framoo

Dear all, Last June four Dutch paramotorpilots (including myself) visited the Normandy area for the celebrations/commemorations of 70 years D-Day. Unfortunately we were not allowed to fly during the first four days (3-6 June). Fortunately the weather was great from 7-10 June when the sky was opened again. I made a 22 min video that starts with a short trailer, followed by about 10 minutes "ground" movie, including a short interview with one of the veterans at Omaha beach. The last 10-12 min is filled with aerial footage while we were overflying the landing beaches, Pointe du Hoc, etc. It is a tribute to all the heroes. Lest we forget. Frank [vimeo] [/vimeo]Use this link or frame if you don't see the movie frame (iPad users): http://www.vimeo.com/103554409

Proof!!! Clive over Ginkel heath (september, 21st 2013), The netherlands with the 1st British Airborne Division Pegasus.. Postion: 52° 1'58.00"N 5°43'54.95"E Ginkel heath was drop zone Y during operation Market Garden. The first dropping took place on september, 17th 1944 south and south-east of Ginkel Heath. About half of the paratroopers pressed on towards Arnhem to capture the bridge. The other half went to the north to Ginkel heath to secure the drop zone where the mass droppings of paratroopers would commence on september 18th. The pictures below are screen shots of the GoPro movies that I shot. That's the reason for the "fish eye". Happy (flying) days, Frank

Hi All, Ever seen a Dutch pilot flying around with the British Flag? Last saturday I flew around Ginkel heath, The Netherlands, on the 68th remembrance day of operation "Market Garden" (Battle for the bridge at Arnhem. A bridge too far.). The day consists of two major droppings with total of about 1000 paratroopers and a service that is held at the memorial at Ginkel heath. Ginkel heath is about 10 miles west of Arnhem and was called dropping zone "Y". In the early morning we as paramotorists flew around Ginkel heath with the flags of the nations that participated in the operation in september 1944. Several pilots flew with the flag of the 1st British Airborne Division as well (blue Pegasus on an aubergine/purple background). Below a picture of myself over Ginkel heath with the British flag. Below that a link to a short video about the event. The subtitles in the video are all in Dutch. Two translations: 6.00 min:"They are still with us", "The heroes of former times". 6.05 min: "Flag Flying", "Market Garden", "Thanks to (three names)", "Paramotor organization (three names)", "Music (two)", "Video and editing (Frank), "For Bill", "Bill was one of the paratroopers of the 1st British Airborne Division who jumped during operation Market Garden. I met him at the the Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek. We shook hands, and since that moment I will always have a "band" with the heroes of former times. Everybody who will shake hands with me in the future will we part of this band." "Lest we forget." "Frank" [vimeo] [/vimeo]If the video frame doesn't appear, please use this link: http://vimeo.com/50058410 If you double click on the link below a pin with the location of Ginkel Heath will appear on "Google Earth". Just north of the pin, south of the main road is the memorial statue located. http://www.frankmoorman.nl/images/blog/Ginkel_heath.kmz All the best, Frank

Hi Christian, Thanks for your advice. I'am an active member on the the Dutch paramotor forum and within the Dutch paramotor community there's (as far as I know) not so much knowledge about EASA. For that reason I addressed the British forum. All the best, Frank

Dear snorvliegers (Dutch word for paramotor pilots), I was browsing through the EASA website to find anything about paramotoring. MLA's are (for the time being) still in Annex II. What is the position of paramotors going to be in the (near) future? I sure hope that one of you has knowledge about this subject. All the best from The Netherlands, Frank

Hi Simon, We do have a well organized training system which consists of three phases. Phase 1: groundhandling without the paramotor. Some trainee's go through a "winch" course. It's not mandatory, but both the ground handling training and free flights after being pulled up to around 600-800ft by a winch pay of in a later stage of the training. Some trainee's just go through ground handling training without and with a paramotor on their back. Phase 2: this is the pre-solo phase and lasts at least 10 hours. You are in direct radio contact with your instructor. After this phase you must be proficient in several excercises. Your instructor will sign off the pre-solo phase if you meet all standards. Phase 3: you are allowed to do the preflight, take offs and landings without direct supervision of an instructor. It is mandatory to have a qualified instructor available at the spot. The minimum requirement for this phase is also 10 hours. After this you should be ready for the skill test. To get your PGL license you have to pass a theoretical test as well. My estimate is that the average trainee needs about 35 hours before he/she is ready for the skill test. The license remains valid fot two years. You have to log at least 20 hours and 20 landing in two years if which at least 10 hours and 10 landings in the last 12 months to revalidate your license. Hi Alan, Safety is top priority 1. We have an excellent safety record. Paramotor flying is legal since 2004. No fatal accidents. Just minor incidents like injuries that happen on a football pitch as well. Too Many people are convinced that we fly with very noisy lawn mower type engines and that it's just dangerous. It's a state of mind and not based on the facts. to be honest, it's our job to prove the opposite. We have about 130 licensed paramotor pilots in Holland. There are a few "hotspots" where people are complaining about noise. It's our job as pilots to realize that noise production can be disturbing. Like you mentioned, alter your routings, etc. Requirements: License Registration Certificate of airwortiness (special) Insurance Medical (quite basic) Maximum noise production with full throttle at 500': 60dB Reserve chute Altimeter/verticalspeed indicator Compass Helmet Specific field dimensions (about 210 x 75 ft) Safety regulations (realistic items) Wings and engines must be certified Greetz, Frank

Hi Aquatix, That's a good question! 24 hours before flight you have to inform the authorities by email that you are going to use the location. We tried to convince them that it's not possible to know 24 hrs in advance that you are actually going to fly. Sometimes the decision is made just half an hour before flight. If somebody is filing a (noise) complaint, the authorities are going to check if you had informed them about your flying plans. Indeed, pilots tendens to fly more than these 12 days. They take a risk and the fines may be quite high. Needless to say, that just 12 days is rediculous. The 12 day permit had been created for helicopters and is used now for paramotoring as well. Aviation is so overregulated in Holland that both the authorities and pilots have to dig into the airlaw in order to find solutions and, unfortunately, ways to block you. We have to fly with a registration (mine is PH-9C6), so it's quite easy to find you. Till november 1st, 2009 the national authorities (like the CAA) were in charge. Since then it is deregulated to the 12 provinces who can make their own policy with regard to the way they implement the rules for using non-aerodrome locations for flying purposes. They don't have to give you a permission. Over the past year we have learned that there is a big variety in policy between the provinces. Some provinces are on our hand, but we have to cooperate with provinces that have the policy not to contribute to new initiatives in aviation as well. Again, we are working on a better future for paramotoring in Holland. All the best, Frank

Hi Alan, Thank you very much for your quick reply. Indeed we fly by the same rules. The only problem we have is how to get from groundlevel to 500ft. Paramotoring is legally allowed in The Netherlands. We fly basically by ultralight rules. There are some differences between the normal GA rules and ultralights. At this moment we have two options: 1. A permit for 12 days (2 take offs and landing per day) in one year. 2. A kind of long term permit. You are actually applying for an aerodrome. The proces will take at least 3 to 6 months. Experience learns that it may take longer. The flight operations will be very restricted, like a maximum amount of flights (100 per year) We sure hope, that we can work something out. We are in the middle of that proces All the best, Frank.

Hi, I have tried to find information about the "regs and rules" for paramotor flying in the UK. Believe it or not, but the only thing I can find is that it's deregulated. To what extend is it deregulated? A website with all the information? A link to a document? In The Netherlands we are struggling already for over a year and a half to get better take off and landing possibilities. We can't just go to a farmer and ask him to use his land. I Will spare you the details. Below a link to a Vimeo movie about paramotor flying on december 29th, 2010 in The Netherlands. The text and subtitles are in Dutch! http://www.vimeo.com/18303074 All the best, Frank

Hi, 18-19 september 2010: 4 guys, great flying weather, beautifull area to fly. I used my brand new GoPro HD camera. Most subtitles are in Dutch (I am Dutch and living in The Netherlands). In the first part of the movie I used the English language. Some words are close to the English language. Enjoy, Frank http://www.vimeo.com/15353110

Hi Alan, Thanks a lot! A perfect thread for me indeed! Happy Day's Frank

Hi Peter, Don't try to pronounce the word, You will definitely end up with a lipstall or runaway lips. The Dutch word for pilot is piloot (pronounced like "pee-load",.... hmmmmmm, that makes it even more interesting). Another word for pilot is "vlieger", the same word as for kite. A "snor" is a moustache, but it has nothing to do with moustaches. I am not sure if you've got them in the UK, but in Holland we've got "snorfietsen". A "fiets" is a bicycle and a "snorfiets" is a light moped with a small engine that travels at low speed. It produces a light humming sound. This sound is called "snorren". A paramotor produces sound, that some people may experience as annoying noise. Holland is not as tollerant to aviation as the UK. One of our pilots "invented" the word "snorvliegtuig" (vliegtuig = airplane) to compare it with the snorfiets. People tend to visualize words. In this case a smart way to make a good first impression. Believe it or not, it works. So, somebody who flies a snorvliegtuig is a snorvlieger (snorvliegers is plural). The word paramotor and paramotorpiloot is used as well! It's time to hit the sack! We are an hour ahead of you. Cheers, Frank

Hi Dave, I seem to run into the same problem. My website is extremely slow at this moment. Something must be wrong on the server side. It happened before and the problem just vanished after a couple of hours. I sure hope the same thing is true in this case. Frank

Hi snorvliegers (Dutch word for paramotor pilots), I love to watch the movies that are published on this forum. Below some links to movies on my website. The are made in Flash! The camera is an Oregon ATC 3000. The quality is not as great as with HD camera's. All clips are shot over The Netherlands. 1. This clip shows an airborne shot of a take off of a deltatrike (I am not sure what the correct English word is). The subtitles are in Dutch. Han, the pilot experiences an engine problem and returns immediately to the field. I made a fly by to see if everything was well. After that I continued my flight. By the way, he was alright... The area is located roughly between Amsterdam and Utrecht. http://www.frankmoorman.nl/video_vreeland_070809.html 2. As cold as ice... It was pretty cold on Januari 3rd, 2010. The location is the former sea bed in the centre part of the Netherlands. God created the world and Holland was made by the Dutch. It's about 12 ft below sea level. http://www.frankmoorman.nl/video_almere_030110.html 3. About a year ago in the eastern part of the country. A small village called Welsum invited us to just fly around the whole weekend. The village normally has about 300 inhabitants, but this weekend about 3000... Indeed, a big party was going on and we were asked to participate in the festivities. We didn't just fly over the village and the party area. The river you see is called the IJssel. The IJsselmeer (IJssel lake), formerly named the Zuiderzee (the big lake in the middle of the country), was named after this river. http://www.frankmoorman.nl/video_welsum_310709.html Happy days, Frank

Jacques, the paramotor pilot in the clip, is one of the first and most experienced paramotor pilots in the Netherlands. The red, white and blue is, as you probably guessed, the Dutch national flag. Would be nice for you to stitch the Union Jack on it. Jacques has his own paramotor school (http://www.paramotorclub.nl). Flat??? Haven't you noticed the 2ft high fence!! We really do have to deal with obstacles over here. All the best, Frank