We read with interest your story, “Dreams take flight,” about Kitsap County’s fledgling group of paramotoring enthusiasts.

We initially didn’t give it much thought, only that it sounded like an activity that might find a certain niche, requiring some expensive equipment but no particular skill other than the ability to work a throttle. But now we are paying full attention.

A few days ago, on what so far has been the prettiest day of the year, we were visited by two of Kitsap County’s paramotoring enthusiasts who buzzed our property and brought to our rural neighborhood an unwanted disruption we simply didn’t see coming.

First of all, the two-stroke engines they use are loud — it’s like having an unmuffled leaf blower or chain saw circling above your property.  It’s intrusive, obnoxious, and may even amount to unreasonable trespassing.

The pair of bald eagles that customarily roost in our Douglas fir promptly left. Our dog went crazy, and our evening and privacy were invaded by whining engines and the sight of two total strangers buzzing past our house at eye level.

We attempted to wave these enthusiasts off, but because they could not hear us over the noise of their equipment, we think instead they mistook us for excited fans who couldn’t believe their good fortune at having witnessed such a miracle of the skies.

If these enthusiasts hope to see paramotoring become an accepted past time in Kitsap County, we ask that they confine their activities to urban areas, where increased noise levels are the norm. Buzzing rural areas and our county’s pristine beaches won’t gain paramotoring more fans, but instead could generate active attempts to define “no-fly zones” that limit their flights to areas where the negative impacts can be better absorbed.

Paramotorists’ “dreams” should not be permitted to become nightmares for the rest of us.

Trevor Evans
Hansville