dede2008

Hey Stu,

It might not be the exact moment for you to learn this (maybe too early, just build confidence first), but if your cage is strong enough do know that short takeoffs in nil wind are possible using the powered takeoff technique and its variations:

1) Takeoff as normal, but as your wing starts to climb apply power early to help wing climbing and your running.

2) Takeoff as normal, but you lean a bit forward and blow a lot of air at max power right above the wing, then release power and inflate the wing straight away. The moved air above the wing will help put it quickly up over your head.

3) My favourite: takeoff as normal, you make sure to position yourself so that the lines are not slack. Apply full power slightly bending forward as per 2). Now the tricky part: think of yourself like a bike that is fully powered at start but held in place by the front brakes (your legs). Hence what you will do is: full power (or so, depends on your thrust), holding with legs, "release" the legs and start to walk and release power at the same time, you will be pushed to a good start by the inertia of the motor, wing will also climb up easily due to moved air, and apply power again as you start switching from initial few steps walk to full run.

Timing is key here, you have to learn to re-apply power at the right time, if you apply too late you will loose the initial benefit, too early and the wing might not climb up fast and neat as it will meet the flux of air from the paramotor.

Starting with lines not slack is important too as there will be less chance that the wing will climb uneven.

The last two techniques are actually good even if you have a light cage with which powered takeoffs are normally not recommended (i.e. miniplane). The reason is you release power when the wing is climbing up which is the moment when the cage could be bent due to excessive lines' tension.

Hope it helps.

Radio controlled drones seem to be getting really complexed and capable these days and some of the videos out there are simply amazing.

However, for some reason it seems to be mostly DIY for the enthusiasts in the field. I can only find one manufacturer that provides truly capable and complexed machines, built and ready to go, with the spec that I would like. This is a company called Draganfly, and the machine is the X8. Apparently, the basic spec'd entry level is $32k

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that has their act together enough to produce a ready built reliable machine with the following spec:

GPS autopilot with software to input way points

OLED Screen on transmittor with capability for VR head viewer

Fully stabilised gimble for Pro DSLR (up to 3 kg)

Basically similar to the X8 without the silly price tag. Or do I need to wait another 5 years or so?

Cheers

Dan

Hi Dan,

I ve been flying multicopters for quite a while now and my advise is, don't expect to be jumping in and start shooting professional video footage after few weeks or even months. It really takes a long time to first master the flying, then to master the shooting (may be easier if you have previous Rc heli experience, yet still a steep learning curve).

As for the machine, there are really hiped machines out there but the general consensus among the multicopter community is that a well built one will match if not exceed the performance of those 32k one.

-GPS autopilot is common thing, almost all of them have it now.

-Waypoint navigation, there is not much use of it in the video shooting applications (what will your use be to think you will need it?) and it poses more problems than solutions (most concerning range of piloting and videolinking to the ground).

- FPV (what you call VR head viewer) is common thing too but has its drawbacks and complexity too - takes a while too to learn.

- Gimbals good enough for video shooting at professional level are a rarity, especially for the range of weight you are looking for. Some had a bit of success in the DIY sector, but very very hard to obtain.

All that said, since you want a ready to fly machine, there is a company that stands out with his latest model of multicopter/gimbal solution: DIJ with its Zenmuse 15 gimbal and s800 oktokopter. It will not come cheap but not as costly as the others: around 4000-5000 $.

Have a look at some of the video tests on vimeo or youtube, i.e.:

[vimeo]

This kind of stabilization is so far unmatched in multirotors world and is a good rival for professional cineflex 500.000$ full scale heli mounts. But they only have it for Sony nex 5n-7 cameras so far, which is by all accounts close to DSLR video footage quality wise.

Mmm watch out now and make sure you takeoff and land well above 500ft as your fellow pilot's snapshots and videos of you flying over their heads ending up online can be the next target of CAA

Iv'e traveled to Italy a few times over the past couple of years had to visit some over priced Kit Car manufacturer down in Marrinello i have to say i was so suprised that said manufacturer was always late a behind in what ever they do for me, normally due to them being the most disorganised bunch of irate inderviduals ive ever met. Im not suprised they have such a high accident rate as they obviously struggle to follow any kind of stuctured process.......

Yes, italy is the land of contradictions, esp. when it comes to organizing work.

Luckily, paramotoring is on the good side. Another contradiction: I'd say 80% or more of all paramotor engine brands are from italy, yet the sport is not so common over here.

(It's Maranello btw).

Weather pattern: not that I know of, we have Bora wind up north-east blowing at the border with Croatia, but it only affect a small area locally and we are more than 200 kms away.

Around this area:

http://goo.gl/maps/qkHvo

It happened both times in june (some 20 days apart), both on a late afternoon flight, I'd say 7 P.M.

Colin,

by sudden and unpredictable conditions I don't mean you go out in the sky on a sunny blue day and in 2 minutes it covers up and a storm starts without you even noticing it. I am mainly referring to wind conditions.

The wind can pick up sometimes, we all know that. What I was not prepared for in two different occasions was encountering the most bizarre wind currents I have ever met in a clear blue sky and in the same place I have flown hundred of times with no signs of instability in the synoptic chart or anything unusual.

It was for both cases more or less like being in a laundry machine, for example the first one: no wind at takeoff and for two kms, then a strong east wind which dragged me for 1 km sideways only to deposit me right in the middle of the cross with a west current blowing even stronger. All in 5 squared km, and no mountains around to justify some sort of rotors or currents.

It was not the only collapses I had in 500 hours, just the strangest and scariest ones.

We normally have 5 flyable days each week, winters are pretty dry and sunny and one of the takeoffs I use is behind my house, so its easy to spend time in the air. In summertime I even use the paramotor to go to and come back from work! Now how cool is that?

Dede2008 wrote:

The wing collapsed due to a sudden, unpredictable change of conditions. If you have flown enough you should know that such an event can happen and is not that rare. Meteorology is far from a perfect science.

Something ain't right here.

Now I cant tell you what the weather will be like next week. But I can tell when I turn up at the field, what to expect for the next few hours in the locations I plan to fly to / from.

What I can also predict. Either takeoff, en route or landing are the effects of rotor / thermal triggers / mates prop wash. And can fly to avoid or expect them and deal with it.

Changing conditions I except. Sudden and unpredictable.....is something I'm not familiar with.

So this guy is flying as an experienced "qualified pilot" flying either alongside and low level or above a set of HT power lines..........!!!

I'm pretty sure the UK insurance providers would love that one "Void"

Colin the Hippie B

Did someone have a dig a hippies

You are probably right, you haven't flown enough hours to be familiar and experience a sudden and unpredictable change of conditions. It takes a lot of flying time to realize the weather is not always as predictable as it was on the paper.

I have just passed the 500 hours mark in the last three years only (yea, good weather and lots of free time), and it happened twice (luckily without consequences).

As for hippies, that was a joke to make a point guys, has the british humor gone to the bin with recession?

Anyway, I feel I made my point here so I do apologize to the OP for the initial rant and thread hijacking (no apologies for racist and unnecessary offenses though).

We obviously come from a different background as I assumed UK regulations were no different than italy, france, spain or most of the other countries - my fault, really, I should have known, you drive on the wrong side of the road, have a different distance, weight, currency system

I still prefer our system, but its good to know how it works over there.

We had a case where one pilot got into the power lines and luckily got out unscathed but had caused a major black out to the nearby city.

And this was a "PROPERLY" trained pilot

Where did he train then.

Pete

PS independent instructors and pilots can get insurance.

Yes, he was a properly trained pilot who was unlucky enough to get a wing collapse ending up there. Never judge by the book. I assume by your tone that you think this will never happen to you since you probably consider yourself "an expert". Well I wouldn't be so confident if I were you

The point is another anyway, you *CAN* get insurance is different that you *MUST*.

If I were flying in UK I wished everyone around me had one so in the event some idiot hit me and do some damage at least I am covered.

It could possibly happen to me but as I know how to check the weather correctly and fly in the right weather conditions and fly within my capabilities then it is very very unlikely to happen as wings do not collapse unless some thing causes it.

I am not an expert by all means but stopped counting the hours Ive flown at 600 and that was a few years ago. I have flown in many different countries in varying conditions so I do know what I am talking about.

I am insured and always have been, if you got hit by someone with no insurance then Im sure your phone will melt with the no win no fee lawyers that promise you thousands and thousands of pounds compensation.

And as a famous russion would say "Have nice day"

The wing collapsed due to a sudden, unpredictable change of conditions. If you have flown enough you should know that such an event can happen and is not that rare. Meteorology is far from a perfect science

As for insurance, sure my phone will ring, problem is if the guy is a DIY cheapo-hippie-I-dont-own-a-thing-in-the-world I will not get a dime

We had a case where one pilot got into the power lines and luckily got out unscathed but had caused a major black out to the nearby city.

And this was a "PROPERLY" trained pilot

Where did he train then.

Pete

PS independent instructors and pilots can get insurance.

Yes, he was a properly trained pilot who was unlucky enough to get a wing collapse ending up there. Never judge by the book. I assume by your tone that you think this will never happen to you since you probably consider yourself "an expert". Well I wouldn't be so confident if I were you

The point is another anyway, you *CAN* get insurance is different that you *MUST*.

If I were flying in UK I wished everyone around me had one so in the event some idiot hit me and do some damage at least I am covered.

Well it might be the same as learning to ride a motorcycle, but there is a big difference. You can learn by yourself, but then you have to take the exams to be able to get the license and drive around, and that's where your skills are properly tested both in practice and knowledge. And that's the same as for airplanes and pretty much everything else.

Again, I'd rather go in the air knowing that all my fellow pilots flying in the same place as me have passed a proper exam and attended a proper school, so I KNOW that they know how to behave in a landing circuit, or the rule of precedences, etc instead of leaving to my HOPE that they have read and practice these rules by their own.

There is another problem: what about insurance? I take it you don't have and need one? We have mandatory insurance if we want to fly, as well as school insurance when we train. So what if something happens to one of the trainees while under an unrecognized school there? Whose responsability will it be?

Also if you land by mistake over a bunch of children playing in the park and injure some of them, would you rather be covered with proper insurance or be on your own?

We had a case where one pilot got into the power lines and luckily got out unscathed but had caused a major black out to the nearby city. Had it not been for the insurance he would have faced a cost of more than 500.000 euros for damages. The insurance covered it of course.

As in everything else, insurance is not just for yourself, you might not care at all about yourself, but it is there to protect others from your doings.

Third, but just to push it a bit : why would I even care of flying rules and restrictions, i.e. the Olympics ban, if I am not a recognized flying vehicol? They can't ban me, I don't exist for them

Mmm all right then, apparently along with big dicks we also have recognized paramotor schools, trained instructors, exams and licenses, and insurance, something you don't have up there I gather?

So basically anyone there can wake up start his own paramotor school and teach?

Doesn't sound promising.

I don't know why a self-taught guy called Murray Hay with his rather controversial theories on paragliding and aerodynamics come to my mind as an example, if anyone knows who I am talking about.

We all have been lads and enjoyed self learning things, like riding a bike or what not. And every sport started as self-teaching attempts at the very beginnings. But that was the beginnings, do we all have to pass through these phases? It did come with a price, shall we count the number of deaths of these early attempts in say mountain climbing, or motorized flying just to stay on familiar ground?

An instructor and a proper school here gives you the basics and you can be assured that a certain standard of teaching is guaranteed from a recognized paramotor school.

Now, my personal interpretation of self-teaching is someone who's buying the gear online, search the forum for info or watch a video or two and off he goes to the field.

A different thing *MIGHT* be sticking around with experienced pilots, especially given the unregulated situation there in UK.

But i would still prefer a proper training from an instructor who got training on instructing and how to teach, as long as everything else. A great or experienced pilot might not be a great paramotor instructor, thats why only few become one down here.

mmm too bad there isnt such a thing as 6 months flying ban each time someone publicly claims to be a self taught pilot risking an potential number of newbies to follow (especially without a DON'T-do-it-warning).

If you must be the DIY type at all cost, try fly fishing instead. Flying, although a great source of fun, is no game

Your comment is noted, although i fly with a lot of self taught extremely talented pilots all of which would disagree with you, and not wanting to enter into a slanging match with you i will leave it at that..........

Although i understand Italians are known for the size of there dicks obviously ends there as there balls must be non exsistant!!!!!!

Italians are also known to be good at teaching a lesson or two in person that would wipe away any racist attitude and the smile on the face for a long time. You are welcome to come to italy to experience the "italian way" of dealing with this sort of behaviour

That said, I was only offering my advice, would you people rather go under surgery on a self taught doctor or one who had hundreds of proper training hours and was judged by competent people? There might be very good self taught surgeons out there, but I know my answer. Your choice.

mmm too bad there isnt such a thing as 6 months flying ban each time someone publicly claims to be a self taught pilot risking an potential number of newbies to follow (especially without a DON'T-do-it-warning).

If you must be the DIY type at all cost, try fly fishing instead. Flying, although a great source of fun, is no game

Well, it would appear that the good folk at Spektrum have fitted a nice little fuse inside their box of magic, to protect numpties like me from themselves

So, hopefully when I can get the correct 3A fuse, and I manage to re-assemble it all, it will work again. Fingers crossed.

Thanks Alan and s1buell_wl for your valuable input.

Yes, I was about to ask that. A sofisticated electronic device without any form of voltage or current protection? There must be a fuse somewhere

As for mistakes with chargers, I have a good tip for that. I have tons of electronic devices with tons of chargers, and they all look the same. So a good practice that reduced mistakes to zero was labeling the end side of every charger as soon as I bought them.

Just a small label and a transparent tape will do the trick:

(not my image, just found it as reference).

Hope it helps!

I know its not paramotor stuff, but how cool is seeing all these people top landing on Mont Blanc in a wonderful paragliding day.

Just wish I was not on vacation some 3000km away right now

https://vimeo.com/47830229#

I'd elaborate more on engine restart: If you are not used to shut and restart the motor in flight, that is also a good practice. With good training it should not take more than a couple of seconds and you shouldn't loose more than 20 mt.

I'll add a comment: don't be tempted to approach this as a self teaching activity. As said many times, it can and will bite you badly if underestimated by its apparent simplicity, plus you will develop habits that will take time to correct.

By the way, you will be able to practice on your own all you want after initial guide from an instructor.

cheers

dave

All right, yes, I was aware of the bungee modification, I thought it was something different. Thank you for clarifying.

If you want to fix the oil leakage you should add the mentioned copper gasket, plus another tip: don't leave the two screws loose but tighten them up fully (originally they are supposed to stay a bit loose and let the springy spiral do the job of pressing, but experience tells this is not enough).

What's the starter modification mentioned above?

Hi,

personally I don't see the point right now in 4 stroke engine for a foot launched paramotor. The reliability is not something, as said, you should trust your life with. If it fails, you just glide away unlike any other flying machine, but I have yet to experience a reliability problem with my miniplane after 250+ hours.

I would love to see a 4 stroke motor blowing my mind, but they are not there just yet. Comparing a bailey v5 with miniplane, its 7-8 kgs heavier, still burns more fuel despite being 4 stroke and it only has 5 kgs more thrust (60 kgs vs 55 kgs).

What I would really like to see is a 4 stroke paramotor with 70+ kgs of thrust that weights 20 kg and burns less than 2LPH. Now that would change the way we look at paramotors

Hi guys just asking a little advice, I'm new to flying and have so far done around 5 flights but not since april time due to crap weather, but now there's a few days of nice weather I'm thinking about having a another crack,I'm wondering from you more experienced guys what the conditions are going to be like at say around 6.30-7pm after its been around 22 Celsius all day? Would I expect to be thrown about a fair bit or do you think it would be smooth? Also how can I avoid thermals and what do I do if I hit one? I'm still quite a nervous flyer as expected with such low airtime but I really wanna try and build my confidence and get out there but I don't wanna get up there and scare myself and then wanna sell all my kit, bear in mind I have no flying experience other than my Paramotor.

Thanks.

Tim.

Hey Tim,

I didn't get if you are flying by yourself or not? Have you completed your school training? These are questions you should ask your instructor which will be more than glad to answer, and by the time you finish your training you will have enough flying time and confidence to go flying by yourself with no fears.

I just hope you are not trying to teach yourself paramotoring. It can really bite you badly.

Cheers,

Dave

Whats wrong with the kit you have now? lol

you know you want it....... do you really need the "why"?

Don't ask me to explain it, but I just have a growing insecurity about trusting my life to a 2 stroke. Not sure why, because I've done well over 100hrs on my PAP PA125 with no problems.

What I do know is that I feel uncomfortable and believe I'd feel happier with a 4 stroke

Mmm if you are trusting your life to a motor that means you are doing something wrong (i.e. low flying on unlandable places) and that will not change after you own a 4 stroke.

6.5-7ltrs/hr from a Thor 100 pottering around with trims fully in or at most half out seems a bit excessive though, or maybe that's what they all do??

Leaking tank? That's the only reason I can think for such a burning rate

Hey,

I'm just baffled at PRM prices over there? 7k Eu is the price for an (expensive) tandem trike

I was comparing the prices for a miniplane a while ago and Ireland's miniplane importer was charging 2800 Eu for one,cheaper than buying it straight from manufacturer here (3500 Eu) so I am even more baffled

Back in the paraglidning days they said that we shouldn't look and that makes more sense there. As I mentioned, much easier to feel the glider in a free flight harness and also when you run down a hill there isn't much turning back to do. With a paramotor it more like getting enough speed to have the gilder above you, check that it is okay and the push the throttle to take off, plenty more time as long as you know what's ahead of you.

Mmm well as far as I know every paragliding school advises to quickly check the glider looking up before fully commit to the launch (a split second, but it is advised). I am surprised by your claim as it is not common thought among paragliding pilots.

Actually this habit of not checking is more common among paramotor than paragliding pilots.

Perhaps you have mistaken two concepts: it is advised to look forward when launching a paraglider to maintain or correct direction, but a quick check up for nots or problems on the glider it is also a very important step too. And that is true for paramotor too.