Returning home after completing the Coast to Coast was a journey that had me asking what I was going to do next. I arrived back in California on New Year’s day 2021 and made my way north to the bay area familiar to me. January is the quiet period for my Aerial photography business, so there wasn’t any work, and COVID still had many activities locked down. No fixed abode and towed my camper everywhere.
I found a temporary spot at the SUISUN Outlook not far from Martinez with several other Mobile Home residents who were camped. It provided a great view of the mothballed fleet and to the north, I could see the planes doing patterns around Travis Airforce base. As I gazed and contemplated my future I reflected on the 50 State Tour and all the airports and remembered how amazing the aviation arena was in supporting my adventure. I had always wanted to get my Pilot’s license but like most people thought it was expensive and life got in the way. Maybe now I had time but was this the right thing to spend money on?
Pilot School
A couple of months went by as I visited several airports to look into flight schools. I settled on the Travis Aero Club located at Rio Vista Airport. I made arrangements that I could live in my camper at the airport and take lessons daily. So in March 2021, I started. No thanks to the city of Rio Vista Airport Management my arrangement to stay at the airport didn’t last very long, so I resorted to parking at other locations at night and then towed the camper back to the airport each day. Four months later on June 27th, I became a certified Private Pilot.
Now What? It was now July and I had been on the road with my camper for a year and a half. Things were opening up and authorities were cracking down on the ‘homeless’, thus I needed to find a place where I could park my camper full-time and live more peacefully. Mobile Parks had doubled the prices to be almost as much as I had paid in rent each month and availability was low. So I put the word out that I was looking for a location to live in my camper and soon had a few places to look at. I met a wonderful couple, George and Loretta who had a small vineyard with space, and I could keep an eye on the place when they weren’t there. The rent was very reasonable and I had water, electricity, and wifi—amazing after boondocking for so long.
I also made a trip to Oshkosh and even flew the paramotor a couple of times along the way. I planned to be there for a week, but two days in I got some disturbing news. I was pretty upset and decided to leave immediately and started my drive west. That evening I called my buddy Ray who had been the Crew Chief for the Coast to Coast. Spending a few days with a friend was what I needed. After a brief stop in Rapid City, SD to see paramotoring friend Tanner, I made my way to Buffalo, WY after a morning flight at Devils Tower—some violent wind rotor reminded me I wasn’t done yet.
The rest of the year quickly marched on and I continued to fly the airplane and paramotor as much as possible. Business picked up and life ticked on. As usual, by December things slowed, and once again I had time on my hands and wondered what life had installed for me next.
I had learned early in my 20’s not to make plans. Every time I did, life threw another curve ball and my path would change direction. It was in fact how I lived in the UK and later came to the USA. It’s largely why I continue to live my life going where ever the wind blows me and thus have experienced many things. It’s a nomadic relationship with my diverse friends and acquaintances.
At night I lay in bed listening to the owls hooting and reflecting on the paramotor trips and I knew another paramotor adventure was needed—what could be bigger than flying across the country?
A few times I considered crossing Lake Michigan about 85 miles over water. That’s big and very risky. What about doing an Unsupported trip across the country? What about flying to another country over water—ballsy. What about a Paramotoring Around the World? And so the route planning started.
If you have never flown just 10 miles over water, you don’t have any sense how daunting 85 miles really is knowing that if you lose your engine, landing in freezing water is the only option and it will be some time before you can be rescued—that’s scary.
Harley Milne—Pilot
Lake Michigan
While the widest part of Lake Michigan is at the north, it can be crossed within less than 40 miles of some land. I looked for the widest part where there were no islands and with reasonable airspace—80 miles. I settled on 3 potential routes where the wind could help in the south. The real challenge of this adventure would be support boats. Lake Michigan makes its own weather and is not a good place for small fast boats. Bigger boats do better but don’t have the speed. So that pretty much leaves having a lot of them along the way or a rescue helicopter—expensive.
For Safety a dry suit would be a necessity. Logistically a not-too-difficult trip to plan, but definitely some explaining to the Coast Guard if you go down.
Since planning this trip, I heard that in late July, someone flew across a northern section crossing about 60 miles. I’m not sure if they made it. One report suggested the pilot landed in the water a couple of miles short, but another report suggested they were successful. Since there wasn’t much coverage in social media or in the news at all, I’m just not sure. If they were, the crossing won’t be the challenge I want to do at the moment. I haven’t shared the routes since one day I may choose to do it. In the meantime, I’d hate for someone to attempt it using my route that I didn’t try.
Paramotor Around the World
Impossible you say! Well not impossible but not exactly very doable without major logistical support and maybe some air-to-air refueling to get from Greenland to the UK islands. Then there is also the need to make the Around the World Record Requirements, and there is this Guinness World Record—Fastest circumnavigation by microlight. This trip would need to sit on the shelf for now.
What is the criteria for a world record? All Guinness World Records record titles must fulfill key criteria including: Measurable - Is it the fastest / longest / heaviest / most? Breakable - Can the record be broken or repeated by someone else? All our record titles must be open to being challenged.
For powered aviation, the course of a round-the-world record must start and finish at the same point and cross all meridians; the course must be at least 36,770 kilometres (19,850 nmi) long (which is approximately the length of the Tropic of Cancer).
LEARN MORE
Alaska to Russia
OK, how cool would this be—pretty darn cool in my books. Ultralights with wheels have done this before but to my knowledge not on a foot launch paramotor. Crossing ice instead of water could also be a blessing but that too has its problems. While it is true that there are little more than 40 miles between land the total distance between mainlands is about 80 miles. But this isn’t the main logistical concern.
One of the biggest challenges with flying west to Russia is all the logistics involved. Just getting the pilot and team to Alaska is no small undertaking. The nearest commercially serviced location would be Nome. After that charter flights are the only real option to get to a location (Wales) close enough to make it to Russia on a Paramotor.
Firstly, when you cross borders you must go directly to an official port of entry—in this case, Бухта Провидения (Provideniya Bay Airport), another 160 miles to the south for a total of more than 200 miles and likely beyond fuel limits. My preferred stop Уэлен (Uelen) to refuel and fly back—60 miles. One possible option — direct 100 miles over water, doable, but with many risks and no Coast Guard to pick you up if you go down. One could try and obtain some kind of government permission to go to the short safe route, but you can imagine how that might go and how long it might take.
OK, so you have a route, How Do You Do It?
Well, you need money. Sponsors won’t want to help because it’s dangerous and if you fail or die they don’t want to be associated. To get the visa and handling you need an agent in Russia. The aircraft must be registered and you must do the USA Customs and Border Protection’s Electronic Advance Passenger Information System — eAPIS.
So you solve all the legal and immigration challenges. Then you solve the logistical ones. Fly your team and equipment to Nome Alaska, and Charter an Airplane to get you, equipment, fuel, and team to Wales. Take off fully loaded with 5 gallons of fuel and survival gear. The Charted airplane follows you so that it can drop an inflatable raft with supplies and then call for a boat or helicopter to get you. Once you all reach Russia, then there is the getting home thing.
It’s totally doable, you get ready to pull the trigger and make it happen, and then Russia invades Ukraine, and then the dream is over.
Sonoma to Oshkosh—UNSUPPORTED
Last, but not least. Completing the Coast to Coast on a southern route with a team in just 8 days was an incredible fete. Another land Cross Country would need to be something special. Flying a Paramotor 2000 miles into Oshkosh in July over two 10,000-foot mountain ranges from Sonoma UNSUPPORTED would be special.
It’s a difficult trip even with a team and the mountain ranges make it an added challenge. However, it was the weather that had me most concerned. The surface would heat quickly and thermal activity would start early and make the flying windows relatively short. I wanted to complete the trip faster than the Coast to Coast as it was a shorter trip and doing it unsupported would put a nice feather in my cap like completing a double Icarus race.
Could an idea I had from Coast to Coast make this possible?
Can Paramotors fly at night?
Federal aviation rules—FAR 103
We all know the FAR 103 rules say you can’t fly at night. However, FAR 103.5 states “No person may conduct operations that require a deviation from this part except under a written waiver issued by the Administrator.” So, could I file for a waiver and what would I have to mitigate to show that Paramotor flights could be flown safely at night?
As a private pilot, I clearly understood what equipment a certified airplane required at night. Could my paramotor have the same equipment and would that satisfy the FAA, or would have to do more? I knew flying at night would give me the additional 4 hours of flying time per day I would need. So the process began.
Since I do fly pretty high and I’m pretty small and hard to see, I wanted to add a safety product for this trip. Above 10,000 feet aircraft are required to have ADS-B, so it made sense to me to help aircraft see me not just rely on seeing them. To use ADS-B, in the USA the Aircraft must be registered, however, Ultralights do not require registration and in theory, because there is no electrical system wouldn’t use ADS-B. I was about to work all around that.
Reaching out to the right department in the FAA took a little work, ultimately my local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) worked started the process. The problem was a Night Waiver had never been issued for an Ultralight. Thus a lot of steps within the FAA to determine if they could issue this waiver and what was needed on the ultralight and from the pilot to do so. A local FAA inspector also came out to inspect my paramotor to see what it was and learn how I would outfit to fly at night.
Over the following six months, I registered my Paramotor, got ADS-B, and just days before my adventure started received the night flight waiver. The waiver had very specific limiting factors only allowing night flights from Sonoma to Oshkosh on the dates leading up to the event. Let’s just say without getting into the details, that if I hadn’t been a certified private pilot I wouldn’t have got the waiver.
If you enjoyed the stories about Adventure Wingman 2022 that covered 1000 miles in 10 days, then your gonna love this story covering nearly 2000 miles in just 6 days. Continue reading about the Sonoma to Oshkosh Adventure through the links below.
| Paramotor Adventure Trip Choices | The months leading up to Sonoma to Oshkosh |
| Part 1-Getting-Ready | Part-2-Go-Time | Part-3-Bad-Decisions | Part-4-What-to-do | Part-5-Final-Push |
| After-Show |
