Marvinrobot

Hi all, I'm better today. My hands and lower arm took the electrical blast. Had it gone across my chest it would be a different story I wouldn't be telling. Lots of factors lead to the incident. Long story short, low level sun, paralax, dark wires, high visual work load and a small land field and engine vibration all added to it. I'm not saying it wasn't my fault but accidents are not normally the result of just one thing. But a least I'm here so others can learn from my misfortune.

Hi Christoffel, Thanks for viewing my thread. If I get any more launching problems I will probably try the stick A' line assists that you have used. I think it was more operator error rather than the trike. I have the larger rear view mirror which I will be mounting tomorrow. 'Everyday is a school day' Giles

A big thank you to all those who helped me trial my Paratrike at the fly-in. The launching gave me a lot to think about and after a little post event diagnosis I have worked out what I was doing wrong. The learning points were, A line assists may not be as helpful as I first thought. They do assist the inflation but there is no feedback to the pilot where the wing is going as it raises up. I am fitting a second mirror on the cross bar to give a lower view of the wing as it inflates. The link below was also helpful. http://www.trikebuggy.com/video/expertvillage/17.htm Additionally I was not holding enough power to keep the tension in the lines which resulted in the wing rolling off the top. I will go away and try the new learning points. 'Everyday is a school day'

I don't think anyone noticed my escapades, I like to be subtle and under the radar.

It was to start off the picture dumping. No Hijacking here

The sun definitely came out for the evening flying. Awesome.

Some epic flying, good company and perfect skies. What a weekend.

I have brought some fuel for mine so you can have a taxi around in it. Any constructive feedback would be appreciated. Nothing is perfect first time and If I ever built another, removing any problematic design flaws would be advantageous. You might have to kick me on Friday night or Saturday as I don't know many peoples faces. Not long now till the fly in.

Aerofix have called, wing serviced and registration going on tomorrow. I should have it back by Friday, just before the fly in. The weather has been amazing and I have had no wing......grrh. Fingers crossed the weather will hold for the flying training too.

Yes I do, thanks for the correction. I have been spending too much time studying for the ground exams and had Mag Var in my head from the Nav exam. Not long now till the fly-in.

More work being conducted this weekend. I have abandoned the full instrument panel and opted for specifically located items. The Engine (CHT and RPM) are being located low down on the buggy frame so I can easily remove them when the motor is removed. The Flytech 4005 is providing the Altimeter, VSI and ASI and I have found that by strapping the compass to the neck of the buggy has the least amount of magnetic influence. All that is left to carry out a compass swing to identify the full level of magnetic variation. My wing is off being serviced and having the registration put on. My Ground exams are in progress and I am soo close to starting my flying conversion. I will update with pictures soon.

I have a Goldstar headset, plugged it into my ICON A2 last night, did a radio test with the local ATC and it works fine. This was one of the reasons I bought an ICOM A2 on Ebay instead of getting a more modern radio. The range and distance on the A2 is fine and the Goldstar was very clear too. Giles

ADEves, Nice, there seems to be a good collection out there. Regards Giles

It was Colin's little number that started the disk brake trend on kite buggy's!!! Hey Colin, "once a mover, always a mover" It takes weeks to learn how to drop bags that well!!! Is your trike coming to the fly in. We could have a drag race. Only kidding Simon. I'm looking forward to it.

Hi Pete, Seems like you get less time off than I do. I ended up taking leave and shutting my self in the workshop with radio 2 for nearly 4 days. The other half let me out occasionally, or threw biscuits and cups of tea at me through the hatch. I think the engine and flight instruments are just as expensive/complicated as the main structure. Simon, I like your quad, striking colour, slightly more conservative than your orange Vdub Transporter . All I need is 4 hours to then start hours building, then complete the final 11hours and then I am hot to trot. Come on English weather be an Indian summer this year.

The registration paperwork was submitted to the CAA over the weekend, (Thanks Pete B for emailing me your exemplar) I received a phone call from the registration department at 0930 this morning, as I had asked them to call me with possible registrations. They are up to G-CI at the moment. Now I have selected my reg I am now currently getting my wing all packed up to be sent of for servicing and the reg lettering added. Its like it all coming together now. I just need to complete my conversion training and I will be off up up and away. Is anyone else out there building a similar trike or quad? Giles "Once and engineer, always an engineer"

Hi Simon, What makes you say that? I'm just curious that's all, and pleased as I have one;) I had a good conversation with the CAA today about registering my trike. They only want to register the wing, you can hang what ever you want of the bottom, so to speak. I could have registered it months ago, doh. I have also found a 3rd party insurance company http://www.traffords-insurance.co.uk/aviation.html that will insure paratrikes, woop woop. I have just ordered a mirror so I can see the fuel tank, I just need to put the fuel marking on too. All the little jobs seem to eb coming out now.

Ad, Its a REVO 26. I have flown my paramotor on this wing. I think with the extra 16 kg in weight will provide better penetration by increasing the wing loading. Hope this helps. Giles

AD, Many thanks for the information on the A' line assists. I had some good news when I weighed my trike today, all up dry weight 53.5kgs. I weigh a comfortable 78kg (with kit) and my REVO 1 wing has a max weight of 150kgs. 8.5 litres of fuel @ 0.8 kgs per litre = 6.8kgs of fuel. Weight at take-off would be 138.3 kgs rounded up to 140kgs. SO IM ONE HAPPY BUNNY. I will be bringing my trike to the Fly-in on the 20/21 July as it is only 10 miles from my where I live during the week. See everyone there. I will be non-flying of course but will have my camera to get some shots of you guys having fun in the skies. Giles

Pete, PDF received. I thought the MTOW was the combined pilot plus Trike. The sub 115kg Cat is the dry vehicle weight. I just don't want to get anything wrong. The form I have is the 2012 CA1 form, I will down load the 2013 version, many thanks. Will get form filling this week. The only bit I don't have to hand is the Wing serial number as it is still in Somerset. I might have to speak very nicely to the other half. The end is nearly in sight. The LOFT came back with a good quote for putting a registration on. Regards Giles.

A' Line assists. Has anyone had experience with fitting or setting up A' line assists. The video clips show them working very well but there is no information on setting up.

It has been a very productive day. Harness fitted, wing nuts drilled for wirelocking, A' line assists fitted. All it have left to do is just wirelock the exhaust springs. All I need to do now is get a final completed weight and then I can register it with the CAA. I am sure there is still a bit of fettling on the day of test flying. ;s. The other half has agreed to help put it in the tonight, what a good egg. Giles "Once an Engineer, always an engineer"

, Pete, that's also on the list, getting a Towbar on the car.

Next on the list is the harness fitting, line catchers on the paramotor frame and testing the ground handling. The big test will be if this actually fits in my car!!! fingers crossed. Giles "Once an Engineer, always an engineer"