Dusty Crophopper

Dusty Crophopper is the protagonist in Planes and Planes: Fire & Rescue.

Official Bio
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.

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 man was in it for themselves. During the first 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
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.

In Planes: Fire & Rescue, when Dusty gets news of the possibility of never being able to race again due to engine damage, he ends up finding himself joining a crew of aircraft vehicles that work to protect Piston Peak from wildfires.

Personality
Dusty is brave and courageous, although he was formerly afraid of heights.

Trivia

 * Dusty's racing number is #7, which some say is a lucky number.
 * Jon Cryer was originally set to play Dusty, but he dropped out. Instead, he was voiced by Dane Cook.
 * Dusty's wingspan is 23 feet (7 meters).
 * Dusty is inspired by the Air Tractor AT-502, Cessna and the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader. He has a horsepower of 680 1/2.
 * 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.
 * His flying style is keeping it nice and low, but keeping his speed up.