dugald

I started on a Silex M, also part of a package. I had mine inspected and it was manufactured in 1999 but porosity was excellent as the wing was little used. Some advised not using the silex until you have around 50hrs under your belt. Others said it was fine as a beginner wing - just to go easy on the brakes when flying low as the handling is very responsive. I found that it is easy to kite and launch and a joy to fly. I (was!) 85kg at the time. It will trim out to around 20mph which is fine if the average windspeed is under 10mph and bearable up to 15mph (which you probably wont be flying in your first year). That is without speedbar. Your first wing may get some abuse, and really just needs to be easy to launch and slow on landings - which the Silex is. I have only now upgraded mine to a faster wing but on a nil wind day I would probably still go to the Silex as it is a great fun and is very light on fuel. My advice is if it passes inspection, avoid wasting a load of money and use the Silex as your first wing and get a nice new wing after a year of flying. If you get enough hours in you might even make your next wing an intermediate one.

XCsoar actually does work with (unofficial but frequently updated) UK airspace files. I found this brief guide was all I needed to get going: http://xcsoar-android.blogspot.com/ XCsoar is a very advanced piece of software mostly aimed at glider pilots, but fully customisable and very good for PG and PPG. It isn't heavily themed - its not what I would call 'slick' or pretty but rounded boxes and harmonising colours are the last thing you want in the air on a sunny day. The info boxes are large, square and black on white or white on black, and can be set to tell you just about anything you can imagine. The program, maps and airspace files are all free. It has a fairly long learnng curve (unlike most iPhone apps) but in a way that is a good thing - if you want to progress beyond the basics. At first just avoid expert mode, customise your main screen the way you like it and get your maps loaded. I also tried Airspace Avoid which is quite popular with microlite pilots. It was £10 to buy and then topo maps were around £45. Updates would then add further cost. I didn't like it because there was no way to configure it (I mean not a single menu) the waypoints system was poor and there was no flight logging. As for the HTC Desire, my Dad has one and struggles to read it in flight. I have ordered him a Dell Streak (got one for £200) - bigger screen and transflective technology so just as readable in bright sunlight. I think it is probably the ideal flight device given its medium size, ability to run XCsoar and good screen. Maybe I will just hang onto it for a while...

The finger throttle looks interesting, but could someone who uses one tell me how it actually works? It says on the website that it is digital - does that mean it requires batteries or a power feed? Does it use a throttle cable, or is there some sort of servo that manipulates the carb? The website mentions '8 positions' - does the power increase in steps over these 8 throttle positions or does it increase smoothly? Would also be interested where the kill switch is located - I couldn't see it in the image. Cheers, Dug

The shorter prop you put on would also be a bit less efficient perhaps than the original. From what I gather, the bigger the prop, the more efficient it is. I would think that the vibration is definately wasting energy to some degree, but no idea if it is enough to make any difference to your fuel burn. My FB simonini states 3L/hr burn and I a getting around 4.5L/hr in practice, using a 29m non reflex wing with trims on all the time (no bar). Im 86kg. I think flying style makes a difference though and reckon I could get it down to 3.5 if I kept trims in, stayed lower and was lighter on the throttle. A larger more modern wing would also improve things quite a lot (mine is 12 years old!). I also heard that an iridium tipped plug improves efficiency, but doubt the difference is significant.

Nah, that's just the estimation I made when I got back down and looked at my watch (which I had cleverly taken off and put in my pocket before the flight). I also took the fuel burn into consideration - it was exaclty 1L and given that I was using a fair bit of throttle a lot of the time I thought if I'd been up for more than 15 minutes I would have used more than that? Mind you it was a calm day and I was flying without trims on, so who knows. It felt like a lifetime though due to the nerves etc and was really exhausting - when I landed I felt like crawling off on my hands and knees and lying down for a while. I'm not complaining though - it was quite a rush

I finally got up under power a few weeks back after an initial failed first attempt (thanks to Stuart for recording this): [youtubevideo] [/youtubevideo]On the first run I just didn't have the guts to go to full throttle as the wing seemed unsettled above me and I was worried that the throttle would just knock me over. On the second run I felt the same but I just had to force the fingers on the throttle to start squeezing and was surprised how quickly this resulted in takeoff! The engine behaved well, as did the wing. I'd had concerns about the wing being too responsive but found it easy to ground handle and predictable when steering if applying right brake on the opposite side. I was too nervous to let go of the brakes and clip them in, so I wasn't able to get my mirror out to check fuel levels. I had 5 litres in when I took off so I decided to fly for about an hour around the LZ and then come in. After an hour I started to panic that I might already have been up too long. Had I been up an hour and a quarter already? Maybe an hour and a half? I quickly went in for landing, nervous that the engine would start spluttering. Total flight time: 12 minutes Total Fuel use: 1L I blame the time distortion on the massive amounts of adrenaline pumping through my system! Been grounded the last few weeks due to bad weather but can't wait to get out again. Dug

I got a new set of engine mounts and they have made a difference. Close inspection of the old mounts did not reveal any cracking or stress marks but the change resulted in an additional 2cm of clearance, so they must have been sagging a bit. Clearance at the bottom is now 6cm, which I am happy with - the additional 2cm looks like quite a lot in situe, and the clearance being quite uniform now tells me that the frame probably isn't bent as I feared it was.

His technique makes it look worse than it actually was - others were forward and reverse launching that day without any drama. This came after many unsucessful attempts at reverse launches and the instructor was probably keen for him to get some airtime and keep his morale up by getting a launch in during a lull in the wind. Having been there since day one with Simon I know how much patience and effort Peter and Dan have put in to his training, but even after 6 days of one-on-one training he seems to panic sometimes at launch and forget everything he has learned. He did get up in the end and enjoyed a good 15 minute soaring flight. He goes through this calamitous routine every week and I reckon most people would have given up by this point - you really have to admire his determination and positivity. I reckon he will get there in the end!

At last was back out on the hill this weekend, and got a couple of steps closer to gettin my CP rating. Saturday was fantastic, and we were all soaring on a series of 20 minute flights at Abington West. This was the first day that I have been out in soarable conditions so it was quite an experience. The wind was fairly steady at around 11mph and when the sun came out the air became very buoyant, allowing us to get well up above the top of the hill. Some of the stronger bits of lift were a bit scary at first - the compression at the top of the hill made it rather undesirable to get pushed back so I was doing a fair bit of into wind flying with hands up to stay forward. Flying amongst 8 other pilots on a small hill was also a new challenge, and on the first couple of flights I was nervous about hitting other gliders and got pushed out of the lift band. I thought I was doing fantastically well to stay aloft for so long, but when I switched to trying to descend I actually ended up climbing even higher.. so I obviously wasn't due to any skill on my part! In the end I managed to do a top landing. It was a fantastic day and I still can't get the smile off my face. The view once above the hill was an amazing 360 degree panorama, and the feeling of freedom, mild terror, and flying with a group of other pilots was just awesome. Sunday was darker and colder and gustier, so we went up Abington East and I did lots of ground handling practice - how to kill the wing when getting dragged standing up (grabbing rear risers) , how to get the wing under control when getting dragged on the deck (pull one riser all the way in and just roll the wing up), how to engage big ears for descent, how to ground handle without looking up all the time, and how to ground handle using weight shift. It was interesting, but freezing! Once I have got my CP sorted I will move on to gaining the required skills with the motor, which I can't wait for. I have almost all of my kit sorted (sending my Silex off for inspection today) - just a flying suit and a reserve to get - so I am desperate to get out on it!

I feel scared just watching that clip.

I was told it was a 2006 wing and has been little used (10 hours) but who knows... I have ground handled it a bit and it seems fine - the material seems to be in nice condition but I will get it checked just to be safe. I think the inspection report would make it more saleable when I decide to upgrade anyway. When I do upgrade I will only be able to afford one wing, and as I am reluctant to give up on paragliding before I have really given it a chance I will just have to accept the compromise. On the plus side, there are worse things in the world than paramotoring slightly slower than someone else who is paramotoring, and it is nice to have something to save up for - gives the old 9 to 5 some meaning.

Yes, definately interested but won't be in a position to buy anything for a while yet unfortunately. I have a FB Silex which I will do my training on and first six months of flying and maybe that will give me an idea of what my priorities are (i.e. might end up going for a reflex wing if I find lagging behind is frustrating). I think dual purpose would be handy as you could take one wing to the hillside and depending on the conditions could opt for PG or PPG.

I'm not worried at all - I'll just have to set off half an hour before you! You better watch out or your lah-dee-dah Dildo Synthesiser wing will be sabotaged before it leaves the ground.

Are we talking abou the NEMO MOTO version as I see that it has been modified for motor use with trimmers and claims a 48km/h top speed: http://www.dudek.eu/en/paramotor-ppg/nemomoto.html What is the best wing in this category (i.e. that is suitable for PG and PPG)? I would like to start out with one that performs well at both, but am concerned that some dual purpose wings might be good at neither.

Thanks for the links and the advice. I thought about going the babelfish route but was hoping to find a few well informed english speaking natives to give me the lowdown. If I find anything out I will post it here in case anyone else is curious. I might try looking for youtube vids of pilots in these countries and ask them what is required. Has anyone here been flying around Europe?