ArcusFlyer

Hi Alastair, Nice photos / vids. I saw you were thinking about paragliding while saving for ppg kit. I starting paragliding a few years ago. It's a life changer! do it! Then went on to motoring to take advantage of those nil wind days. Another life changer! Actually I suspect we were both unlucky enough to go to the same prep school. Have sent you a PM. Matt.

Hi, I'm in Lymm and fly a fair bit with the guys at manchesterparagliders.com. There's also a good bunch in Stoke who Ive met if that's better for you. eg Macey2KK from this forum. I lived in Congy for a bit - bet there are some great fields around there. Do you know any farmers? Matt.

Might be wrong but I have a feeling the Silex is just a re-branded Swing Arcus?

Just got cover from Joint Aviation (google it). After On Risk told me they were not renewing paramotor insurance. Seemed nice and turned my application around in less than 24 hours so I could fly at the nats last weekend.

Was going to say that sounds suspiciously like the Hamer but notice he's already replied. Glad to hear you're in the air. Anyone Cheshire people going to the NATS?

Thanks guys. I'd like to say it was hard and took lots of skill but in fact it's very easy. Much easier than foot launching a paramotor. At first I was not sure and planned to foot launch but all the other pilots told me not to be silly and to use skis. They were right!

Hi Paul, Hope to catch up soon. Haven't seen you for a while old boy. Muchos respect for attempting something difficult for a very good cause. I will certainly be donating. Will have a think about how I could help nearer the time with my limited holiday. Matt.

Family visit to Aus and skiing trip to Courchevel recently. But still managed to sneak the wing into the luggage and get some nice flying done. I know its a PPG forum but I couldnt fit the motor on the plane. Courchevel vid: http://www.vimeo.com/11325720 Aus vid: http://www.vimeo.com/11327333 Cheers, Matt G.

Got back from Courchevel in the french alps today. Nice cheese and good flying. First ski launch on the PG! Lovely 3000 foot top to bottoms then back on the cable car to do it all again.

Hi Meds, I agree with Slapper about the rough terrain but I went flying there a year ago or so and had some great flying. Give me a call and I can give you good details of the launches / landing fields. It was flyable every day I was there. Yes you need to mind out for the cactuses and half finished building projects but the main landing is over a motorway and a supermarket and is very large / easy. I did a fair bit of mingling with the local pilots to organise lifts and I found them very helpful. As Slapper said - It can bite I reckon - my mate broke his leg there (under instruction at the time) but I think its OK if you're briefed on the landing sites. The best flying (and the place where I was) as far as I know is the mountains above Adeje near las americas. Couple of pics of me from the main Taucho launch below. Hope you're good. I'm going flying there in April some time. Matt.

I've been wondering if there's something a bit more clever going on with these swing arms in order to cancel out torque steer / effect under power. I feel virtually no torque effect from my swing armed PAP. When I am on full power (eg during take-off). My motor is visibly rotated on my back (as seen in pics people have taken and also the people I fly with have commented on this several times - will try to find a pic). By rotated I mean it looks like someone has grabbed the outside of the frame and twisted it like the bevel of a divers watch a few degrees. If I hadn't seen this on pics I would not have felt it myself in flight. I suspect this is the swing arms allowing the motor to twist rather than imparting torque induced weight shift into the risers/wing. And if the arms were fixed in place this wouldn't be allowed to happen. Thoughts? Always a chance I might be talking complete b*))ocks though. It has been known.

Looked perfect where I was so headed West to meet Slapper About 5 miles before the field bright sunshine turned into very heavy fog which was not going to lift. Damn. Met a few more and headed back to a field more in the centre of the country, back in the sun. On the way the motor somehow leaked enough fuel to completely fill the airbox (more than a pint I reckon) and cover my car. Cleaned it all up and then the pull cord snapped. Had a spare but by that point I decided the big man upstairs didn't want me to fly that day. Some days just aren't meant to happen! I had the motor laid flat harness side down. As I always have it in my fiesta. Never had this happen before. I was under the impression with the new PAPs that if you close the red tap on the breather tube they were meant to be leak proof. I had the tap closed and was surprised when it leaked so much - it has never leaked at all before. Don't understand - anyone any ideas? Better luck next time.

Looking quite nice isnt it. Might be tied up part of Sat but both days looking good at the moment. I'm planning to fly. Where are people flying?

That's bad

Not sure how many of you use this. I've found it very good especially for hill flying, has saved me a lot of wasted journeys / petrol. I've been a subscriber for a few years. Very honourable 'bow out' by Rod Buck IMHO with 2 years notice!. Anyone interested in taking it over? He not only offers to donate kit to local flying clubs but also free technical help by phone / email. What a guy. Read below or go to wendywindblows.com: ***** "Wendy Windblows - The Future Looking back, I can’t quite believe that I created the first Wendy weather station at Bradwell, in the Peak district in 1987! That’s fully 22 years ago…. Born out of the frustration of driving two hours to the flying sites on the basis of the BBC forecast, only to find that the winds on-site bore NO resemblance to Michael Fish's prognostications, Wendy was an immediate success, as it told you exactly what was happening on the hill. Demand for more of them was such that eventually, it became necessary to turn what had become an extremely time-consuming hobby into a business. This was so that I was able to devote enough time and money to it to keeping the service going. The workload has been pretty intense over the years. I guess most people imagine you can just erect these things and then they sit there and run quite happily by themselves. Ah, if only! A few of the maintenance problems I've had to cope with are: 100-mph gales wrecking the wind cups. Lightning strikes frying the electronics completely. Irate local peasants vandalising the thing because they feared it was a spy-station for a new wind farm (which they didn't want, can’t say I blame them). Mindless vandalism from local Neanderthal youths, including shooting the fertiliser out of the wind cups with an airgun. People pinching the solar panels because they were valuable! Retirement Date – 1st Jan 2012 Well after 22 years it's time, I feel, to call it a day sometime soon. By the time you read this, I'll be 61, and accumulated injuries over the years, both from sub-optimal hang-glider landings, (and one famous occasion when I fell 30 feet off a house roof and made a sizeable crater in the garden) have finally caught up with me. It's easier to count the body parts that don't hurt that the parts that do! Maintenance trips to service Wendy stations can often involve a 500+ mile drive, and an 18-hour day, and I'm getting a bit old for that nonsense. The Lovely Lynn Having remarried 18 months ago to the lovely Lynn, whom many of you will have spoken to on the phone about Wendy, you’ll appreciate that she’s keen that I conserve my energies for more important matters….! I can't see anyone else wanting to take over the responsibility for Wendy, as you need a particular and very peculiar combination of skills. Computer programmer, electronics expert, and an aerial rigger’s climbing ability, as you have to go up tall structures to maintain the things. Plus the ability to drive 500 miles in a day, as well! Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page for pictures of what I do to keep it all going! However, if anyone wants to contact me with a view to taking the service over, I'm only too willing to discuss. Contact Details Also, a big factor in the equation is the decline in pilot numbers, and therefore the number of subscribers and hence the income to maintain the service. Numbers have dropped to well under half of those that we had about 4-5 years ago, to the point where I have to do other things to earn a living - Wendy is consigned to my spare time as it doesn't generate anywhere near enough for me to give my full time to it. Most of you will be aware that the decline in pilot numbers, and the increasing age profile of pilots (we’re all getting old!) has hit both the BHPA income and the number of schools and dealers operating successfully in the UK, and Wendy is no exception to this general trend. I Don't Intend To Close The Service Immediately! Many subscribers pay a year in advance, and some of you pay two years in advance. I don’t want anyone to lose out, so, in the absence of a buyer to take over the Wendy service, I'm giving notice that I intend to retire in two years time, that is, in January 2012. No One Will Pay Beyond 1st Jan 2012 We will be amending your renewal payments to cut them down to fit that date. In other words, if your renewal payment would take you past January 2012, it'll be reduced proportionately. We currently charge £60 per two-year subscription, so, for example if your two-year renewal comes up in June 2010, there'll only be 18 months left to run before the service closes. Therefore, you'd be charged three quarters of the amount, i.e. £45, which will take you up to the closure date. This is the fairest way I can think of to keep the service going until I retire so that no one loses out. What Will Happen To The Stations After I Retire? Again, in the absence of a buyer to take over the service, I propose to contact the clubs in the area of each station, and offer to donate the equipment to them. All they would have to do is pay the phone line rental for as long as the station continues to function. I do have a considerable stock of spare parts, and will donate these to help maintain the stations in working order. But I won't be able to maintain them personally, of course. I will be able to give technical help by phone or email, and there are a complete set of technical manuals to help local club volunteers maintain them. Thanks For Your Support Over The Years… Many subscribers have been with Wendy since the beginning, and loads of you for more than ten years or more. That must indicate how you value what I created, and I’d like to thank you for that support. I'd like to say it's been a blast over the years. I've met and dealt with some really lovely people in the freeflying world, plus, of course, the statutory quotient of idiots (you know who you are!) If you have any queries, please contact me here . Best wishes, and great flying to you all. As I’ll have more time, I hope to be out on the hill a lot more than in recent years. See you there! Rod Buck" *****