Traneskolen sliter

Operation Migration needs aircraft support

An FAA-mandated aircraft upgrade promises to be pricey, taxing the resources of a decade-old organization dedicated to restoration of the endangered whooping crane.

Operation Migration was founded in 2001 to lead captive-bred birds on annual journeys from Wisconsin to Florida, working with a coalition of government and nonprofit groups seeking to restore a species that was driven to the brink of extinction by the 1940s.

Co-founder Joseph Duff leads a small and dedicated cadre of aviators who pilot weight-shift-control aircraft in formation with the birds, teaching them ancestral routes between seasonal nesting grounds. Great care is taken to avoid exposing the birds to human contact: Pilots wear costumes and use puppets to interact with the birds, and the journey is both time-consuming and rewarding, Duff said.

All was going well until a complaint prompted an FAA investigation that grounded the operation in 2012, thanks to pilot and aircraft certification issues. The FAA granted a temporary exemption (though not in time to complete the 2012 journey, which ended in Alabama rather than Florida) giving Duff and his organization two years to obtain special light sport aircraft (SLSA) to replace the experimental models used for years, and secure private pilot certificates for all three participating pilots. The nonprofit has turned to crowdsourcing to raise $84,700 to cover the cost of replacing the tiny squadron, and $26,350 had been raised by June 12, with 45 days to go. Duff said the new aircraft will be customized by North Wing, producer of various ultralight models, to meet the particular demands of the FAA and the mission. While a whooping crane can cruise at 38 mph, leading them often requires the aircraft to slow to 33 mph to allow the birds to catch up, just above the 32 mph stall speed.

"That's something you can't do with a stick-and-rudder aircraft," Duff said. The control bar allows pilots to precisely control the wing shape, and the airflow separation boundary.