phil1975

Well I can honestly say that today has been the best day yet! Luckily the workload I was expecting didn't materialise & I managed to get a couple of days off work to coincide with the good weather that was forecast. On the way to Barry's field I could see a baloon up, which seemed like a good omen & immediately put me into a good mood. Had 2 good flights this morning & with the help of a nice steady breeze managed to land on my feet both times (it had to happen eventually). I think Steve was a bit relieved as I'm sure he had visions of taking his Bulldog home in component parts. The wind picked up around half past nine, so flying stopped for the day, which allowed a couple of other lads to start practising their ground handling. It was good to be able to watch them & give them a few pointers now & then - it's amazing how you have to think about what's going on before explaining it to somebody else, but it really helps to know that I'm starting to get my head around things. Towards the end of the day, once the weather had calmed back down, it was time to go up again. It was great to see some other pilots turn up, although the pressure to perform also insreased a bit with a much more critical audience, still at least I was mentally focused. I had a total of 4 flights in the evening. I managed my customary bit of damage to the Bulldog by kicking a great lump of (freshly cut) grass into the cage, which then pushed it into the exhaust & melted a couple of the strings - I promise to try not to hurt it any more from now on! The high point was a really nice controlled landing ending up on my feet & then discovering it had been video'd too & a bit of a longer flight to end the day. I'm starting to look around & really enjoy the view now, including the surreal experience of looking down onto another Paramotor, 3 baloons in the distance, watching a footie game from the best seat possible, the beautiful sunset etc etc Once everyone was back down it was great to be able to say hello & to see what a friendly, helpful group of people Paramotor pilots appear to be. I could not have asked for a better day, however I hope Steve manages to get his, somewhat troublesome, motor working. I could see he was itching to have a fly but things just didn't work out as he would have wanted, fingers crossed it will be sorted soon. Hope tomowwow allows another couple of flights, but for now I more than happy with today.

Am watching the weather forecasts with crossed fingers. Looks like the next couple of days may be flyable & am itching to get back into the air & get another couple of steps closer to getting signed off.

I know the Synth is not as responsive as the Nucleon etc, however I would think it would be worth asking someone with more knowledge of the wings than I have. I bought mine from Steve Haze (my instructor), so it may be worth giving him a shout as he sells the wings & has a good working knowledge of them so he will be able to answer your questions a lot better than I can. Google learntoparamotor.com for his contact details.

I'm in the process of learning at the moment, but I was recommended (& have subsequently bought & flown) a Dudek Synthesis. On the face of it not rated as a starter wing but it definately IS. They are rated C due to trim states, which TBH I still haven't fully got my head around. The website explains it here: http://www.dudek.eu/en/classification/ Confuses me too but could be worth checking further if you wanted to buy a Dudek Hope this helps Phil

Great photo's, that looks like a brilliant trip. I can't wait to do this flight myself.... still need to get a few more flights under my belt with Steve, but I WILL get there!

Done a bit more today, however the air was a bit lively so no flying. However good to keep working at the GH. TBH today was probably one of my worst days of training so far - my fault entirely. I'll get the excuses out of the way first so you have something to take the mick out of! I think the main problems were I was tired (physically & mentally), a bit dehydrated & suffering from being out in yesterdays sun - yeah I know MTFU! My brain was just not computing simple things that I have been doing easily on previous days like when Steve is shouting "turn back into wind" & I blatantly turned the wrong way. Not good & I was starting to become annoyed at myself. I was also struggling to come to grips with my new wing, which requires different inputs to get it to do what I want. I'm starting to see how different wings have totally different handling characteristics. I guess this also holds true with the motors. However I was feeling stubborn (& pi**ed off with myself) so I kept struggling &, with some help from Steve, finally started to get a grip of myself & the wing. It turned out I wasn't doing anything drastically wrong & a couple of small tweeks were all that was needed to make things come good, I just don't yet have the experience to be able to adjust to the wing on my own yet , but once I was shown what to do it became easy & you start to question why you couldn't have sussed it out for yourself. I decided to end the day on a (moderate) high & quit whilst I was ahead. Time to get a good long sleep before going again tomorrow, I am struggling to stay awake so it's time to go & get my head down.

I'll just throw in my opinion for what it's worth... Having had my first flights today (on the Bulldog) & clearly having had no experience of any other type of motor/hangpoint etc please feel free to take this with as much salt as you wish. I felt secure on the Bulldog & could feel what was going on in the air around me but not to the point where I had any brown trouser moments. The seat was VERY easy to get into & out of, which is a massive plus for someone at my level. The cage is also very strong (don't ask!) & I would feel much more comfortable flying the Bulldog than a lot of other units I have seen, purely because I think it will take the knocks that a beginner will at some point subject it to. Of all the motors I have tried on (& I have actually tried a few) I felt that the Bulldog felt more comfortable than most on my back - don't know why but maybe that's just me? All in all it seems to be built with people of my skill level in mind, although having said that I get the impression that much more experienced pilots also seem to like it. It does appear to be well thought through with lots of nice details - even someone like me can see the quality of the build etc The fact that it is British puts it well into the top of my list of motors to buy because I am patriotic & like to buy British & if I break it I would like to think it could be fixed reasonably quickly & easily. There are things I don't like so much. The arms could possibly be tweaked to be a bit more to make it easier to get in/out & make it more user friendly to take photo's etc. I'm sure someone much more experienced will tell me I'm talking rubbish but I just thought I would add my comments for what they're worth

Thanks for the positive comments guys! I'll just add a bit to what I've already written earlier today. It was fantastic & I just wanted to tell the world (or at least anyone who will listen). Steve also had his first flight today & like me arrived back on Terra Firma a bit overawed - although his landing went a lot better than mine (git). We then both went up for our second flights. This time my landing could almost be described as a landing (The word crash might be a bit harsh for the first attempt, but not too far from the truth - although no serious damage was done). The second landing was preceded by a lovely smooth glide in from around 500 feet & I could almost sense where I would end up. It just felt so controlled & comfortable, I even managed to take in a bit of the view - it's funny what you notice from the air that you just don't see from ground level. The whole experience was a lot more enjoyable in that we had some idea of how things would feel, so the whole adrenaline thing was a lot more controlled. I'm now grinning like a fool & feeling very relaxed & at ease with the world - I hope every flight makes me feel like this. Time to crack open a beer!

Well it's finally happened. Arrived at Barry's field at 7am & the weather was perfect. We quickly got ourselves sorted, put the motor on & practised a bit of ground handling, ran the motor up to feel the power & then it was time to do it for real. Take off was good. The flight was a bit of a sensory overload & the landing is best forgotton - however I can vouch that Bulldogs have got strong cages. Hopefully Steve will get his go this evening. Amazing experience, I want more

Well we've only had one more day where we could get anything done, due to the continuing winds & even then we were pushing things a bit. Thursday morning was a touch blustery but it looked do-able so out with the mini wings. As soon as they were out of the bags the wind typically disappeared. Change of plan & the Go Fly was bought out then the fun began. I spent about 15 minutes ground handling before the wind picked up & started gusting again, just enough to start picking me up so we stopped again. As the wind wasn't dropping we switched back to the mini wings. The wind progressively picked up throughout the day ending up in Steve & I having a really fun session of mini wing wars in some really gnarly thermic wind gusts. I would like to day that I kicked Steves butt, but I really didn't. I'm really starting to enjoy handling the wings now & am starting to really feel relaxed & at one with them, although I realise I have a long way to go before I am genuinely any good at GH. For a number of reasons I now cannot train until next Thursday morning, which coincides with the start of the calmer weather. Hopefully I will be able to get my feet off the floor sometime over the next 4 days, but for now I have put in my order for a Dudek Synthesis so I am slowly getting there!

Well now the crappy winds of yesterday have settled down a bit it was time to get out into the field again today. We started the day by meeting up & watching Luke take off & do a quick circuit before landing again. The winds were still a bit lively for him to stay up for long. However it was good to see a Paramotor in action from close up & also to have a chat to a new pilot & pick up more information & opinions. Although we were not training as such it was still a useful couple of hours. I'm starting to feel a bit like a sponge sucking up info & opinions whenever I can. As the winds were still a bit lively Steve made the decision to move to a more sheltered field, which turned out to be the right move. The field we ended up in was fantastic & the mini wings soon came out. I love the way they are so lively & need reasonably fast, precise inputs on the controls & the fact that they react instantly. I managed to reverse launch, stabilize the wing overhead, turn & run down the field controlling the wing (after a fashion), then turning back & bringing the wing back down again. All whilst trying to look as cool as possible for the few people who stopped to have a look. After watching Steve demonstrate his skills I even managed a couple of reverse launches with my hands off the controls, however the expected hoards of female admirers failed to appear! Oh well I'll keep trying. After the low of yesterday today was just what we needed & we all left the field on a high. If a good day ground handling puts us in such a good mood I can't wait to get up into the air. Fingers crossed that day will come soon!

I'm pretty sure this has been done. It's a trip we planned as part of my training as it requires knowledge of glide ratios, air law & navigation. Once I'm qualified it's well up there on the list of flights I would like to make!

Well week 1 is now at an end & my head is swimming following the navigation & air law lessons. I never realised that there would be so much involved in reading a map (which i THOUGHT I was OK at) & planning a route, especially if we need to start getting involved with crosswind components. Maths was never my strong point, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to start learning - mind you the wind components iPhone app is looking pretty good right now! The weather has behaved itself, allowing us out for a whole day of ground handling. We even came away with a suntan! Everything I thought I knew about ground handling seemed to be wrong. The problem with trying to use a 15 year old porous wing to practice with is that it is as responsive & fun to handle as my bedsheet. Still I'm impressed that I managed to occasionally manage to get it overhead & appear to be in control of it. I even got a little bit of airtime, with Steve pushing me across the field, which was a massive buzz. As we get further into the course I'm increasingly looking forwards to actually getting to the point of doing some flying, although there's still quite a bit to do before I actually get to that point. Still lots to look forwards to over the next few weeks (fingers crossed on the weather). It will also be good to have a look at Steve's new Bulldog Spirit (school machine) as it is on my shortlist so I will have a good chance to see it up close & hopefully fly it.

Yesterday I finally took my first proper steps into the world of Paramotoring. I have no idea where it came from but I was always into aircraft & flying when I was a kid, but as I grew up that fell by the wayside. I saw a magazine article about paramotoring around 10 years ago & casually thought that at some point that could be a fun way into the air. That desire to fly never really went away & I visited a few local schools around 4 years ago but I just never had enough money to afford the kit & I never really felt comfortable with the instructors that I met at the time. I recently started working in Surrey & started seeing Paramotors buzzing around the area & now that the loans are all paid off & I know I have a bit of job security I thought sod it, it's now or never. I chose to train with Steve Haze as he is local & when I visited he seemed a genuine bloke. I started yesterday & as the weather has been a bit blowy over the last couple of days we have made a start on the theory side of things. Although I realise this is important the prospect of getting hands on with some of the equipment is what I'm really looking forwards to. The weather looks promising tomorrow so fingers crossed...

Ben, thanks for letting me know about the camera. Should have guessed it was an SLR! Morgy I'm in Pirbright, but not yet flying - I'm starting lessons on the 2nd May. Can't wait to start & am already boring anyone who will listen.

Ben I'm about to start my course with Steve so looking forward to flying in the area soon! I can't wait to get up there myself & have to satisfy myself looking at everyone else's photo's for now. Could I just quickly ask what camera you're using as the photo's look great & I'm starting to get an idea of what kit people use. Cheers Phil

Thanks for the replies, it's interesting to hear everyones opinions. I'll probably go with whatever wing Steve advises based upon how I get on! I'll probably end up with a vario (and a helmet camera etc etc) - I do like my gadgets. Does anyone have a favorite gadget that they cannot live without? Also interested in the whole 2 stroke vs 4 stroke thing as (without the benefit of any real world experience) 4 stroke seems to be the way to go, or am I wrong?

Well after years of sitting on the sidelines I've now finally signed up to a training course with Steve Haze & will be starting my training in 4 weeks time. Now things are starting to get a bit more real I thought now would be a good time to start to gather information & opinions (based upon peoples' personal experiences) so that I can buy what's right for me the first time & not have to spend money (that I don't have a huge amount of) on something that I could/should have avoided in the first place. I have absolutely no doubt that Steve will be giving me good information & that similar questions have been asked on the forum before but I know the kit is constantly improving & that personal opinions change over time & something that seemed great at the start maybe isn't quite so good once the novelty has worn off (or maybe it's the other way around?). This is also this is a much wider forum, with more people to ask the questions to. Hopefully this will be of help to other people in my position. So my questions are: 1. What would you buy, with the benefit of hindsight if you could start again from scratch & why? 2. Is there anything you would avoid & why? 3. Would you buy 2 stroke or 4 stroke? 4. Anything other pieces of advice you wish someone had told you & you've found really useful? All my questions apply equally to the smaller things such as helmets, instruments etc right up to the big stuff like motors & wings. I'm really interested in hearing what everyone has to say ........

Hi Mike, I'm in the same boat as you & am on the verge of signing up for a course. I'm currently sussing out the local instructors & will go with who I feel most comfortable with. I thought I would put my (limited) experiences out there in case they are of help to you or anyone else. Most of this is within the forums but sometimes takes a bit of digging to find. Having spoken to a few pilots I'm starting to see a few trends in what they say too & am using their experiences to guide me. I tried going the Paragliding route first but the weather always seemed to be against me. You can get shortened Paramotoring courses that cater for anyone with previous paragliding experience (& in fact that was the route I had intended to take), but to be honest going directly into the Paramotoring course seems much less hassle. Courses seem to vary in price & you can get good training for £800. Anything more than this seems a little too pricey! Paramotoring is currently deregulated so you don't even need to get lessons, although having watched a few people flying I think you'd be a muppet if you didn't get training to learn the correct techniques & the rules governing where you can & can't fly. Certainly flying alone is possible, but there does seem to be a good social scene around Paramotoring too so flying alone & as part of a group are both options. In addition to the training you'd need the kit too. Having spoken to a few people a good s/h motor is £2500 upwards & a wing £1000 upwards & then there are the extras (flying helmet, gloves, boots) & the toys (GPS, cameras etc). I'm personally going to avoid new kit as I can't afford to buy new & most people seem to end up having one or two less than graceful landings which result in something getting bent! Simon W has just started a scheme too which could be good for new pilots, there are details if you do a search for the PPG 100 club. Hope this helps a bit Phil

Awesome movie & good soundtrack too. It's films like this that are keeping me going until I can get lessons. I'm just sussing out the local instructors then I'll be up there too!

Mine has always been good, but it really doesn't like low light & then it sometimes struggles to focus. The flash is a waste of time too. The rest of the phone is awesome though.

Thanks for the heads up. I've found his website & will make contact with both him & Simon. Luckily both are convenient (I Live near Bristol & pass Membury every week or two). If you're in the White Hart anytime soon could you give me a shout so we can meet up and have a chat - it would be good to start to meet a few pilots & ask a few questions over a beer.

Thanks for the info Alan. Looks like I might be a bit porky for the Solo (I weigh 82Kgs). I didn't know the Solo would be that low on power, so I think I can rule that one out, but the Simonini & the flash 100 look promising. I hasten to add at this point I am just starting to gather information & have a look at a few machines in the flesh so that I can decide what is right for me. I will be signing up for a training course in the near future & will be speaking to both Simon & Steve Haze, who are both local. Cheers Phil

I was having a look around eBAY & saw someone selling a couple of Fresh Breeze Paramotors with Silex wings. The one that caught my eye was the Solo. In my (limited) knowledge they seem to be quite an old unit, but reliable. My thought process is buy something a bit older (at around a third the cost of new equipment), gain experience & if the worst were to happen I would not be quite so upset if it got inadvertently bent! FB kit appears to have a good reputation - is this a correct? Is this a sensible/realistic approach or is newer equipment worth the extra cost. The expression buy nice or buy twice keeps popping into my head. Clearly most people on here have some views on the subject so what would you recommend?

Hi I'm Phil & I've been interested in paramotoring for years but never had enough money to get into the sport, but I did try to get my paraglider EP (as a stepping stone) through the JSHPC a couple of times, but got nowhere due to the gorgeous Welsh weather! I now work in Pirbright & saw someone fly over on a Paramotor today (white & orange wing, is that anyone from on here?) & that started me thinking... The bills are almost all paid off now & I can realistically start to look at getting some training & buying some kit. I'm determined it's going to happen this year. Getting registered onto the site & introducing myself seems as good a place to start as any so here I am.