Mike Weisenberger's life has been up in the air

NORWALK — When FedEx pilot Mike Weisenberger decided to come back down to earth after logging 7,500 flight hours with the air cargo carriers Flying Tigers and FedEx, he knew it would be just a matter of time before he again took to the skies, this time with wife, Sandi and son, Travis, but for pleasure only. Weisenberger's career in aviation started on the runway at the family farm on Hartland Center Road. At age 17, he took the stick from his longtime father-pilot, A.J. (Al) Weisenberger in the family's Champion 7FC Trichamp — a plane that has since been rebuilt. Thousands of miles would be logged after those evening flights by the soon-to-be 68-year-old aviator. He joined the military after graduating from Western Reserve High School and in his 10-year military career he trained in T-37 and even higher performance T-38 jets at Grissom AF Base. Later, he would move to the cockpits of husky EC 135 cargo planes, the size-equivalent of Boeing 707s. He retired with 3,000 military flight hours. "We had attended the OshKosh, Wisc., experimental plane fly-ins a number of times but then changed up the venue a number of years ago by attending one in Lakeland, Fla.," Weisenberger said. "It was there in May of 2017 when Travis and I got the chance to fly with a pilot in a twin-engine, high-tech plane called the Air Cam. It was an absolute treat to fly in this plane as the maneuverability was fantastic. We barely skimmed the water at 50 feet around the Lakeland area in the demonstration ride. I had never been in a plane where the pilot had such control. We were hooked and investigated how we could build one of these planes by use of a kit." As it turned out, the firm had a retired technician in Sebring, Fla., that had a standing offer to help build one of these planes. It would take four years to put the highly-technical plane together. "Travis and I had to make trips around farm work which had to come first," Mike said. "When we did get to Sebring, we spent as much time as a month there working with the technician. A number of trips were made in the winter as farm work slowed. Even when we had the plane ready for flight, we could not fly it home because FAA regulations were strict that the plane had to have 40 problem-free air hours in the air before it could fly to a home destination. The plane went up for the first time in March of 2021 but due to farm planting, Mike could not go back down to Sebring until August to start working off test hours. That was successfully completed but he still had to get the car back. He caught a break there when by chance an Air Cam company salesman informed him that he would fly the plane as close to Norwalk as Cincinnati where he had a sales meeting and then Mike could fly the plane home from there. "It worked out perfectly," Weisenberger said. "Sandi drove me to Cincinnati on a Saturday evening. I prepped the plane for the flight home and took off the next morning at 8 a.m. What a flight. I flew no higher than 500 feet at between 75 and 80 mph all the way home, dropping in to the farm air strip at 10:30 a.m." The Air Cam originally was designed for National Geographic for a documentary in the Congo. The cameraman was in the front seat, using that area to be free of all signs that he was even in a plane. That plane, complete with the National Geographic emblem, is now in the Osh Kosh museum. The fuselage is made of aluminum The wings are a fabric envelope while the control surfaces (flaps, rudder, etc.) are traditional fabric covered. The plane is powered by two 100-HP Rotax engines, strictly designed for flying and made in Austria. It is the most popular engine used for experimental aircraft. They are both water-cooled and air-cooled. The bottom line is Mike Weisenberger is flying on a schedule today that he never knew existed. "When you are employed for 26 years with a company such as FedEx, your schedule is so hectic because your hours to and from the airport and your time in the cockpit change every month. Therefore, I could not belong to any organization. That has changed. Now my free time is split between flying the Tri Champ and the Air Cam — the Air Cam the most fun airplane I have ever flown and that dates back to going up back in 1970 with Dad. "Even with two people in the Air Cam, the pilot can still take off between 200 and 300 feet. I can be 300 feet in the air before I get to the end of the farm runway which measures 2,400 feet. And you can land in approximately 250 feet. To put that in perspective, I can operate that plane in the length of a football field providing there are no goal posts." Weisenberger only wishes his father would be alive to ride in the Air Cam. Al got his license back in 1945 as a high school student. Soon after graduating, he went in with eight other guys in buying a new Rocket Champ. They kept that plane out on New State Road at a place called Parks Air Field. Mike also remember the mornings that fed his appetite for flying. "Many Sunday mornings were spent at the airport north of Norwalk across from what is now Walmart," he said. "It was operated by Jim Francisco and he had two J-3 Cubs and a Rocket Champ for rent. Jim would pile us into into those planes and give us rides. "Those fun times would prime my interest in aviation."