poz

This should help our sport...Not https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/greenpeace-paraglider-buzzes-trump-at-turnberry_us_5b499302e4b0bc69a7876502?guccounter=1

I can't believe what I just watched. Staggeringly irresponsible. It's just moving the leaves into someone else's garden. Should be made to eat them.

Excellent ?

That was really enjoyable to watch, right up to the point where your socks made an appearance. At that moment I fell backwards off my chair and banged my head. I could swear I've seen those same socks being worn by Geoffrey in an episode of Rainbow ? Seriously though, that was a really great chance encounter and a nice record for you too.

Any news on how Tom's doing. If you're reading Tom, get well soon mate.

For nearly a decade now Paramotoring has dominated all of my free time. I'm fortunate enough to live in the sun and have managed to fly on a regular basis. However, I'm 54 yrs now and it occurred to me that you need to be relatively fit to safely foot launch a Paramotor, not the other way round. Once you've launched the rest is pretty sedentary. So, I decided to find some other interests to compliment my flying, all of which I've chosen to increase my fitness, strength, balance and stamina, without having to walk into a gym. The idea is that the health benefits are a by-product and are secondary to the enjoyment. These are the new interests I have recently taken up: iSUP (Inflatable Stand Up Paddle board) - Looks like a lot of fun, great fitness benefits and really cheap. The whole set up costs around the same as a carbon prop (under £300). Electric Mountain Bike - This cost a bit more, but what a game changer. I live in a mountainous area and this lets me really explore. Surprisingly I work harder on this than my non-electric bike. I got it directly from China at a fraction of the cost. Love it to bits. Table Tennis - Used to play this at school and loved it, so thought I'd find out if I could put a little club together. Amazed at the interest. Great fun and I cover around 10000 steps a session. So, I was just wondering what other interests members have

I started with a Bak-rak, and it served me well for many years, but I got fed up with having to get the wrench out to remove it from my van, so I decided to strip down our expensive Thule 3 bike rack which I thought we weren't using very much. Apparently I was wrong. My missus was not impressed. But wow, now it's so easy to put on and take off. I can definitely recommend the quick release system, it's proper clever.

This remained for 3 hours.

Assess as quickly as possible whether it's going to be a battle worth fighting, if not, it sounds like an easy enough patch up job, and move on. I've lost too many nights sleeps seething with anger about stuff that is so unfair but stuff just not worth holding on to. I know it sucks Alan, but the clock is ticking too fast to loiter.

Is this a serious post? I'm really sorry,.. and I'm really hoping you didn't mean to come across this way in your post, but a Harry Enfield character sprung to mind "I am considerably richer than yo" I really don't think UK flyers need the favourable Spanish flying conditions rubbed in their faces. "If one wants to learn to fly a Paramotor then the UK is a total waste of time" and " the flyers down there are brilliant and close friends. This doesn't happen in the UK because the weather is crap." Really??? I think a few on this forum might disagree on both these points. Apart from the Spanish federations and your Cordoba buddies insistance that their club rules are in fact the law, do you have any other evidence to back up your claims about flying a PPG in Spain. I'm assuming you can provide a link to the legislation you're referring to: "you must become a member of a recognised club" .....or are you just trolling? ....and I'm stupid enough to rise to your provocative post. Hmm, I think maybe.

Can anyone confirm whether this Briggs and Stratton starter ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B003O0PLC0/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all) fits and works on the Polini 130 engine? I've only done 20 hrs and gone through 3 flash starters. Fed up now and want to try something different. Thanks Dan

Think I'll 'buzz the tower'' at Malaga and see what happens. Here in Spain that's called grabbing the bull by the horns. I figure the worst that can happen is they'll slap an 'infringement of airspace' fine on me, which apparently is 400€. At ;least that way I get to find out exactly how the aviation laws affect Paramotor pilots i.e. from the summons. Cheaper than hiring a Spanish lawyer to do the research. (....ok, stop typing, I'm only joking...I would never hire a Spanish lawyer, they're all bloody crooks).

I've recently been thinking about this topic: Let's assume for one moment that the rules governing PPG in Spain are the same as the UK (which I always thought they were), i.e. you are not allowed to use a PPG for hire or reward, and I know for a fact that the Police have not been given any special dispensation (like the Police helicopter has),...and assuming these officers are flying during operational shifts, which they are being paid for..., are they not flying a PPG for hire and reward? The reason I say lets assume the rules are the same is because AndyB has done some research (he's very good at that and he'scommunicated with the Spanish equivalent of the CAA to try to establish exactly what the rules are, and it would appear that the PPG is not referred to at all, in any of the current regs...therefore maybe the PPG is not classed as an aircraft over here (nice, no 500ft rule

I'm going to have to grass you up on this one mate, just because it was soooo spectacular. Andy correctly practices the starting method of putting the motor on his back before firing it up, then bends forward to rev the engine, warming it up pre-flight. I was watching his procedure, envious of his electric start, when he revved it up to full pelt. suddenly his motor erupts like a firework. The only way to describe it is like this; if you have seen old black and white film footage of when man was trying to achieve flight, one of the dudes straps a rocket to his back and fires himself off, flapping a pair of feather wings before hitting the dirt, haha. In hindsight, funny as fook. The cause: When Andy changed his prop he managed to get one blade the wrong way round causing it to clash and lock against the gear casing. The clutch wanted everyone to know how pissed off it was, so it lit up the morning sky, as it tried to melt the tank and take us all out. Of course, Andy couldn't see any of this as he was bent forward in his speed skating position, and he couldn't hear me screaming through his ear defenders or see me racing toward him Steve Austin style... It's funny how in situations like this where you need it to stop, like now, everything goes into slow motion. It was so dramatic that I was convinced he'd just written off his posh new super-light engine. As it happens it turns out that his clutch just so happens to be a bit of a drama queen, and once the whole thing stopped glowing, it fired up and everything worked perfectly well. Amazing!

Watching Andy launch in nil wind, you have to wonder which is going to collapse first, his wing ... or his spinal column. Probably most of us over 50 have got questionable spinal health, but of course Andy has to take it to a whole new level

You live and learn, hopefully you learn and live as well. You should post that MRI of your back on here, it would make others appreciate just how hard an uphill, nil wind, soft sand launch can get. Well, done you. In awe buddy! On another (purely constructive) note, you really need to learn the basics of editing a video down to a size that doesn't make you contemplate how short life is. Bit of carefully chosen tunes would also help add a further dimension to it, we all know what a 2 stroke sounds like. Bloody awful! Must get a flight in before you bugger off back to Blighty.

We should organise an 'old farts' cross country charity flight, with the beneficiary being a new charity I will set up tasked with keeping old farts airborne. We could fly cross country from Lands End to.....erm that cafe, you know, the one on the A30, 4 miles from Lands End Ground crew, amongst others would need to consist of: A Chiropractor, Meals on wheels....a priest,

Reading my post, from 7 years ago, I would just like to congratulate myself for doing an adequate job of ....still being alive. What's more, I'm still upright and more specifically, still foot launching in nil wind at 54yrs old and, like AndyB, a fooked up back. Mind you, it must funny watching us two fly together. For anybody watching It must be one of those WTF? scenes. I can't imagine not being able to take to the skies though. I think when that happens, it'll be my cue to buy myself a tank of Nitrogen and a divers mask. Dan

Yes, it was a bit special. A great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Half an hour from Duquesa to Bornos?? Remind me not to get in a car with you Andy

I think we'd better cease this conversation, I've just looked at the weather in the UK. Probably not making too many friends with this thread

Looks like you had a great flight. Sorry I couldn't make it, my 2hr flight this morning really took it out of me.... and taught me a couple of interesting meteorological lessons to boot

No, not Pap. They're using an Argentinian copycat company that stole Paps design and set up shop 5 miles away.