phil1975

I have been working away from the UK for a while now, but I used to fly with an active group of pilots from Bath/Bristol. When I return in Sept I intend to fly with them in the area again.

The guys don't post too much on the forums, but if you PM me I will give you some contact details for them.

I have an 'old school' Bulldog Thor 110. I hated it for ages & fell out with it (& Clive). Having said that it is running better & better & I am starting to appreciate some of the thought that has gone into the design. Maybe not the UK's favorite But I don't mind it.

I'm selling my Bulldog soon. It will be a bit more than £2000, but if it's something you're interested in then PM me & we can discuss further.

Mine has done 40 hours & also has the Thor 110 motor.

I was annoyed enough not be given redundancy today. This has just made it even worse - I would love to do that job!

I have a Thor 110, that I had the same issues with, but they all seem a bit oily for the first 10 hours or so as they run in, so you may not actually have a huge problem. Mine also made a mess around the exhaust joins & the prop - again pretty normal.

What oil & mix ratio are you running & what is your fuel burn like?

Have you spoken to your dealer about it?

No, there IS a Bulldog & Synth for sale!

It should be fitted with shiny new parts soon too, so will be 100% good to go.

Paul - PM sent!

Well it would appear that I'm not going to be getting any parts as neither me or Steve are able to get hold of Clive.

TBH I'm fed up with the whole saga. If anyone wants to buy a Bulldog & Synth for a bargain price then give me a shout.

Chris,

You're right, it does sound like a comms breakdown. Lets hope it gets sorted soon.

Your comment about me being a moaning twat made me laugh. You may have a point!

However you have got hold of the wrong end of the stick & taken that comment out of context. What you implied isn't actually that way it was, but the past is the past & the situation was resolved.

Good. Some feedback. Hopefully this will be the start of some productive dialogue because, clearly, there are some problems.

Morgy, to answer your point first. Steve was the first person I spoke to, because I know Clive is a busy man & wants his dealers to be the point of contact with customers. He told me that himself.

Clive, Good to hear from you, allbeit under bad circumstances.

To answer your points:

1. Steve H was the first person I approached to get parts prices (on 7 Oct). He has sent me copies of 2 emails he sent to you. However he told me that he had not received a reply. If you did reply then I am unaware of this & I think we BOTH need to speak to Steve. Having spoken to Steve I then sent my email 1 month after I initially made contact with Steve. The texts were sent several days after that, thus giving you plenty of time to reply.

2. Yes the email had a 'shitty' tone to it - I felt justified in writing it that way. I explained why I was upset & will happily re post it here (or you can do so if you wish). I would draw your attention to the following sentance: When you have been good, you have been very good to me & I have always said so. So, actually, was it ALL shitty?

3. Clive is right. He did pay for my motor to be sent back to Polini to be fixed at his expense after it had failed at 10 hours. I was over the moon. I have never mentioned it on any forums (until now), but I HAVE told many people verbally. But just for the record Clive thank you, I appreciated your efforts. I think we all know what Polini are like to deal with, but that is a different matter.

4. With regards to the parts, which you supplied FOC, after my crash. Well that also took an awfully long time to get sorted. I offered to pay, if you recall, but you wouldn't accept any money. If I'm honest I thought that may have something to do with how long it took to get the parts, so I elected to keep my mouth shut.

We are both obviously pissed off, so maybe this is the opportunity we need to sort out any issues we may have, both with each other or with the dealer. I am happy to discuss things either openly on the forums or privately, but right now I am going to leave the ball in your court.

I phoned Aerofix & the Loft for quotes to repair my wing.

The loft didn't want to know

Aerofix suggested 2 approaches & recommended the cheaper option (effectively doing themselves out of some profit).

Couldn't be happier.

As an added bonus (if you are in the Military) I believe they will do a special rate on wing servicing.

No ties to either company, just saying it as I see it!

Si,

I know he's only human. However I think he might have made the effort to reply to any of the 3 emails (from 2 different people), or either of my 2 texts!

Ganers,

Are you a Bulldog dealer?

I appreciate what you are saying guys. I deliberately haven't named anybody directly (although if you really wanted to know you could look at my previous posts).

I suppose I was hoping against hope that I would get a reply before naming any names but, upon reflection, I think I've given him more than enough chances.

So. The person I am talking about is Clive Bunce (Bulldog Paramotors).

I suppose what I'm really doing here is venting. But I feel I need to do so and if this influences somebody's buying decision then I hope I've done them a favour.

I find myself in a position where a UK manafacturer appears to be totally ignoring my request for parts prices. I approached my dealer who sent 2 emails (which went unanswered). I then sent an email (unanswered) and followed up with 2 texts (unanswered). The first email was sent over a month ago now - I'm getting the impression the door has been well & truly slammed in my face.

I had a similar issue a few months back, which was eventually resolved, but to find myself in the same situation again is unacceptable.

What now? Well my only option if I want to keep my Paramotor in a safe flyable condition is to get any parts I require locally manafactured. The question i keep asking myself is should I really be having to do that?

I'm at the end of my tether. if I could afford to sell the sodding thing then I would. The real kick in the balls is that it took me 3 years to save up for my lessons & kit & I just cannot afford to sell it & get something else.

Any ideas anyone??

Not really helpful to you at the moment, but my Mrs has seen someone flying around West Bay recently. If you find anywhere I would like to know where. My parents live in Beaminster & I have always wanted to fly in the area - although I'm working abroad right now, so it may be a while before I get the chance.

Steve,

Really sorry to hear the bad news. I know how you are feeling (my divorce is still dragging on) although I was lucky enough to be able to cling onto my Paramotor.

I know you have had offers to buy the kit for £1 & store it until things blow over. My new Girlfriend has plenty of storage too if you want to do something along those lines, maybe spread it around so it's harder to trace?

Or if there is anything else I can do to help in any way then give me a shout.

Phil

I've got my CS gas ready. Can I bring explosives too??

Fair one Pete.

I will be avoiding Polini engines like the plague after the hassle I've had with mine & the way Polini are burying their head in the sand with the 200's problems.

I would recommend buying from Morgy.

His back up is as good as he says, he flies a lot & knows the kit.

When I can afford to upgrade, then I'll be paying him a visit!

I have the Bulldog too. It's all I've ever flown, so I have nothing to compare it to.

My experiences of it (good & bad) are:

Good.

1. Clive knows his sh*t & has really thought about the design - there's so much thought gone into it that

you will never realise, until you speak to Clive.

2. It's bloody strong, don't ask me how I know that.

3. It's good value, as Paramotors go.

4. Harness is fantastic, I have tried several others & this is by far the best in terms of comfort & adjustability.

5. It's British. It's petty, but I love the Union Jack on the netting!

Bad.

1. Personally I don't like the split fuel tank, I had problems with mine, although they've been OK recently

following some tweaking.

2. Some people dislike the hang points. It was designed to be a school/beginner machine & it's set up well

for that purpose.

3. Clive is sometimes tricky to get hold of for parts etc, but then he is a busy man. If he had someone

else to help him I think things would be a lot better.

Overall I like mine & I think I bought the right machine.

Si,

I've been impressed with the footage from mine - when it worked.

It's back in the shop now because it regularly started recording gash footage, in fact I haven't yet managed to get any flying footage with mine!

It's totally bonkers that you have to take the camera out of the case to turn it off (or in fact make it do anything except start/stop recording) & mine also doesn't want to charge - every time you plug it in it switches on, which is great because it will only charge when it's switched off!

Long story short, I'm trying to get my money back & get another GoPro.

+1 For the Sony. I've not taken it flying yet but the Wifi viewfinder/record control is good. It's also a LOT cheaper than the Gopro & has a proper tripod mount built into the case!

There must be a reason why Clive has change from the Polini to the Evo. He does allot of testing!!! If he is now fitting that Motor he must think its better...

I know they're not all like mine, but I have to say my Polini has been a nightmare & I would NOT buy another Paramotor with this engine. So far in 26 hours of flying I have had 2 forced landings due to fuel tank issues (although one of these was my fault as I over tightened the fuel cap - which actually loosened it), 1 forced landing due to a blown engine and another forced landing due to the fact that it's now drinking around 15 ltrs per hour (following it's engine re build).

I can see why Clive has changed over.

Although I like a lot of the Bulldog design features my shortlist for it's replacement is either a Parajet Zenith (pricey but nice & comes with the famous Parajet back up), a Bailey V5 (economical & again good back up from Morgy), or possibly a Fresh Breeze with the Simonini engine (made by Zee Germans, so it must be good).

The truth of the matter is that at the moment though I can't afford to replace it, so I'm pretty much grounded until I can afford to replace the carb (in the hope this solves the fuel issue) or source a replacement engine.

As I have no choice but to keep it I am also considering getting an old Bailey alloy tank put into it too.

I don't like being negative but I feel I need to be honest here & share any experiences, be they good or bad, for the benefit of others.

Just a quick health & safety note: don't forget to take the helmet off before hammering any nails in.

Looks, from what everyone is saying, like a normally sensible pilot who was buzzing a mate.

Doesn't make it right though, but hopefully it was a one off.

I agree that the complaint was done right. Fair play that he is trying to give the pilot a chance, instead of just picking up the phone to the police or CAA.

Guildford is an amazing area to fly & it would be a shame to have restrictions imposed.