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

Years ago, on a ski vacation in the Alps I saw a parapente for the first time. Wow, quite interesting. As I recall it must have been in 1983 or 1984, ages ago. I was flying the NF5 in the Dutch Air Force (I am Dutch). Being airborne was part of my life. But there was something special about this parapente. Like most pilots I was very interested in all kinds of aviation. I have been a glider pilot, tried ultralights, been an instructor in general aviation aircraft, considered to build my own plane (Kitfox), spent a total of 11 years in the Air Force (NF5 and F16) and until now, just over 19 years flying with a tie and short sleeves (B747-400, B737-3/4/7/8/900 and A330-200). So I have been flying flying fast, far, low, long, high, but never extremely slow. Over the years I often considered to sign up for a course to learn to fly a parapente. There was always a reason not to sign up. Being to busy, not having enough leave, started a family, etc. Being Dutch and living in The Netherlands there was one big problem: mountains. The highest spot elevation is about 300 ft. I live about 4 feet above sea level (at least 30 miles inland!) and the highest spot within 50 miles should be something like 50 ft. Not enough for free flight enjoyment. About 10-12 years ago the first paramotor appeared over here. It was illegal. Rule 1 in Dutch aviation says:"Flying is prohibited, unless...". It took some time to get paramotoring legal. That happened in 2004. Flying was legal, but to take off and land was a complete different ball game. Believe it or not, we are still working on a better regulation/legislation for take offs and landings. You can't just go to a farmer and get permission to use his farmland. 2 1/2 years ago my wife took the decision:"Frank, buy a kit, sign up for a course and go for it." Well, the misses might reconsider it so don't waste time and I immediately took action upon her words. One of the best decisions in my flying carreer. I love to fly my paramotor. We can't fly low, the limit is 500ft AGL and the maximum altitude is 1200ft. If you carry a transponder you may take it to higher in class E airspace. I don't know what it is. I broke my collar bone 7 weeks ago (mountain bike accident). I am fit to fly paramotors again. Today could have been the first paramotor day since my "crash". It was way to windy. Tomorrows forecast looks a lot better. I just want to go up now, it's a disease. I got contaminated. Most of you will, presumeably, recognize this. Imagine, January, 3rd 2010. It was damn'd cold, well below freezing level. Four guys in their mid and late forties just returned from a flight. It was just before sunset, we were shivering, in the middle of nowhere (that's possible over here and we enjoyed being together. I tried to explain this special feeling to others over and over....I gave up. So it's not just the flying. Happy landings, Frank http://www.frankmoorman.nl

Hi Peter, Indeed, it was a very special day. I arrived on friday. We were allowed to camp aside the heath. We made a couple of flights. Since the whole heath was declared take off/landing area, low flying was allowed within the perimeter. The weather was great, nice temperature and hardly any wind. The next day, the commemoration day, we had the same kind of beautiful flying weather. On sunday we woke up on a fog covered heath...it was my 18th wedding anniversary as well....an excellent reason to go home. I am very interested in what has happenend during the 2nd WW. A couple of "events" caught my attention more and more over the years: Battle of Britain (the histories turningpoint), Market Garden, Overlord (D-DAY), Ardennes 1944, etc. I was born in Eindhoven. Eindhoven was liberated on September, 18th 1944. The liberation was part of operation Garden. The allied forces moved northbound from Belgium, via Eindhoven to (planning) Nijmegen and, as the main goal, the south side of the bridge at Arnhem. Operation "Market" was the dropping part west of Arnhem. The goal of these troop was the north side of the bridge. The rest is history. Peter, you are British (at least, I assume you are) and you mentioned Arnhem, Nijmegen and flying in one sentence......:"Market Garden". It is indeed rediculous that foreigners can't fly in the Netherlands. To be honest, I didn't know that. I learned it from the answer on your posting on the Dutch paramotor forum. I will try to figure out what we can do about it. All the best, Frank

Dear fellow pilots, I am new on this forum. I have been paramotoring in the Netherlands for two years now, Why the Netherlands, of all places. I am Dutch and I live there. Flying in the Netherlands is not a problem, as long as you stay away from controlled airspaces, danger and restricted airspaces, etc. Just as in every other country. We are not allowed to fly low level. The minimum height is 500ft. The maximum altitude (MSL) is 1200ft. There are some areas where you are allowed to climb to higher altitudes. If you are not sure, stay between 500 and 1200ft. If you have to overfly a village, climb to 1000ft. These rules are similar to the Dutch ultralight regulations. To take off and landing. We used to have a so called "article 14 exemption". It basically ment, that you had to go to the landowner, get permission, the mayor, get permission and then to the IVW (CAA) and get permission again. Pay the fee and you were allowed to take off and land from that location 50 times a year including a set of rules on top of that. Every year you had to get an extention. It all changed on November 1st, 2009. A different set of rules was implemented which basically made it's even more difficult to take off and land. You could get a temporary permit for 11 days a year. Fairly easy to get, but quite useless as well. You could ask for more locations, but that was not the idea behind this option. If you would like to fly more than 11 days a year, you should apply for a more or less permanent location. The best option would be to get an exemption for paramotors. We got it now for hot air balloons and free flight parapente/delta. We sure hope that we can work something out with our local CAA. We are working on it. It is indeed true that you need a registration (like mine: PH-9C6) and glued in your wing. This thread was also about Arnhem and Nijmegen Most probably it has to do with operation Market Garden, the battle for Arnhem, September 1944. 19 September 2009 the 65th commemoration was held at the Ginkel Heath, one of the dropping zones west of Arnhem. About 1000 paratroopers were dropped during the commemoration. In the morning we were flying with flags (British, Polish, regiments, etc) around the heath. After the droppings we went up again. The spectators loved it. In the evening we flew with 10 paramotors from Ginkel Heath to the dropping zone where John Frost and his men were dropped. We flew the routing that they followed to get to the Arnhem Bridge, later named after John Frost, the "John Frost Bridge (see picture below). During the flight I explained (by radio) to the other pilots what had happened in 1944. We returned just before sunset at Ginkel heath. Needles to say, that all pilots where pretty much impressed about what had happenend. Below a GPS plot of all the flights that I have flown on September 18th and 19th. Left top is Ginkel heath, right side is Arnhem (bridge). The picture below the GPS plot was shot on the 18th when I flew by myself to the John Frost bridge. A beautiful movie about paramotoring and the dropping on September19th has been created by one of the Dutch pilots: [youtubevideo] [/youtubevideo]Happy landings, Frank Moorman http://www.frankmoorman.nl (website about my paramotor experiences, Dutch language)