irm750

Hi Dan I fly with a Parajet Compact and a Revo 28. In the spirit of forum commeraderie I'm prepared to do a straight swap if it will help you to get into the air! Seriously, finding a mentor is a good idea or you could put faith in your training and JFDI (just f***king do it!!!) Either way you will probably wonder what you were worrying about. Good luck and happy flying. Ian.

I didn't fly with a reserve for the first few flights, but now always do. The mental workload is so high for the first few flights. There is so much to think about just getting off the ground and landing safely that the additional complexity, weight and bulk of a reserve and the chance of it deploying in error makes the risk of carrying it more than the risk of not. During the last of the flights without a reserve I had a horrible gnawing feeling, knowing that should I need the reserve that it was safely tucked away in the understairs cupboard was not pleasant! It would make me nervous to fly without a reserve, and nerves themselves can cause errors and accidents. In any case I have promised my nearest and dearest that I will now never fly without a reserve. I feel that it is the last roll of the dice if the worst were to happen. Different strokes for different folks though. Without regulation or local flying orders to the contrary, everyone is entitled to act on their own opinion..... and long may this last!!! Ian.

If you're not easily offended, Google images search "adriane" and you might understand why Adrian (a bloke) might be a bit miffed! Ian.

I met Mike and Jackie when I attended my first PMC fly-in. I knew no-one before arriving and they instantly made me feel welcome, introducing me to some of the others. You couldn't hope to meet a friendlier couple. My heart goes out to them both and their family and friends. I really hope Mike makes a full recovery. Ian.

I changed my password by going to "My Subscriptions" and then clicking "edit profile" Don't know about the private message thing though Ian.

Harsh....... But fair!

Nice pics - Looks absolutely idylic! At least if you took the cat flying you would be able to tell how long its claws are by the depth of the slashes in your skin!!! Ian.

Sounds great. Please count me in for a bacon sarnie (or 3!) Cheers, Ian.

Thankfully the fly-in doesn't clash with anything else this time so I will definately be there! Regards, Ian.

These are being sold on ebay. I don't have a macro so this is of no use to me personally but thought I'd post a link on here as it might be of interest to someone??? Ian p.s. I have no connection to or knowledge of this seller http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ParaJet-Paramotor-Paramotoring-2nd-Generation-Blades-/260614993343?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_SportingGoods_OtherSports&hash=item3caddd35bf

My experience if it means anything to anyone - 63 flights and 40.5 hours over 24 months Gordon - I think you were right with fiend!!! Ian.

After all this discussion and recommendations for nil wind launches I have a tale of cock-up to share! Practically nill wind last night. Spent lots of time setting up as stated then started my run. Wing came up lovely and straight. Started to climb a couple of foot but continued to run which was lucky as I sank back to the ground. The second and usually successful climb came and I prematurely went for the seat. Started sinking back to the ground but then couldn't get the speed of my legs to match the speed accross the ground. It felt like a fast face plant was coming on but slid onto my knees and hands while trying to go for the kill switch. Wasn't quick enough to kill the engine before the slide converted into a bum slide. The landing forced the prop onto a couple of cable ties holding the netting in place on the bottom of the cage which shattered 2 of the 3 prop tips. No damage to myself other than my ego. Have swapped my spare (ground adjustable) prop onto the motor while I source a new Parajet prop. Lesson learned - Keep running until definately climbing out!!! Fly safe! Ian.

NUTTER!!!

To be honest it took some thought and was a personally useful exercise to unpick what has become an automatic launch sequence! Thinking about it in more detail (actually standing in the living room with my eyes shut and running through a launch while thinking about what my throttle hand was doing!) I keep the throttle at about 1/4 open as the wing comes up so that there is a nice steady laminar airflow over the wing. The Parajet compact isn't too badly affected by torque, and by the time I'm running I'm at full throttle anyway! Always good to appraise and improve how we go about things though. Thanks, Ian.

I agree that everyone has their own take on launches, but hope that sharing my technique may be of use. I learned to fly on a Revo and struggled with nil wind forward launches in my early days (used to dread nil wind and now love it!) The first trick is to lay the wing out perfectly flat with the tips folded over to prevent them inflating early. I also find that the trim set 1" out helps the wing to more readily come up overhead. I then run the motor to about 1/4 revs with the thrust going over the centre of the wing for a few seconds. I then make my initial forward lunge of a few steps to bring the wing up, but early on when I was struggling I equated a bigger continued pull with a successful launch which was wrong. After the initial lunge and a few forward steps, I actually ease off the forward pressure until the wing is locked in over head. Only then do apply full throttle and max running speed. Then it's just the prolonged run into the air and you are away! Hope this makes sense? Ian.

Well done getting your motor running again. I thought it had a spark, so am surprised that you needed to change the coil??? Good luck with convincing your wife on the necessity of a new motor! Best enjoy your current one while it's still working and the weather is sooo good, just in case your plees are unsuccessful! Or you could take the opportunity while it's working to sell it. Best regards, Ian.

Hi Fred. Yes that was me. It was a picture postcard perfect evenings flight, from detling across to upchurch marshes via Hartlip area (near my dads house) then over Rainham, Wigmore and then back towards Hartlip area. First chance to tour over where I grew up and a few friends houses (at a legal height of course!) Making the most of the weather window, practically nil wind. How are you doing with your motor? Ian.

I know from buying lifting strops that properly placarded and rated items like this are tested to 7x the rated value, so plenty of safety margin! Ian.

I think most of our scardeycat mentality comes from the manufacturers recommending only Castrol TTS and the thought that anything else will harm the engine or invalidate the warranty. Out of necessity as I couldn't get hold of TTS in a hurry one day when I wanted to fly, I used Rock Oil fully synthetic (apparently the Kart racers swear by it) and this worked absolutely fine. Would use it again if required. Just my 2p worth! Ian.

I think we must all be anoraks.... That's how I got my fields too!!! Saw a gorgeous turf growing field on my travels for work and then drove around knocking on doors until I got hold of the owner and got permission to use it. My wife rides horses and she is always spotting and pointing out good galloping fields. Only difference is she doesn't ever do anything about getting permission as there are loads of regular places for her to ride. Welcome to the obsession that is paramotoring! Ian.

I now understand what you are trying to achieve and certainly on my free version of the app I don't think this is available. The only work around to get your bearings in relation to the lost takeoff field would be to find the takeoff point on the map and then zoom out until you find the cursor showing where you are. I plan to use this app in conjunction with my non CAA map equipped Garmin for belt and braces and airspace verification (and gadget freakery) so not a problem! Ian.

Forgot to say. The app was free and the CAA chart was only £19.99 from the official site which I consider a bargain! Ian.

Thanks to this post I have loaded Memory Map free edition onto the iphone and bought the CAA Southern 1:250,000. Works really well and am dead impressed. You can go to a pre-marked point. To mark a point on the map you press the button marked with a red flag and + symbol. You can go to that point by pushing the blue arrow, then the button with the folder and red flag on it. You then select the marked point and hit the view mark button.........Simples! Can't wait to try it in the air. Ian.

If you go for a trailer then please apply some serious security to it, or some thieving scumbag will have the beneift of all of your flying gear (and a £500 trailer) in one easy to nick package! Ian.

Then you must have some serious target fixation going on or an amazingly small field as I've never managed that! Lol! Ian.