We're Pretty Sure Your Commute Isn't Like This Guy's

Jake Hutzler spends his workdays directing planes from an airport tower. Once a week, he gets there by strapping a propeller to his back and taking to the Colorado skies. Before his commute, the 28-year-old air traffic controller lays out a large wing on the road outside his apartment, fires up the motor, and starts running. Within seconds, his feet leave the ground. For the next 20 minutes, Hutzler flies at a leisurely 35mph above Pueblo's fields, per the AP. Before taking off, Hutzler calls the tower where he works and lets his colleagues know he's coming. Once airborne, he keeps them updated on where he's at and how high he's flying.

"I'm very small and I don't show up on radar," Hutzler said, "so they'll want to kind of keep track of my location and get updates on my progress." For someone who has been fascinated with flying since childhood, it's a particularly satisfying commute. Hutzler says it's as close as you can get to flying like a bird. "In a paramotor, you have a view that almost nobody gets to experience," he said. "You have no cockpit, nothing in front of you. You're just sitting there in the air and total freedom to go wherever you want." His grandfather used to take him up in a small four-seat aircraft. In college, Hutzler put in about 20 hours toward getting a pilot's license, but the costs were too high to continue.

Everything changed when he came across a viral video of a man flying a paramotor to McDonald's and eating his hamburger on the flight home. "After I saw that, I was like, 'I'm sold,'" he said. "I gotta do that." Hutzler started training to fly the contraption—also known as powered paragliding—in 2021 in Florida and later became an instructor. There's no license required, and the price tag is a fraction of the cost of many other forms of flying. However, they're still subject to federal rules on ultralight vehicles (e.g., they can only be operated during the day, and fliers must avoid congested cities and towns).

The sport became a part of Hutzler's life story. He trained the woman he'd go on to marry, and when he proposed, he used fake engine trouble on his paramotor to lure her to it, where he'd left a ring. Paramotoring is a fair-weather sport, however. It only takes about 10mph—a light breeze—to ground Hutzler. It can also be problematic if the sun heats the ground and causes updrafts, making for an extremely bumpy ride. Plus, with the time needed to set up the paramotor and put away all the gear, the trip takes slightly longer than driving to work. But, Hutzler said, it's so much more fun. "You could be having your favorite song playing in your headphones, and you just can relax and take in this awesome experience," he said. More here.