flyingfergus

Hi Hemberg, By way of an update I too a second 2 hr xc on the Apco F1 24m. Fast (as said previously), very stable with no oscillation yet can turn on a dime. So I bought the demo one I flew from UKPPG.

Hi, Managed a 3rd flight in decent conditions. 2hrs 9 mins, 72.2 miles circuit. Average speed (trimmers out no speedbar for the whole flight apart from take off landing). Same set up for all flights. I am 145kg all up on a trike with Simo 250 engine. Viper 5 22m 33.27mph, 5.8 litres / hr Zorro 28m. 32,55mph 6.0 litres / hr ( actually worked out from 36 hrs flying) Apco F1 22m. 35.67mph, 6.15 litres / hr. (72.4 mile circuit) The Viper 5 is lifty and the glide on slow trim with gentle brake carries you a long way. Your key question does is oscillate. When direct into wind and stable air I could fly it hands off. However side wind or turbulence caused oscillation to develop rapidly and aggressively. I have never felt sea sick before but unfortunately with it oscillating 30-40% of the time I did on this wing. Also because of the 2D control with trimmers out meaning you cant use brakes, the tip steering action of having to pull the 2D handle in towards your chest made dampening off the oscillation really hard work. Its a hands on wing in my view which doesn't meet my needs of hands off flying. I won't be getting one, It really makes me appreciate my Zorro ! Going to try the F1 again. It didn't oscillate but I was a bit disappointed with fuel use but worth a revisit I think.

Yes a couple of times at UKPPG. Once for 30 minutes in very rough conditions and then 15 minutes before unexpected / unforecast rain arrived. I owned a Viper 2 for 3 years and a Hadronxx. I currently fly a very underated wing the Sky Zorro which is one of the best trimmers out, hands off average speed XC wings (33-34mph on most 2-3hr circuits) I have had the pleasure of owning. I have recently tested the Apco F1. I fly a Power2Fly trike. I am looking for a second wing that is as fast or faster on trimmers out, hands off flying, but with an improvement on fuel. The F1 averaged a couple of mph faster but fuel was much heavier. The Hadronxx was also very fast but had complex risers for a trike and was also very fuel heavy. My Viper 2 was the most efficient wing I ever flew but had a tendency to oscillate a lot, so needed constant correction. So far what do I think to the Viper 5 ? Comes up easy with a trike launch but doesn't over shoot. The 22m I flew is very lifty and I was using 5000-5100 for level flight compared to 5550 rpm on my Zorro 28m, which I flew just before the Viper 5. So it will be better fuel consumption than the F1 & Hadronxx and my Zorro. Despite very violent air on the first flight the wing was very stable. The 2D steering takes a bit of getting used to ( pull toggle in towards your centre body for tip steer or out & down for brakes. Straight down is a combination of both. Brakes musn't be used on fast trim. I didn't get average speed due to the weather shortened flights but my initial reaction is slower on slow trim but marginally faster on trimmers out than my Zorro. Ozone say they have increased the speed range on the trimmers compared to the Viper 4 which had a bigger speed increase with the speedbar. I don't do speedbar as its not easy on a trike . Importantly it didn't oscillate under straight and level flight. I will at some point get a couple hour XC flight to know fuel and average speed, but it looks like it will be my next wing.

Triked for the last 3 years. I would always want to control the direction of the trike (so no castors ). Launch the wing, break it above your head, make sure you are square under the wing, steer trike & wing opposites, once square & travelling in the same direction, smooth acceleration. Job done. I agree about minimal trike. Once airborne the experience is then the same as foot launch.

The best bit of the NEC 500.

UKPPG at March in Cambridgeshire does trike training.

Sky Zorro. One of the best kept secrets out there. I am averaging 34mph ( total miles / total flight time from Garmin 495). Love it.

Anti torque lamels..........my experience. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukparamotorgroup/ (the facebook page has some photo's I uploaded but the text below sums up my experience). Made from carbon fibre the lamels from Aviator were easy to fit. There is no way they will come off in flight. As you can see from the first photo of my trike in flight the torque on the frame from the Moster engine causes a slight rotation making the lightweight trike sit off to the left when on full power. So what difference did 14 lamels make to the torque........absolutely no noticeable effect and the trike still sits off centre when on power (second photo). I still had to compensate with weight shift and/or the left trimmer in slightly for straight flight) Even worse than that is the drag effect. I was having to run 800-1000rpm higher to maintain the same level flight without them (7200rpm verses normal 6200 for level flight) Consequently this slaughtered the fuel efficiency, which isn't good at the best times being a Moster, and took me from 5.5litres per hour to 8litres/hr. I landed after 1hr 28 mins having measured in 12 litres and had just 0.2litres left. I usually get 2hrs with a bit to spare. So all in all for me they were a massive negative. I will be taking them off and selling them on. Any bids welcome !

Anyone know if there is an official EOS importer / distributor in the UK ? If so who ?

I have a Moster 185 Elelctric start which I got in April this year from UKPPPG. Not only is it one of the first electric start Mosters it turns out it also has a new exhaust ring. I only discovered this when I went to do a 30hr exhaust ring check. The blackened ring has done 30hrs, it is deeper, thicker and has a recess which the exhaust section sits snuggly into. Looking at the lack of ware on the exhaust and ring I don't see why it shouldn't do a hundred hours +. I cant see any difference between this exhaust and other Moster exhausts bar the ring.

This is not a new problem. I bought one of the first Bailey v4 which was the first to have the easy start system on. It spat oil out on the first few flights. Took it back, he ran it on a test rig & it was fine. I strapped a coke bottle on and fed the air breather pipe into the bottle. I half filled the bottle on the next hour flight. He had it back and modified the oil recovery plate. After that it was fine & he definitely sorted it on the V5. Buy an old V5 & look how he solved the problem. Don't reinvent the wheel just make it better (lighter & more powerful please and I will be ordering one !)

Often the case Ivan, more speed on trimmers out then the less gain on the speedbar. Top speed I suspect very similar but I prefer more speed with no speedbar for XC flying.

Hi Ivan, I generally work on average speed over several XC as I tend to do out & return. I always fly trimmers out as soon as I get clear of take off. I use speedbar occasionally, either to hit a really high groundspeed or if I need to get to a turning point a bit quicker. The speedbar adds 5-6mph onto trimmers out for the Zorro. Worth noting on the Zorro any combination of trimmers / speedbar / brakes can be used, unlike many wings. Tried a few Apco Wings when with Paul Haxby in Wales over the years but never ticked my box. Speedster 28.....average 28.3 Viper 3 24....average 28.58 Hadron xx 20...average 33,5 (proportionally less trimmers out than my other wings) Zorro 28.......... average to date 30.92 I am 135kg all up (trike set up including fuel), so about 2/3rds up the weight range.

I fly a Fly Zorro 28m. I have flown for 9 years & had several wings & tried several others. I have no affiliation to any wing manufacture or supplier. I fly what suits my flying. Better than my Viper 3 24m I had. Viper very efficient on fuel but trying to crop skim due to its oscillations and "lifteeness" was impossible especially compared to the Speedster I had previously owned. I also have a Dudek Hadron xx 20. I fly this with my trike (Moster engine) as it needs all the thrust from the Moster. The Hadron is faster by some way but has several disadvantages which I wont discuss here. The Fly Zorro is very good on launch, very stable, doesn't oscillate, as quick / marginally quicker than those in a similar category and has great response to tip steering. My one wish for is slightly better economy. The fact I need a 28m for similar lift compared to 24m Viper will tell you that. However I do fly a V5 4 stroke trike which is at the lower thrust of modern engines but is ridiculously efficient and reliable for 2-3hrs XC. The Zorro is a great XC wing & stable as you could wish for when foot (wheel) dragging. Very easy to land. Not done a great deal of rough air yet as I got it in the Autumn last year but it feels very stable to date. Like everyone else will say, TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. I got mine from NIgel Davies at UKPPG. He has one for test flying along with some other wings. Google his website, its a bit old fashioned but don't be put off by that.

Hi Steve, There's several pilots and trainees who fly at UKPPG near March, about 25 minutes from ST Neots. I fly from there of an evening as I work just a couple of miles from the field. UKPPG (Nigel) Davies has a student who has just migrated over from UK Paramotors. Nigel trains 7 days a week till dark if the weather is suitable. I didn't train there & have been flying 7 years but its a real friendly place & I have never seen him turn out a bad pilot.. Look UKPPG up on the internet if you want or pm me for his contact details. Flyingfergus

Hi Steve, I am an ex skydiver (still got my ram air in the loft) Been paramotoring 6 years. What useful experiences transfer.... You have an understanding of the air & are comfortable suspended from a harness in it. You understand the importance of your "checks" before you fly. You know how to steer. You get the principle of flaring on landing. Thats about it, everything else is different. Biggest challenge I had was getting used to using the brakes much more gently. Inputs like you would on a ram air early in your paramotoring career will end up hurting you & your wallet. I did a few paraglider flights from a winch which really got me used to the inputs before doing my paramotor training. Defo get training. Doesn't matter how good a sky god you were, the coordination of man, machine & wing on take off is initially a challenge for everyone. You will love it

New Slovenia guided paramotor holidays. I have no connection apart from I am likely to book a place in the May timing if enough people book. http://xtc-paragliding.com/holidays/PPG_XC.html Best regards Fergus

The organising committee have posted that due to technical difficulties there will be no Basse Ham in 2014. ( might have something to do with pilots flying in the nuclear power station no fly zone on the previous two events ). Also there was talk last time that the land on which its held was being sold.

Hi Michael, So where do you hang out as a hangar rat ? I live at Holbeach & fly from various fields but now mainly Wingland Airfield & UKPPG at March (as I work just up the road from Nigel's field). You've also got the Boston airfield. Fergus

I have the Thule. Cut & fixed a light weight plywood base & some wooden guides to stop my V5 from sliding. I then just use 3 straps, 2 holding the frame to the Thule top bar & one threaded through the bottom of the frame to a couple of fixing points on the plywood base. I take it all over the country like that. Taken it to Scotland & back (720 mile round trip) a number of times with no worries doing 70 on the A1. Takes a couple of minutes tops to strap down for a long distance trip with the V5 fully assembled & front reserve in place. Arrive at the field, do your checks, clip in & fly. You can't get less hassle than that. One strong recommendation is a cover. These are excellent & rain proof. http://www.solparagliders.com.br/en/ind ... &Itemid=76 Perfect hight for getting into before launch. If you want some pics let me know. Happy Flying Fergus

Hi Stuart, Thanks, will do. Heres a video of the best images ofq a flight from near Seahouses during a work trip. Includes Bamburgh Castle, Holy Island, Lindisfarne, causway just before it floods, Farne Islands, Seahouses & Dunstanburgh Castle ruins. Oh, and the sheep pooh I just avoided. Cheers Fergus

I am up Scotland next week on business and taking my Paramotor. Monday night Berwick Upon Tweed. Tuesday-Thursday evenings Coupar Angus. Anyone fly in those areas & want to meet up ? Cheers Fergus

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/cli ... er&start=2 Anybody tried these carabiners yet ? Are they rated strong enough for paramotoring given the g force sometimes experienced in our sport

Should have bought a Bailey

Anyone a regular flier in Cornwall ? I am down on business 20th-24th May & will bring my gear down if the weather is good. Be nice to fly with a local pilot if anyone is willing ? PM if so. Best regards Paul C