dede2008

and? care to write impressions? How does it compare to the rest of the range? Speed only with trims and with trims and speed , handling, takoff etc?

Anyone tried yet?

It will all get better, you will learn to master takeoff so you only walk a few steps and then let the motor push you till off the ground, and you will enjoy flying not only WHEN PG friends are on the ground but also WHERE they cannot go.

Have fun!

Yes morgy, no one aiming for a Roadster 2 should get a viper 3, sorry again if it sounded like that was the case

Actually, in my opinion there could be a third type of pilot who can enjoy the viper 3: an intermediate pilot with a few years of PPG who likes to go XC in the quieter times of the day, which is what 99% of pilots do here anyway, meaning early in the morning or late in the afternoon, without turbulence or strong winds and no thermic conditions.

In that case one can enjoy all the advantages of the wing without being too worried of the high aspect ratio or behavior in turbulent conditions. I know for example that most of my flights will be like that, with the occasional thermic flight when I am late or early. I should be fine with a few years of PG background.

In my test I was really impressed by the numbers besides agility: I normally get level flight at 6900 rpm with my miniplane and a 26 free flight wing. With the viper 20 I had level flight at 5900 rpm, 6900 trims out (55 kph) and 7500 rpm at full trim + full speed (68 kph). That means I still have 2000 rpm to use at max speed. On a miniplane and a 20sqm size! Amazing.

I was waiting to see if a Speedster 2 was coming out, but I had a chat with Emilia Plak and for what I undrstood there were no plans anytime soon for that because the Roadster 2 is as fast as the speedster is but with a much better glide.

I never said you should compare the two, they are like apple and oranges.

I just wanted to share what happened to me with a smile. Sorry for the confusion.

Went in to test the two wings as I am constantly demo fly new stuff, I knew I was not going to buy the Roadster 2 anyway.

It just happened that I liked the viper 3 a lot and bought it.

Is it for advanced pilots? Yes.

Is it for competitions only? Not at all. If you are an advanced pilot who likes to go XC it will be a dream wing to fly

Just a word of caution: don't try Roadster 2 and Viper 3 at the same time. I made a mistake trying first a Roadster 26 and then a Viper 3 20.

Got 1000 RPM less with the viper and took off in nil wind in 5 meters with a miniplane top 80. I ended up buying the viper on the spot

A new video posted by someone playing with the Roadster 2:

That's my video.

Nice wing, easy inflation, great agility and a really good glide (notice how good it glides before the final flare in the video).

This is another video of my friend trying the wing:

The title says it all: "How forgiving is the Roadster 2 at takeoff?"

Interesting launch style he's clearly running 45-90 degrees to the wind, how on earth did he ever expect to get off the ground lol!!

But as you say, forgiving it certainly is! Perhaps an understatement in this case

Yeah, he did everything he could to mess up the takeoff

Low airtime pilot but in his defence it must be said he has a terribly unbalanced paramotor frame. Hopefully that will be changed soon.

A new video posted by someone playing with the Roadster 2:

That's my video.

Nice wing, easy inflation, great agility and a really good glide (notice how good it glides before the final flare in the video).

This is another video of my friend trying the wing:

The title says it all: "How forgiving is the Roadster 2 at takeoff?"

Actually that is not quite correct.

Rotor can extend (in our weather window) 5 x higher than the object!!!! and 5 x behind (or downwind) of the object.

SW

Hi Simon,

care to share some references to this concept or its your theory/assumption?

As far as I know I never heard of read anything relating to rotors higher than 2x the obstacle's height, and thats on some serious wind speed with a particular terrain layout that is facilitating the rotor upward extension (i.e. some other obstacles that is funneling the rotor up).

The general thought in aviation is that as long as you fly twice the height of the obstacle you are fine (twice the height to be on the safe side, while in most situations flying over the horizontal line of the obstacle is safe).

You might be referring to the area of sinking which is always experienced in the air mass over and downwind of the rotor. That is also something to have in mind, but not quite like a rotor itself.

The only thing I would add is...

If the wind is picking up... / strong....

Flying TOO low is not a great idea due to your exposure to areas of rotor. (which increases with wind speed)

SW

Only if you flying below some obstacle's line which is not wise. As long as you stay low but on top of the highest obstacle you will not have any problems with rotors.

Been there a few times too. Nice good advises so far, let's recap:

- Dont panic.

- Learn your weather. Shit can happen, but bad weather/strong winds are normally predictable.

- Head upwind. Again good advise here. Wind picking up and changing direction is rare.

- Low level flying. There is a chance you can make it back to takeoff if you stay as low as you can (out of obstacles and always with a landing option of course).

- Learn how to control the wing on the ground.

I'll add two more:

1) Attach and use the speedbar. The guy in the video didn't even have a speedbar attached to the wing. Bad choice.

2) Choose a high speed range wing if you are flying in windy places. I'd recommend this to anyone, but more so in this case. If you have a wing that allows you to go as low as 20kph or as fast as 65kph, you have a better chance to make it out of troubles.

Good SIV and nice active control, the guy is being taught well

That also shows how spicy the Speedster really is, with the typical fast reaction of a C glider.

I'm impressed. Mitsubishi shogun, Vitara... I assume when you talk about fitting perfectly you mean you have to put the paramotor in horizontally and maybe at an angle too. In my view if a paramotor will not fit vertically or just slightly bent it is not a perfect fit (emptying/sealing for gas leakage everytime is a pain), but everyone is different

I prefer the bicycle carrier on the back door as an alternative to a van, 3 mins and you are ready to go.

Just out of curiosity, you two guys have the same wing, maybe a different size/trim setting/load in the occasion? I felt bholleran was catching up quite fast on you Morgy...

Nice one

Clive, video is accelerated maybe 2x in some parts so you get the impression he's doing 100kph

Nice,

next time try to do the same deep stall with GTR too instead of just trying to pull A's in vain . That exit would have been interesting to see.

I get a 2.7-3.0 m/s rate max (don't know how that translates to fpm, not my unit sorry on a miniplane top 80 with a 26 Epsilon 6 wing. My weight is 70kg.

Had a great day out flying a couple of GTRs..

Good for you, but... where is the video?

I always come in on full reflex (trims out)

Much better to land faster as you have more flare authority in light and variable wind conditions.

If your going to try it best work up to it slowly... Once you have tried it a few times you will never go back to slow trim landings

I'd love to know more about this Morgy. Do you just use wing tip steering for everything up until touch down? Aren't the brakes harder to flare with? I've never landed above neutral trim in zero wind and found that more than adequate and never even thought about going beyond that - but then again I rarely fly with others so sometimes miss picking up better techniques.

When you are trying to flare a 100% reflex wing trimmed out I don't think the flare will be as effective. Maybe Morgy is using this technique with his new Speedster, with which you can use the breaks throughout the complete range of trims.

oh well,

Can I say I miss Alan's comments?

Come on Simon, be a gentleman and let him come back to share this kind of humor with us again please?

The wind speed was about 10-12 knots with trims out less than half way on a Nuc. The wind direction was more off the land than sea. Were I crashed the nearest building was 422 meters (that info came from the CAA) I was not to hard on the brakes in the turn turning to my right. On the camera you see the left hand side of the wind fold in and then you hear me power up to gain height do you think it would of been better if I had stayed of the power as I can't remember it going into a spin.

Thanks for all your advice and best wishes and hope this has not put me off.

You had a camera with you? I think it would be useful to us all to see the footage and try to understand what happened. Do you mind sharing it?

Hi S1bull

Yes got all my equipment back after a week the frame is beyond repair but engine if fine. I have only been flying 18 months so not a lot of experience. Don't think it has put me of but time will tell when I am fit enough to try. I would love to no why the wind did collapse but I assume they could be loads of reasons. Anyone no of a good frame the mostor 185 motor would fit last one was EC extreme fancy something different.

Hi there,

glad to hear the first hand version of the story and that you are more or less ok.

I'm still wondering about the collapse though, was your sharp turn to the left or right? Were you applying power?

I can only think that the wing went into a unintentional negative spin for a combination of lots of break + turning against motor torque + applying power or something like that.

Fast recovery!

Although I agree time is your friend......

I would also have to say that Pete and I purchased our 'Spidi Cam' a month before we left to shoot for Nati Geo in China ( having never touched even an RC heli before!! ) And then shot with an NEX FS 100 (35mm DLSR) which has already been used in the Directors showreel (Bear Gryllls Director) and will be on TV in a few weeks.

Our footage has been compared to a Cineflex by many other Directors already :-)

It can be done, its stressful and expensive but possible for sure... the proof will be in the pudding (show) of course.

Poz, do call me dude, I am sure you will be happy you did

SW

Looking forward to see the results! Let us know when is aired. Actually maybe a raw unedited copy straight out of copter would be ideal, before the Nat Geo savvy editors played with it in post

Can you post a sample to show?

Hi, I've been learning a powered take off technique over the last year. I taught it to my mate Simon who you can see using it in this video.

I create an airflow over the wing for 15 seconds which sucks more air around and over the wing, you have to do it right over the middle. Then I come off the power and step forward. The airflow helps the wing up much quicker than in a normal launch, then you run with full power.

If you don't put the air flow over the middle, the wind will not come up straight. In the video you can hear me grumbling because Simon left a few seconds gap between coming off the power and stepping forwards. Still worked though.

Best of luck.

Stu

Yes that meant to be what I was referring at as technique n. 2, but ended up being more tech. n. 1, i.e. a normal powered launch. He indeed waited a bit too long before stepping forward for the wing to be helped in lifting.

Here is a better example of the technique with detailed explanation:

[vimeo]