Malcs

I shall be there on the Saturday so will say hi, planning to move nearer Swindon next year so I guess you lot might become my flying buddies, if I ever get off the ground again that is!!

here's another when you're bored of penguin whacking

http://www.crazyfrog.yourebustingmyball ... =ringtones

What are we talking about?? It is right there already over in the menu to the right of your screen, must admit I hadn't noticed it though!

Should be possible as it is on many forums. I have my own forum and it has a view latest posts and view unanswered posts section, when you first come into the forum you see all the newest posts straight away with newest at top and oldest at the bottom and the option to click straight to the last post.

Just not sure of the software used for this forum but I would think it can be done!

For sure it would be painful, dealing with Indian customs is far worse than here. I play harmonica and carry a case of 12 with me everywhere I go and every single time I get pulled in Indian airports and made to explainwhat they all are and why I need so many, "are you planning to sell them sir", "will you be taking them home with you", "will you be earning money playing them in India sir", I played Last of The Summer Wine at Bangalore customs once after being asked if I could prove that I could actually play, to much amusement to the other westerners! Last time I took a portable recording studio and they had a field day with me!

Anyway, I would say that the best bet would be to take a brand new one with you, some kind of certificate and perhaps photos to show that you do actually take part in the sport and a phone number of someone there who will verify that you are going to fly it. Once you get there and you've done your week or two flying, sell it, you'll most likely get back what you paid as it would be a lot cheaper than Indians imprting them through the proper channels and the red tape that is such a pain in the arse for them. Obviously you'd need a confirmed buyer before going but you could almost guarantee a flying school out there would buy it from you, probably the wing too.

Then, you can come home with a suitcase full of cheap clothes, handmade drums and incense! Win win situation.

Seriously, keep me in mind if any of you fancy that, even if I can't go I know a lot of contacts that can help fix things once your there!

Thanks for the insight Malcs, a remarkably frank and open story.

The only place I missed when I went from longhaul to shorthaul for a spell, was India. I would love to paramotor around the country in the winter, particularly in the North... Just think of the fun you could have lobbing into the odd hill station for tea and tiffin! Magic! One for 2008 perhaps?

Agree, I know some fabulous places in the south too, imagine cruising over the carpeted tea mountains of Ooty or Munnar, the waterways in Kerala, fantastic, wouldn't be difficult to arrange either, you just have to know how India ticks. The only thing that would bother me is a trigger happy cop thinking you shouldn't be doing what you are doing.

Every time I go to North Goa there is a chap that flies up and down patrolling the beaches at all times of the day, it used to be a trike but now its a paramotor, not sure if he works for the goverment or just a pleasure flyer.

There are paramotor clubs already in India, definitely one in Pune with dual prices for training, if youre white then you gonna pay double!

Count me in for any future trips chaps!

OK, here's my take as somebody just starting out and having had just one fairly succesful first flight.

When I was 22 (40 now) I did a parachute jump and raised money for Cancer Research. Not sure what made me want to do it but I'm one of those that likes to have at least one go at lots of things just to experience it even if I never do it again. When that plane took off and banked round it scared the life out of me as I was near the door which was open and felt myself sliding out. I was to be first out which suited me rather than watch the rest and bottle out like one of my colleagues did. The day before we had done lots of ground training and jumping out of mock up planes on to rubber mats, we were taught the importance of jumping then immediately shouting "one thousand, two thousand, three thousand, check" and to look up and check the parachute for tangles. So, here I was in a real plane waiting to jump, the engine slowed and I was given the signal to jump. "one thousand, fuuuuuuuuck" was all I managed! What an adrenaline rush, that feeling of quick fall and then the yank from the automatic parachute. After several seconds my radio was telling me to check my parachute which I did only to find it was completely tangled and I was descending quite fast, I put my handsup to pull the lines apart and watched my feet spinning around in front of me until it stopped. Then I experienced the most amazing feeling, I couldn't hear the plane above me nor the wind rushing past me, it was the most silent state I'd ever experienced almost unreal just looking down at the world all on my own and it didn't seem I was going down at all at first, then suddenly the field became bigger and bang, I was in a heap on the floor with a big beaming smile on my face, awesome. The day before there was a girl on the course who was paranoid she would break her ankle, she'd been on the same plane as I so I turned to watch her land, I couldn't help laughing when she DID break her ankle . Another guy who had been really cocky and over confident dived from the plane instead of jumping and got his feet tangled in the lines and was coming down head first and fast, what an idiot, he got untangled just a couple of hundred feet from an almost certain serious injury or worse. Anyway, having got the first one out of the way we could go back another time within 4 months and jump for a tenner a time, I went back the following weekend stayed in B&B andthe weather prevented another go, did the same a couple of weeks later and the same thing happened. Never been back but a seed was definitely sown then.

I won a balloon flight in a raffle a few years later and although I did get a flight it was a short one thanks to a sudden wind and we had a very lucky dodgy landing, that was nice but not the same as parachuting.

Aside from the actual experience of the individual pastime or sport, for me I need something to get me away from the stresses of every day life. Back in 02 through to 04, I was running a stressful business, had a huge mortgage and a marriage on the rocks, I needed a release, somewhere I could go where none of these things would be on my mind. I took up quad bike racing and found that on a Sunday morning when I'm sat on that start line waiting for the gate to drop, none of these other irritations were on my mind, all I would think about was that first corner and doing my damndest to get past any other rider in front of me, it was a huge relief to have this other place for my mind to go to and made Monday mornings much easier to cope with. I wasn't great at it but I bagged a few trophies and didn't injur myself once but it was the freedom from life I enjoyed most. The downside was that it was costing me around 15k a year to race which is big money, the serious guys spend about 4 times that, well their sponsors do!

So, the business went bust, the marriage went tits up and I lost my house, my vehicles, pension & savings, the whole works! Oh well, so now I'm living in a rented house with my new girlfriend (now my fiancee) and she gets an offer of a job in India paying good money even by English standards, she asked if I wanted to go and was happy enough for me to just enjoy being somewhere different while she worked, it didn't take me long to decide and within a couple of months we were living the high life like royalty in this crazy country and all my stresses and strains were gone, just crossing the road there was an adrenaline fix itself and we were on holiday most weekends flying budget airlines all over India (www.malcolmshipp.co.uk) and having the most amazing fun, we had trips to Sri Lanka, Singapore, Maldives, went on jungle safaris, got chased by elephants, went scuba diving (not for me but gave it a go) and simply had the most amazing time for 2.5 years and certainly fulfilled plenty of times of thinking about nothing else other than the fun we were having. Her contract ended last October so we had to head home reluctantly to UK, we planned to stay with my Dad for a couple of months to get on our feet (with our new business importing and retailing INdian handicrafts on the net) before moving into our own place. When we got back my Dad was in hospital and had just been declared unfit to look after himself any longer (diabetes had taken the use of his legs and he had huge sores on his feet) so here I was with all our plans and a sudden new dilemma. He'd always said he never wanted to go in a home, my brother and sister were not in any position to help so I became his full time carer with the help of my wonderful partner. It meant all our plans were on hold, no social life and no fun, so we just amended our plans to suit him, Jen got a job and I worked on the net part time whilst looking after him, bought a wheelchair bus and started taking him out and about, he really enjoyed himself and we had a lot of laughs between us. He had to have a leg off in March but survived that and we were working on his health and fitness and got colour back in his cheeks, said he hadn't been as happy in years. Suddenly on 26th June he had a heart attack and died right under my nose, it was 11 in the morning as I was about to get him out of bed, a massive shock but what a great way to go, exactly how he wanted. So, more dilemmas, what to do now, had a great funeral for him with laughter in the chapel and the party afterwards, perfect send off. Then it turns out he'd seen his solicitor several weeks before he'd died and altered his will in my favour. Very nice of him to do that but its brought on more stress than ever, my brother had his business several years ago so out of the equation but my sister (who I can't stand) has made a challenge so now the solicitors are doing their level best to strip the estate!!

Anyway, I digress! By the time September this year came along I'm starting to really feel it, I miss the old man terribly and am still living in his house, no idea how long it will be before things change and we can be reunited with all our belongings that have been in storage and it drives me insane working from home in front of a pc all day running a business I'm not really enjoying and all alone. I got very down and depressed, was getting chest pains, breathing difficulties and palpatations of the heart. I couldn't sleep and I couldn't go anywhere to get this crap out of my head, have a milion things I need to do every day and end up not knowing where to start and not doing any of them, I needed a fix and needed it fast. I'd been to Bristol balloon fiesta in August and watched a fab paramotor display there, with Tetbury only up the road from me and Julius Gee being a Bristol lad, there was lots of news coverage about this tragedy on my local TV and radio. Strange how a tragedy like that can spark an interest in the same sport but it did somehow, I'd thought these things were simply something homemade as I'd only seen the odd one or two before that. Then also in September one flew over my little town. That was it, I was on the net desperately trying to find out more, took a while as I didn't know what they were called and knew nothing about paragliding either. So I read up lots, found it quite unbelievable that you can simply find a field nearby and take off in a few minutes, the sport and the stunts don't interest me, the feeling of just floating around up there looking down, a place where nobody can bother you, nobody can join you, nobody can phone you is what intrigued me most, I figured that would relax me. So I found a link to Skyschool and contacted them about taking a course, they came back and said there was a place on the course in Spain in October. I couldn't afford it really but sent an email to Jen at work and said "hey love, do you mind if I bugger off to Spain for a week and spend about fifteen hundred quid learning to fly a paramotor". Bless her, she didn't bat an eyelid! I couldn't do the second week of training as I had to be back to do my VAT return and boring shit like that but as it turned out the second week got rained off anyway, but I've paid for it so will complete that in April.

Anyway, still highly stressed and with chest pains I hopped off to Spain. After the first day of ground handling the stress and pains were gone, I only had paramotoring to focus on. Got a little stressed at the end of the week as the weather was screwing us over and my launches were not tip top so I was desperately worried I would have to come home having not done it, that really worried me. But, I did get my flight thanks to Deano giving up his Sunday morning to get me up. Within 30 seconds of leaving the ground it hit me, that feeling of controlling the world, that same peacefulness (apart from the engine of course) as I'd experienced in parachuting all those years ago, nothing else mattered, all my troubles could go to hell, this was a moment to savour, it is rare for someone to smile and laugh out loud when not in the company of others but I was doing just that, I radio'd to Deano to thank him so much for getting me up there. I did have one big worry on my mind still though, the landing, that still scared me and having never broken more than a finger I didn't want to start now. After 3 or 4 laps my arms were aching and it was getting a bit turbulent so time to come down. I didn't brake correctly on approach and my flare wasn't quite right (apparently I should have taken a wrap), well I did take a wrap across my knuckles and right leg. Landed with a thump, no real damage and I couldn't break that smile off my face even though I was still shaking.

So I'm hooked, I can't wait to go again, can't afford the kit until new year at least, could get myself an old wing and practice ground handling but there is two problems with that. 1, I don't really fancy the cold at the moment, 2, if I get a wing and start ground handling and get on well with it, it will frustrate the hell out of me that I can't fly, what a dilemma, so I'll probably wait until a few weeks before my second part of the course, start ground handling then do the course. A few years younger and I'd probably take a bank loan and just start flying with the littlke training I've had, thankfull I'm older and wiser and I know that I would not have a clue what to do if something went wrong!

So for me it is more about the escapism, my friends play golf or snooker which does nothing for me and lets be honest guys, when someone asks you what you do in your spare time "I play golf" doesn't have the same ring to it as "I take my motor and wing to the nearest field, run 5 steps and fly where I want for the next 2 hours" does it? And it is SO much cheaper strangely enough. Add to the escapism a little danger to keep you focused and sharp and a teeny bit nervous and thats the fix for me. Others slip into *removed by admin* or drink for escapism, I'm so thankful I never had that desire.

Hopefully will see lots of you guys lots of times next year. Sorry about the life story, they never start out like that but seem to end up that way and when you look at it, it's all relevant, sort of!

Cheers

Malc

PS: I do have a fear of flying!

Hmmm, no idea how that works then, here is the actual link for youtube

This is my first flight, funny and embarassing all at once!

Hi guys

I have now updated my blog completely now if anyone is interested in my new experience of the sport!

Cheers

Malc

Just had my first flight, absolutely bloody awesome, bit of a heavy landing but no more than scraped knuckles and a grazed knee, just pulled a bit too much right brake before flaring so landed sideways. Other than that a perfect take off, fantastic calm instruction from Deano and wonderful views of the pyrynees!

Still beaming an hour afterwards, will update my blog when I get back to UK!

Just had my first flight, absolutely bloody awesome, bit of a heavy landing but no more than scraped knuckles and a grazed knee, just pulled a bit too much right brake before flaring so landed sideways. Other than that a perfect take off, fantastic calm instruction from Deano and wonderful views of the pyrynees!

Still beaming an hour afterwards, will update my blog when I get back to UK!

Just had my first flight, absolutely bloody awesome, bit of a heavy landing but no more than scraped knuckles and a grazed knee, just pulled a bit too much right brake before flaring so landed sideways. Other than that a perfect take off, fantastic calm instruction from Deano and wonderful views of the pyrynees!

Still beaming an hour afterwards, will update my blog when I get back to UK!

www.getjealous.com/supermalc

will attempt to update throughout this week

cheers

Malc

Awesome pic, I guess if you have the right kit you can get some decent aerial shots, maybe high def too if pointing in a straight line ahead of you.

Is anybody with a paramotor actually making anything from aerial photography, sure to be a damn sight cheaper than a chopper?

Malc

Hi Tony

Yes, only up the road, my other half drives there every day to work and we are loosely planning to move to North Wilts next year, hopefully a place with a useful field behind!

Where is your blog?

Malc

Hi Folks

Am brand new to this whole thing, just had one of those sudden urges to do something exciting so booked myself into Skyschool's Spanish course from 14th - 21st of this month. A mid life crisis I guess!

Just wondering if we have any pilots on here from Bristol area, I'm in Chipping Sodbury to the north, no idea if there's much activity in this area but I do see the occasional paramotor flying over and used to see a trike thing but not for a good while now, I believe they take off from a field in Marshfield.

I'll be starting a blog about all my training in Spain and will post daily whilst I am there!

Cheers

Malc

Fantastic reading. I'm just about to bugger off to Spain for a week as a total beginner so I'm lapping up all this useful information.

The only thing worrying me now is how unfit I am, could be an issue but I'll do me best!