In the Sky with Agricultural Pilot Jeff Summersill

He has been called the “Yellow Baron,” and he has struck awe—and sometimes fear—into the hearts of Indian River County residents, especially those unfamiliar with his work.

He is Jeff Summersill, and he is the primary pilot of the famed “yellow plane” that frequents the skies over local coastal areas, flying at terrifyingly low altitudes and executing hair-raising maneuvers. But Summersill is no daredevil; he is a third-generation agricultural pilot contracted by the Indian River Mosquito Control District to fly painstakingly planned missions over our salt marshes and mosquito impoundments.

“I’m not just willy-nilly out there trying to show off,” Summersill says. He must take his Air Tractor AT-802A, with its 60-foot wingspan, down low in order to drop carefully calibrated quantities of corn cob–based pellets bearing bacterial compounds that are harmless to humans but deadly to mosquito larvae.

And those steep-banked turns? They’re all part of the patterns worked out by the Mosquito Control District’s aerial specialist, Daniel Long. Using information gathered by seven coastal inspectors who patrol in boats and on ATVs, armed with dippers to sample water for larvae, Long plans each mission: the acreage that needs to be covered, the materials to be used (depending on the mosquito species), the amounts to be loaded into the plane, and the most efficient routes for the pilot to take.

Summersill then flies from his home base in Belle Glade to an agricultural services airstrip in rural western St. Lucie County, where he fills his hopper and his fuel tank. Then, guided by GPS and remaining in constant communication with the airport towers in both Fort Pierce and Vero Beach, he proceeds to his first location, flying a back-and-forth, “racetrack,” or other pattern in a series of 85-foot swaths.

“We do turn hard and sharp, but the plane is meant to do that,” says Summersill. “For the size of it, it is actually very nimble, as you’ve probably noticed.”

With over 30 years of agricultural flying experience and about 16,000 hours under his belt, Summersill can maneuver his plane at its working speed of 150 to 160 mph with just a few feet of clearance above the highest object on the terrain, whether it is a 150-foot Australian pine or a 6-inch blade of grass.

“Sometimes when people lose sight of me, they think I’ve gone down,” he says, “but I’ve really just disappeared beyond the tree line.”

He is fully licensed and insured for the type of flying he does, and he is certified by the FAA to fly a “congested area plan”; in other words, he is allowed to fly much closer to buildings, bridges, and other structures than is typically permitted, and the FAA recognizes that he is capable of doing so safely.

“We look like we’re having fun, and we are, don’t get me wrong,” he says; “but we are also very educated and skilled in what we do.”

When not flying mosquito missions in Indian River County, Summersill is running Summer Agro Services. He flies full-time, delivering aerial treatments for farmers throughout South and Central Florida, and employs a second full-time pilot. The company also owns a second, slightly older plane, so yes, the yellow plane has a twin!

After more than a dozen years slaying skeeters with his acrobatic flying, Jeff Summersill has attained a sort of celebrity status in Vero Beach—to his immense surprise. “I’m not really on social media,” he explains. “Only about last year did I start to understand.”

While somewhat amused by the notoriety his local work generates, Summersill takes his job very seriously. Referring to both facets of Summer Agro’s work, he says, “We’re really happy to be doing what we’re doing. We like knowing we can help feed people and help keep the community safe.”

Mentioning a few of the mosquito-borne illnesses that would no doubt plague us if not for the work of the Indian River Mosquito Control District, he expresses appreciation for the opportunity to take part in public health efforts. “Yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever—we help mitigate that.”

So, the next time your house is “buzzed” by the yellow plane, have a thought of gratitude for Jeff Summersill, who is helping to protect you from being buzzed by swarms of bloodthirsty mosquitoes.