I want to apologize for this pilots actions, they do not reflect well on the rest of the paramotor community. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that pilot has done something irresponsible like this. As far as airspace goes, the main rule for paramotor pilots is to not fly over people. There is no defined minimum altitude we must maintain. That being said, lingering and buzzing around obstructions like telephone poles is not respectful especially given the location. Additionally, touching down is 100% trespassing and unacceptable. It's unfortunate to hear your interaction with the pilot was not completely positive. If you are ever interested in learning to fly paramotors, hit me up! I'd be happy to help.
91.119 states you shall NOT fly LOWER then 1000 feet over residential areas nor shall you fly LOWER then 500 feet over rural areas so yes you have a law that defines minimum safe altitude unless landing or departing
We visited the freedom factory on December 7th while on vacation from the UK. I was happy with taking a couple of pics by the gate when Cleetus,s manager ( sorry I forgot his name) pulled up in a Vette. After asking where we were from he very very kindly invited us to take a look around the freedom factory. Obviously we said yes and we’re shown around. We were blown away by this as it was totally the best way to end our vacation. The only thing that could of topped this was if Cleetus would have been there but as I now know he was at PRI. It just goes to prove you don’t need to break in or trespass as the guys at the FF are super cool when it come to being hospitable to the fans.
@@hobman If I was visiting Florida, I would totally go by the FF to grab a few pictures at the gate as well. Heck, I would pay for a guided tour around the place if there was an option.
As long as you guys are cool and friendly, there is no reason that the FF people wouldn't be. Asking nicely have gotten me in far more places than I could have imagined, some where I'm pretty sure I wasn't really supposed to be if the people making the rules knew about it.
Cleetus, I fly paramotors in Manatee county, and i worry that this guy is making us all look bad. I have flown over the Freedom Factory in the past, but at 1500 feet. There is a great group of us that fly out of Wauchula if you ever want to find out more. In fact if you want to check out Rick Davies on the PPG Gorilla channel i'm sure he could hook you up.
I’ve also noticed folks skydiving out here near Lorraine/SR70 in Manatee County over the past few days. Sometimes mistake you paramotor folks for them. Fly safe sir!
You are way cooler headed than I could ever be. It drives me up the wall that people feel entitled to your property like this. Breaks my heart that some people even think it's alright to vandalize or steal from you. I'm glad you handled it how you did.
@@Bward216 until he hit the fence of clipped a light pole and died from hanging or falling 🤷 there's a reason private property was ruled to extend up to the highest equipment connected to ground.
I was told by a lady that was connected with the dragstrip at Tulsa about an older guy that got confused about the airport across the highway and landed his Cessna sized plane on the strip. He ended up staying and watching for a while and then they stopped the cars for a bit so he could take off (without getting the FAA involved). True story, it was right around the time they resurfaced the track in the big renovation.
I fly a paramotor and have been for nearly 5 years. Please understand that this guy (chucky) is not representative of most paramotor pilots. The paramotor pilots I have met are all genuinely great people who absolutely want to avoid pissing people off. I don't want. To shame this guy at all, but he is well known in the Paramotor community for being a show off and he is very new to the sport. By the way, if he did crash you absolutely cannot be held liable so there is nothing to worry about on that front.
I appreciate your professionalism and patience with this guy. As a PPG pilot I know not to push the limits to avoid mistakes or to make someone unhappy. Hopefully a lesson was learned.
I get going to the front gate for a picture. Anything beyond that is uncalled for. Ol’ Cleet opens up his home to us quite often. Just be patient and go to the shows, FFS.
This is why people can't have anything nice. Saves a race track... rebuilds it opens it to provide safe and fun place for automotive entertainment and people disrespect it.
@@eberbacher007 Oh shut up, Guy clearly knows what he's doing and he's probably one of the paramotor youtubers. Those guys know how to fly. You can tell by his swoop ins he knows what he's doing. Lines aren't hard to see when you're trained to look for that kind of stuff. That's all Paramotorists are looking for, obstructions that they could get snagged in. Just because YOU'RE not capable doesn't mean he's not.
@@UsaRubber Knowing how to fly doesn't mean knowing all the hazards, especially when flying INTO a bowl-shaped complex full of them. Things that are difficult to see in good conditions (he was flying at dusk, so don't tell me he had perfect visibility). Saying he looked at online maps (these are never up to date) and drones (again, he doesn't know what may have changed at the track in a few days). He was evasive, defensive, and talking BS. For that, we have another video about disrespectful fools, and apparently they have cheerleaders like you.
I really want to come to an event but I haven't been able to yet. Just wanted to say thanks for being you man. What a great community you are building. I hope there is always more than enough reward to offset the bad apples.
I can totally see this making one of demos intros of them in a battle and drones flying over and them trying to defend the freedom factory and keep the bald eagles flying free!! Smoke screen with the burnout pad and demo with the non-leathal net gun taking down drones
@@KeepItReal2024 you would literally have to tack him down they have no tail numbers and you don't have to be licensed to fly one so unless there is an actual accident they are not doing shit.
Hope you have good insurance coverage to protect your interests from all things like this. I am much older than you and I say this in good faith to help you. What I have learned in my life is you really cannot prevent people from being stupid, or doing stupid things. All you can do is ensure you are immune from their damage. Merry Christmas
I own a landscape company and just in liability I have 5 million and I only have 4 employees. You just never know what some idiot walking by you or driving by you might try and pull off. Had a guy texting and driving hit me head on in my lane he tried to take me to court , I have cameras on both work trucks and gps. Crap thing is my insurance went up after the wreck first wreck I’ve had in 20 years .
@@jamest4363 Do not know for sure but given the litigious nature of the world today there are probably many plaintiff Insurance Attorneys with a different view to yours on this matter.
Next FF-construction shirt - Freedom Factory Air Defenses "Racing Under Clear Skies" For real though, I don't know how you stay so chill Garret. I'm sure there are moments off camera but damn, so many people try your patience and you cope so well it's crazy.
Posting this video was smart. People are too lawsuit happy these days. Love the content, keep on keeping on! And do it for ED!! Life's a garden, you've got to dig it!!
@@thai9503 we have an aerobatic team with over five years of experience flying on some of the biggest, most restrictive stages possible. We honor the rules and work hard to help others do the same. As avid lovers of all things that go Vroom we’ve been following Cleetus’ journey and love what he and his team have done with the Freedom Factory!
@@aviator was just about to post separately, but saw this and thought it fits here; #1 rule of paramotoring... D.B.A.D. - don't be a D - still carry the coin in my wallet :) Gets frustrating seeing videos of pilots like this, but good to see you guys chime in.
Once had a paramotor land in our back hay field. I was out with the kids and saw this guy looking like he was dangling. Evidently one of the wires to the paraglider broke. He was coming down in controlled circles. Also have had several hot air balloons land in the fields as well. Freaks out the horses big time. No harm though...
Wow, he really did say that to an old security guard just doing his job didn't he! I unsubed long ago when his "I'm just a little guy" deal wore thin... I check back every once in a while to see how that is working out for him. I guess abusing other peoples private property, and knowingly violating all sorts of vehicle regulations is OK for him, but not some guy who actually didn't do anything illegal and just personified Garrets whole "Florida man" schtick.
Haha re watching this video because one of my buddies got me interested in this, he is a instructor for paragliding and paramotoring! And took me on a tandem flight! Would be sick to see you do this kind of aviation cleet! Thanks for all your videos and everything you do!
It's pretty astonishing how level headed you are until someone forces you to be Mr. Professional and you still hold your self to the highest standards when dealing with unordinary situations. You have the patience of a mule and kindness of a mouse. Keep rocking it man.
If I was you, I’d file a police report. If you let one slide all the other people doing stupid things to your property they will all expect to slide. At some point you gotta stand up and say no more.
@@cleetus2mcfarland20 I feel you, but you’re too nice. The 1% of the people who aren’t cool and respectful will take videos like this as a sign that they’ll face no repercussions.
@@cleetus2mcfarland20 I would think, 90% chance guy does something like that again. He probably follows you on social media and knew you were away at PRI and so took his chance. I don't know, seems less innocent, he knew he wasn't supposed to be there.
You're so cool about this, Cleetus! Nice way of handling it. It was good to meet you at Midwest Drags! Hope to meet you at FF some day! Peace, brother!
Cletus and Whistlin need to make a security company called Whistlin Eagles or Cletus McDiesel that just smites people off the earth when they invade your properties. I hate that people terrorize you guys but I'm really glad you upload when you catch them because for all us normal folk it's pretty entertaining.
It depends on what the FAA thinks of this stunt, it may not be up to Garret, with the video here if there are issues with this type of thing going on, the FAA could go after this guy to make a point to the Paramotor guys doing stupid sh!t. just sayin.
What stunt? he didn't break any FAA laws. I would know. At least based on what I saw in the video. It's actually the opposite, if anyone at the track tried to get in his way or interfere with his flight path, or demanded he land right there to speak with him, thats a federal offense for obstructing aircraft. It might seem crazy but you don't own the air above your grass and if the FAA allows aircraft to operate at the altitude then tough luck. Only way to stop him is to put a group of people directly under where he is flying which would make it a violation of FAR 103 which powered paragliders operate under. @@kariannestudeman1909
Part 103 is what governs that pilot. And pretty much as long as he doesn’t touch down he’s technically legal. A complete DB however still legal. We had a guy doing this at our non towered airport between the hangars. We couldn’t do anything unless he caused damage or made a part 91 aircraft deviate or abort.
I think you are handling this very well, and you made it very clear you want no one flying around on your property for their safety. Some fans are a little crazy and think they have the right to just enter your property but they don't. Good luck with this in the future, and thanks for all the great content.
There would be no way he would be shut down for weeks. That's just him being dramatic. Besides, he has no controlled airspace to stop a powered paraglider from operating there, and yes they can fly at whatever altitude they want. Unless he flys directly over an open air assembly of people or a legally defined congested area, he's in the clear. I'm sure 2 years later Cleetus knows that now
I wouldn't be surprised if the paramotor guy is one of the guys on the internet that's claiming the freedom factory is a lie and not free. Some people hear the name and assume it's free for them to do as they please...they seem to forget or completely disregard the fact that it's private property that someone has had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in to make it become such a wicked place. Freedom factory is supposed to be free for the bald eagles to scream; not to enter as you please as if it's your own property. Keep up the great work Garret. 👍🏼
@@chaotiic9985 Well he paid over a million just to obtain the track. Then he stuck in $200k+ into the bleachers. Another $200k+ into the lighting system. That sound system wasn't cheap. Repaving parts of the track wasnt cheap, even with his buddy doing the work. Putting in 200,000sft of concrete wasnt cheap. The GRASS, OMG don't forget about all the money he puts into his lawn at the FF. He's easily well over $2 million into that track.
One thing I will note: It's "funny and silly" to "take your hovercraft to the public shopping mall" and inconvenience THOSE property owners, but it's "serious" when someone does an equivalent thing to YOUR property.
As a paramotor pilot in training, apologies from the community. This is making the rounds in a lot of groups as something to not do. Like you said, on top of touching down in an area without permission, the risk to hitting poles and wires looks serious. Not the place to be flying. Thank you for your level-headed handling of the situation
the fact that he would even come close to giving you a hard time for asking a very simple request is wild, people just have no common sense. so easy to just be cool about it, say you just wanted to see the track and you wont come back. Cleet always handles things perfectly and i honestly would have been even more ticked off when he was making shit up on the fly. Like i said, cleet always handles it with class, so well done
I’ve been to the venue twice just to see it from the outside. Hope to get to go to an event one day. From TN here and heck I didn’t even take pics at the gate…just drove to it and turned around. I have more respect than that for Garrett and his property. Even accidentally found James place and know where Cleet lives just by stumbling on it but no way I’d stop by…they’re great people and just have more respect than to just invite myself without notice. They deserve privacy just like all of us do. And in my opinion I get tired of a phone cam in everyone’s face 24/7. I just put many things in the memory bank…some are worth a pic but some just needs to be in the mind.
Amen brother. I'm from Canada and did the same. Drove by just to tell myself "I was here". If people like watching great FREE content on youtube from Cleet and his crew they should enable the longevity of the endeavor and that is done primary by respecting their privacy.
What the pilot did is inconsiderate, but not illegal under FAR-103 unless you could argue he created an actual hazard for your property. If he touched down then you could trespass him. Also there is no limitation on a drone flight over your property as long as the operator was in line of sight with the drone, and basically didn't fly it over anyone. No individual property owner has any control over the airspace over them. That is the FAA.
I can’t wait till this summer so my son and I can fly down to an event. We couldn’t this year due to a vacation that was planned but this year we will meet you. He has Cleetus gear/posters in his room as well as me having the gear and posters hung up in my garage. See you soon brother 🤘🏻
He needs to be a better representative of the sport. I was considering flying over the FF when I am down in Lake Wales area next month. If he actually touched the ground, he was illegal. Given the air space you are located, you do not own and of the air above your land. By law FAR 103 he is allowed to fly IF he is not causing a hazard, is not flying over people, or homes. . PPG has a very different set of rules than GA. I would LOVE to show you the gear and sport when I am down there.. He is failing at the very FRST rule of paramotoring! DBAD!!!!!!
It's too bad, but things like this just get the sport more regulated for us... It's super cool all the things that we can do, But if we can't respect other people's property we are just going to lose our privileges.
@@alexsheckell612 truth. the guy that was flying around the FF is a guy that caused some problems here in MI. Chucky has a lot to learn. I would have carried good altitude, sent him some great video and then talked him into letting me expose to the fantastic sport that is PPG.. Then fly the track ;)
You really need to get those and learn to fly, its awesome and life changing experience. I honestly would of done the same thing he did, flying low is the most fun and despite what people assume, is not illegal.
I guess it's the Floridaman aura that attract these people. IF he was smart he'd DM Cleet saying hey wanna fly and he'd be on RU-vid but no, he wasn't that smart
I know its hard on you keeping this place up for us fans cleet! I wish everyone realized the liability that is on you as the property owner who is solely doing this for our entertainment. I hope people start to lay off of the freedom factory! Have a good day cleet!
Get with Tucker Gott! He's a good RU-vidr that does paramotoring. He could show the ins and outs to you, and help clear the air for everyone about paramotors.
Hey Cleeter, while giving us info on the paramotor intruder, I noticed something cool on the left shoulder of your shirt. Looks like a Madi hair. Nice!👍🏼
I know that it’s still not right what these guys did and you’re not wrong here. BIG issue is, I think Cleet and WhistlinD both have no idea about the Streisand Effect. Notice how the people get creepier or their goals get crazier and the level of mischievous goes up every time someone gets caught and a video is made. Just deal with it in private and follow through with the punishments. You two make these people get crazier ideas and more reckless by fueling them with these videos. They have no real care for your feelings and they know you’re not friends they’re winning no matter what unless you get them fined/trouble and don’t let the public know. They’re goal is to make it into there cause it’s a no-no and if they run into you and you’re cool it’s a win or if your mad and raging it’s still a win. They need the attention after they’ve made it into the track
this same thing happens with Twitch streamers. it's the reason xqc didn't mention how he was getting faux calls ending with him getting raided by swat teams regularly until he moved out of the state. its really insane... smh
True but that's not what the Streisand Effect is. That is when you try to delete something from the internet and it just becomes more popular because you're trying to hide it. What's happening here is just publicity. It's like when they don't name School shooters because they don't want to make them famous except Cletus is making people famous by posting video of them. At least he's not naming them and listing their RU-vid channel or something. I also have a feeling that he might be doing this to be able to show that he has tried to discourage people from coming. He talks about the liability in this video and there's something in the legal field called attractive nuisance which is basically what he owns. It's a property where people are attracted to and could hurt themselves and as the owner of an attractive nuisance you have a responsibility to try and keep people out. Well you can't keep people out from the sky but you can try and tell them not to on RU-vid and be able to point back to it later in court if needed after one of your viewers does something crazy.
@@JasonJohnson It still counts as the Streisand effect in my eyes. The school shooter thing really pisses me off and it's always the god damn liberal news networks that post their face and name and make them famous. All the right-wing media always hides their identity to not make them famous, yet the other side seemingly cares more about the clicks than doing what's right.
While your claim about airspace above your property may be accurate, paramotors fall under the category of ultralights and do not qualify as traditional aircraft and thus don't have to abide by the majority of aircraft regulations but they still do have to abide by a few which are governed by FAR Part 103. While paramotors do have to abide by commercial airspace, there is little regulation on how low they are allowed to fly to the ground. Technically he could fly 5 to 10 feet above your track and there is little you can do about it because the regulation in regards to how low paramotors can fly states "An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface." and a paramotor doesn't need much more height than say parachutist does to flare the canopy to land. You could maybe argue he violated 103.9 which reads "103.9 Hazardous operations. (a) No person may operate any ultralight vehicle in a manner that creates a hazard to other persons or property." with your wires between poles being the property that is at hazard of getting damaged or he could be at risk of damaging your track if he crashes but that is going to be hard to argue/be a slippery slope argument because where do you draw the line at that? One property owner might consider it dangerous for a paramotor to fly within 200 feet of their house while another may not mind the paramotor flying 20 feet away from it. Or if someone has an engine out at 300 feet up in the air, is your grass at hazard of getting damaged when they land? He for sure was out of line by landing on your property without your permission and if he does it again you could try and get him cited for trespassing but in regards to his low flying around, I say don't stress about it because if he were to crash into something or damage something, that is 100% on him and there isn't any liability on you. Just like if a Cessna crashed in your backyard tomorrow. Plus, it would make for good content on the channel. lol.
§ 103.9 Hazardous operations. (a) No person may operate any ultralight vehicle in a manner that creates a hazard to other persons or property. one slip and he could have snagged a $50,000 light pole...
Man i would be worried 24/7 about people getting hurt on that property! Like you said anything can happen!! Crazy just when you thought you seen it all lol
Just like you were doing at that mall parking lot with your hovercraft. 🙄 It's a two way street Cleetus..I love your post but, you got to practice what you preach. 👍
As a Paramotor Pilot myself I can say what this guy did was just dum, I' am sure if he would of just ask Cletus for permission In the first he would of been cool with it and gladly use the Content for one of his videos, this guy just had to mess it up for us safer Pilots. I also have some videos on my channel flying
gonna be honest with you cleet you need a warehouse that you can store stuff in and cameras everywhere because there's people that will just please themselves to your property so you might need to store some of your good stuff away and sadly you can do much about the lights but I dought anyone will be about to pick those babies up. Stay same man and love your videos.
It amazes me how many people think they're special enough to invade your property/space/work/life and expect you to greet them with open arms because they watch your videos. I'm close friends with a well know sports star, and the shit he has to deal with from 'fans' is unfathomable.
You have to understand that the majority of people that develop that level of obsession over a celebrity are not very smart. They arent going to act rationally or think about anyone other than themselves.
