Earl’s Flying Service has been a fixture of Missouri’s agricultural aviation community since 1970, when Earl Lee became airport manager for the Steele Municipal Airport and opened a repair and rebuild shop specializing in ag aircraft. His son Mike Lee began flying alongside him while still in high school, and the operation has grown steadily over the decades into a full aerial application business running Air Tractor AT-802s on herbicide and fertilizer applications across the region.

Earl’s Flying Service holds a unique place in Satloc history. In 1993, Mike Lee partnered with Del Norte Technology (now Satloc) to conduct all test flights for their first GPS guidance system for agricultural aviation. Del Norte sent engineers and software programmers to Steele, Missouri, where they installed equipment and ran flight tests that helped pioneer GPS-guided aerial application. Through this early involvement, Mike was granted a Del Norte (now Satloc) dealership in March 1994, making Earl’s Flying Service one of the longest-standing Satloc dealers in existence.

Mike Lee is widely recognized in the ag aviation industry as an innovator and problem solver, having designed and built numerous modifications and improvements to the aircraft and systems Earl’s Flying Service operates. He is also an industry advocate who has served at both state and national levels for the Missouri Agricultural Aviation Association and the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA). Contact Earl’s Flying Service directly by phone or email for Satloc sales and support.