notch

I have a PAP 125. I only notice a very slight turn with both no throttle and full throttle. Its easily countered by a bit of brake or weightshift.

I have my PAP hang-point set-up with around 5 degrees of tilt back.

Do you have yours leaning back? Ignore the weight ranges for the holes in the arm. The actual tilt angle is more important.

I weigh 100kg though, and have a 33m wing, perhaps because I have eaten too many pies it's different for me!

Changing the slide changes the vacuum placed at needle, so can increase or decrease the fuel at 0-3/8 throttle.

Changing the diameter of the needle can also help.

Have you seen the jetting spreadsheet posted on the FB group?

The problem as we see it is that the needle taper needs to start a bit earlier but not by lifting it. With some careful measuring with a Vernier gauge and some wet & dry paper, Pat is going to try to reduce the dia. of the needle at the point where it lifts out of its “hole” so the fuel volume goes up along with the air volume. We have looked for a suitable replacement needle with a taper starting higher up but can’t find one.

If this is at 0- 3/8 throttle, a different throttle slide may help. A lower number slide will richen the mixture.

classic air leak symptoms...

If you fly in sandy places it common for the prop to get "sandblasted".

I use a few layers of clear-coat (paint), then re-balance it.

I'm not an expert per say, but alloy fatigues pretty badly when bent - if it was a large radius bend it may be ok, but if it bent at a sharp point (say where the arm joins the frame), it's time to replace it...

If you have a high compression motor, you have to worry about octane rating as well as the oil in the fuel.

Over time, the more volatile components of fuel leak through a plastic container, and the fuel becomes stale. A metal container is much better if you are going to store the fuel for any length of time.

In any ways, as long as you mix a good amount of fresh stuff with the old stuff (and thus raise the octane), you will be fine.

Was that for the FLY 200cc? or the solo 210?

A pilot here in NZ gave up after wearing through 3 starter rings for the FLY200.

He got a hardened steel version machined in a local machine shop, no issues since. It wasn't that much more expensive than the version from FLY, so perhaps that's an option.

Has anyone tried strapping a regular inflatable life-jacket around the frame of their motor?

Wouldn't have expected the reeds to go after just 100 hrs.

You could try a local dirt bike/ scooter shop or one of the big dirt bike parts catalogue distributors to see if they have anything similar.

or here: http://www.treatland.tv/SearchResults.a ... reed+sheet

but you may be in for a wait also...

My $0.02 for what it's worth. To me it seems like _every_ new paramotor engine has teething issues - even new models from companies that have been doing bespoke paramotor engines for years and years.

I don't think the Thor200 is as bad as all that, just because it has been so popular it's a victim of it's own success - it's being sold on a huge number of frames.

Most of the issues just seem to be jetting/squish/compression/fuel related, which is an issue on almost all high performance two strokes these days (not just paramotor engines).

I reckon give any new engine a year out in the field before you buy if you don't want any hassle.

But if you are keen on the latest and greatest, just be prepared to deal with teething issues, get your hands dirty, and trust the company to supply replacement parts.

The thor is a beautiful looking engine with some really well designed features, and has the potential to become one of the best units out there.

I would make an analogy to the two stroke engine and some Women I know, but that would be in bad taste...

If it makes a "whaaaaa" sound when you open the throttle, it's probably running lean.

If it runs "lumpy" when you open the throttle, it's running too rich.

Lean is usually caused by crap in the carb, a wrongly assembled carb, or an air leak somewhere in the crankcase. But it could be other things too - fuel flow restricted etc.

Do you have a Walbro carb? if so check the order of the gaskets is correct. There are some useful links here: http://www.paramotor.co.nz/viewforum.ph ... 61e9db9d41

To test for an air leak, you have to block off the intake and exhaust ports (with plugs or plates and gaskets), then pressurize the crankcase with around 6psi, and see if this holds over a period of ~5 minutes.

If it doesn't hold pressure, get soapy water and spread this around the entire engine - bubbles will form where the air leak is:

[youtubevideo]

The crankshaft will get harder to turn when the magneto lines up, but this should be easy to overcome.

It sounds like your crankshaft bearings are toast, but you would need to open the gearbox side, and magneto side to be sure.

I did the same a while back.

The only thing I missed was itunes integration. But I found there's an app for that, and it sync's over wifi!

The biggest improvement - A BACK BUTTON... yes! no more home then another app then the other app... then what was I doing again??? yes getting old.

Once you switch you won't regret it... The note 2 is fantastic... the android hardware out there is so much better than apples stuff.

Nothing like putting on a wet, sweaty betty motorcycle helmet after 3 failed launch attempts.

I know they offer little protection, but I can't bear to wear a helmet without good vents.

these look cool, anyone tried one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/wavefighter01 ... 3AIT&rt=nc

Anyone know the correct Walbro metering lever height for a PA125 engine?

I'm running lean on the top end, and the lever is flush with the surround at present.

To richen it up I need to raise the lever, or decrease the pop off pressure?

I find that the more I have to run on takeoff, the higher the leg straps rise up the leg, and the harder it is to get into the seat.

[youtubevideo]

Never had to replace a prop, bend or weld my frame, etc, and I have had some very bad launches, landings, and even turtle'd a few times. The last fly-in I went to I had to avoid a rather large object (no comment), and landed on my ass at full power. Most were surprised I didn't bust my prop, as many did that day.

Clearance and a good frame design probably helped a lot.

Touch wood... a lot of it...

My starter also has a lot of lateral movement (100+ hours). But it seems to start okay. My PA125 does have more compression than any of my friends motors though, and is harder to pull over.

I know of one expert on these motors that enlarged the decompression hole in the cylinder to fix this issue, with no resulting loss in power. But it's a one-way operation, and you have to be careful with the plating on the cylinder walls.

Another option is to try a larger thickness base gasket. This increases the volume at the top of the piston stroke, reducing compression. I have had to do this as the quality of fuels in the country I have moved to is very poor, and detonation occurs without this change.

Thanks for the update to the 0.6mm gap on the flywheel...

Those are some strong looking tubes...

Check your timing and squish:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Byyv6Xw ... edit?pli=1

It's in spanish, but you get the idea. You can check the timing with only the gearbox and sparkplug removed...

As Simon said, its basically a plastic Zenith. For someone who does a lot of travelling, and can't afford a Zenith this frame is ideal.

It's about half the cost of the other frames...

And if you break it, the cost of parts wont make your eyes water too.

I hate to say this again but , a four stroke is hard to start by hand when warm.

Just come to a track day at the local motorcross park, and hear all the cursing from those guys riding 4 strokes (that don't have electric start). These bikes are well sorted, but still difficult to start when warm.

I think it just goes with the territory, part of the joy of owning one...