flying heroes in an international race. The fact that he's not really built for competitive racing doesn't deter him from pursuing his dream—but his fear of heights just might. With a little help from his friends—and a WWII vet with wisdom to spare—Dusty takes off on an adventure of a lifetime, going prop-to-prop with champions while daring to reach heights he never imagined possible.
 * "Dusty has always been a plane with high hopes—literally. Crop duster by trade, this single-prop plane dreamed of soaring alongside his high-flying heroes in an international race. And the fact that he wasn't really built for competitive racing never deterred him from pursuing that dream. With help from his friends, Dusty took off on an adventure of a lifetime, going prop to prop with renowned racing champions in the Wings Around The Globe Rally. This underdog managed to face his fear of heights and outsmart the competition to take home the trophy in honor of dreamers everywhere!"
 * "When Dusty finally made it to Mexico after crashing into the ocean during one of the last legs of the rally, Dottie was able to rebuild him thanks to a generous contribution of spare parts by the other Wings Around The Globe participants. Super-Charged Dusty was able to fly to victory with the help of his racing friends: Ishani donated the propeller given to her by Ripslinger; El Chu brought out the wings from a T-33 Shooting Star jet aircraft; and Bulldog even tossed in his spare satellite navigation device."
 * "After his triumph in the Wings Around The Globe Rally, Dusty was invited back to Skipper's old ship, the U.S.S. Dwight D. Flysenhower. There, Dusty was granted an honorary membership in the Jolly Wrenches squadron and he received a special paint job so he would look the part.

Planes: Fire & Rescue

 * Bio
 * "When world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper returns to hometown Propwash Junction after another victorious racing season, the former crop duster revels in his new career success until a fateful training run changes his course with a career-ending injury. Forced to shift gears, Dusty decides to train with the Aerial Fire Fighters at Piston Peak Air Attack Base as a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). The heroic, often life-threatening efforts involved are admirable—but seemingly impossible to master—particularly if you're a crop duster-turned-racer with an injury that can't be ignored."

Quotes

 * (When informed by Leadbottom that he is daydreaming) "Uh... Me? No, no, no! No." (Leadbottom stares at him.) "Okay, yes. But, you know, come on, Leadbottom. Really? How hard is this? Fly straight, turn around. Fly straight, turn around." - Planes
 * "Look, I am more than just a crop duster." - Planes
 * "Excuse me, it's called the Wings Around the Globe Rally." - Planes
 * "And it's not nonsense. I-I've got a tight turn radius and a high power-to-weight ratio." - Planes
 * "What?" - Planes
 * (Smelling the Vitaminamulch) "Ugh! Uh... They say the sense of smell is the first time to go." - Planes
 * "Quitting time!" - Planes
 * "Wow! That was vivid and specific. And exactly why I need you to come with us to the qualifier." - Planes
 * "Oh! Did you hear that? I am unbelievable!" - Planes
 * "Thanks." - Planes
 * "What makes you say that?" - Planes
 * "You've been watching me?" - Planes
 * "Okay." - Planes
 * "So, you think I'm overcorrecting?" - Planes
 * "Are you giving me pointers?" - Planes
 * (When reminded by Skipper that he is not built for racing) "You don't think I know that? You don't think I know THAT?! I'm the one who's been flying back and forth across the same fields day after day, month after month, for years! I've flown thousands of miles and I've..." (sighs) "...never been anywhere. Not like you. You were built to fight, and look what you did! You're a hero. I'm just trying to prove that maybe, just maybe, I can do more than what I was built for." - Planes
 * "I'm... Uh... Uh, I'm low on fuel. So..." - Planes
 * "No, no! Wha... It's a long story." - Planes
 * "Uh, uh... O-Okay, well, um, you know, I feel like I was having some problems with my axial compressor so..." - Planes
 * "I'm afraid of heights." - Planes
 * "I'm a crop duster. I've never flown over a thousand feet." - Planes
 * "Where I come from, if you see someone falling from the sky..." - Planes
 * "Are you crying?" - Planes
 * "Sure thing, Bulldog." - Planes
 * "Somebody cut off my antenna!" - Planes
 * "I'm Dusty Crophopper!" - Planes
 * "I'm running on vapors. I need to land." - Planes
 * "Well, I thought I'd refuel in Hawaii, but..." - Planes
 * "What?" - Planes
 * " ' Bingo fields'?" - Planes
 * "The boat?" - Planes
 * "You know what? I finally get it. You're afraid of getting beat by a crop duster. Well, check six, 'cause I'm coming." - Planes
 * "It feels great!" - Planes
 * "Nothing to it!" - Planes
 * "But, Dottie... you're... You're saying... I... I can't race any more." - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * (After Dipper introduces herself) "Okay, Mrs... Uh, Miss. Dipper. Yep." - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * (When Blade tells him to shelter in an abandoned mine) "An old mine? We... We can't go in there. We'll suffocate!" - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * "No! No, y-you go on. I-I'll keep moving." - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * "You know what? I'll find my way out." - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * "I didn't want to push my engine." - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * (When Blade gets angered) "Blade, listen to me!" - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * (When Blade argues with him for not following orders) "FINE! I never wanted to be a firefighter anyway!" - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * (When Blade tells him to go back to racing) "I CAN'T! My gearbox is busted! All right?! That's why I pulled power! I'm never gonna..." (remains silent) - Planes: Fire & Rescue
 * "Yep. Air Devil Jones and Vandemonium are definitely..." - Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular
 * (After Leadbottom says "Not coming.") "Say what?" - Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular
 * "Now, hold on, Leadbottom. You've put every cent you have into this. There's got to be something we can do." - Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular

Names in other languages

 * Polish: Dusty Popylacz
 * Russian: Дасти Полейполе

Trivia

 * Dusty's racing number is #7, which some say is a lucky number which could be based on late NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki racing number #7 who won 1992 NASCAR Cup Series drivers and owners Championship and famous for Polish victory lap who had passed away in 1993 whiling traveling to Bristol.
 * Jon Cryer was originally set to play Dusty, but he dropped out. Instead, he was voiced by Dane Cook.
 * His flying style is keeping it nice and low, but keeping his speed up.
 * Dusty bears some resemblance to Pedro from Saludos Amigos.
 * Dusty is very similar to Theo "Turbo" the snail, the protagonist of the DreamWorks animated film Turbo, released just one month before Planes in 2013, in which Planes ' plot greatly resembles. Both Dusty and Turbo are blue-and-orange-colored nonhuman underdogs who both want to compete in a race, are trained by a dark-colored mentor (also nonhuman), has one friend that is Hispanic and another whose name starts with a "Ch", and both are antagonized by a villainous racing champion who even tries to kill him to prevent him from winning the race.