Wisconsin was already a huge success with EAA and the flying in Green Bay, but as it turns out the fun was far from over.
Jon and I spent the early afternoon kiting wings. I pulled out my free-flight Ozone Mantra M3 22m and struggled with this older bigger wing in slightly shifty conditions. While it took more work than I expected, it was a good reminder to always keep kiting and keep those skills up regardless of how much flying you do.
After a short nap, Jon text was a green light to head over to an RC field about 10 miles Pickett Steam & Gas Engine Club. We arrived at the field and both spent some time doing full pre-flights and spark plug inspections.
I loaded an hour of fuel and not long after we launched and headed straight for Lake Winnebago, south of the island which I had been briefed on to stay clear of the Oshkosh Class D airspace. The winds were a little stronger than we anticipated and were bumpy enough low that we held our journey at around 600 feet.
After 30 minutes we were still a short distance from the lake and started to think I wouldn’t have the fuel to make it. After considering that I had loads of landing options on the way back I knew I just had to push forward. Ten minutes later I crossed over onto the lake and immediately signaled Jon I was turning back.
The good news with the wind now behind us was that I had a ground speed of 50mph and would have the fuel to make it back the 10 miles. It had taken 40 minutes to go the 10 miles, and a mear 15 minutes to get back.
As we approached our LZ Jon and I noticed a traffic stop that was taking place on the road. We didn’t think much of it and each played a little in the general area of the landing zone.
I then noticed the police car speed off and turn his lights off and tracked his path along the main road before he abruptly turned right at high speed down a connecting road. At this point, I decided to see what was going on and then noticed a man running across the field from the direction of the traffic stop. I realized straight away the guy had done a runner.
The police car quickly pulled up to cut the suspect off who dodged the policeman across the road and into some trees heading towards a house.
Circling overhead I watched as the suspect attempted to evade the policeman although it was clear he was totally out of steam. Finally, the policeman tackled the guy on the patio of the house.
I continued to circle until I noticed another unit had arrived and the suspect was in handcuffs being escorted back to the car.
Now critically low on fuel, I headed for the airfield and quickly landed. The video below shows the flight and capture of the suspect from a person in the house and the story with Jon on landing. Sadly I lost my GoPro during the flight and so don’t have my angle.
Not long after landing a car pulls up at our LZ. Jon relays the story in this quote.
As many paramotor pilots will attest, it’s normally not a good thing when a random car follows you back to your LZ, and I said, “Uh oh, looks like we got company, I hope we didn’t piss off one of the neighbors.” As a family started getting out the car, the father asked excitedly, “Which one of you is the eye-in-the-sky??” Turns out they were the homeowners that just threw some burgers on the grill as the guy got laid out on their back porch! If you listen closely, you can hear the paramotor in the background of the video.
Jon Eisele
