ptwizz

Gosh Mark, that would reduce the regular users down to 2 or 3 flyers! How convenient! Or perhaps it might improve sales of 4 stroke machines from the local dealer....

Are we to understand that police officers do not have direct access to this kind of information and are forced to rely on, in this case, bumping in to someone who knows where to find the information, by chance? I can't imagine trying to do my job without a substantial library of data, calculations and regulations readily available. Good on you for enlightening your local constabulary. Pete.

Congrats on your first proper flight Darrel. I hope my first powered flight is less expensive Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

If you're concerned about an aircraft crashing into your house, you could play the lottery - there are many more lottery winners each year than planes crashing into houses. Your accumulated lottery wins would easily cover the cost of rebuilding your house. Pete.

I'm glad it's not just me who raves about airways quality of service. I've not been in the air for a month now. The weekend at Beeston was washed out and subsequent weekends have been poor weather or other commitments. This weekend is my wife's birthday, so buggering off to Derbyshire isn't an option In my limited experience: I've done a few winch launches in virtually zero wind - I didn't find the forward launches any more difficult than with a light wind - just a little bit faster on the feet and remember to keep running until I'm REALLY off the ground. I would definitely avoid anything gusting much over 10kts. I've been dragged across the field once and the risk to myself and my kit is not worth it. When I have my CP rating, I will be flying with my local club. By the time I have progressed to full pilot rating, I expect to be in a much better position to decide whether to fly alone or keep company. This is not a decision I believe I could or should make at this early stage. My local club is about 20 miles from home, but there is a group of local pilots who have the use of a field just 4 miles away. I am also aware of at least one local farmer who has an interest in flying and would likely allow paramotorists to use his land. Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

Sat and Sun are still looking a bit borderline blowy. That combined with some thermic activity could get interesting. I'm still exercising patience over enthusiasm Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

Darrel, I feel for you. I'm in the same situation - done the ground handling and free flying, just itching to get the Bailey out of the garage and into the air. I have also become a weather bore and I've tripped over the dog a few times due to looking at clouds while walking her. Roll on some better weather. Pete. Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

I'm here all week

As with so many things that are fundamentally good ideas, wind power has been drowned in politics and nimbyism (the 'not in my back yard' brigade). I wonder if there was the same degree of ill feeling when the country's largest windmill was built in Old Buckenham in 1818? Pete.

Or perhaps <> there was some bad news to bury on that day. Pete

Congratulations on your first foray into paramotoring. Most of us on this forum know about the demonic grin I look forward to following your progress and maybe flying together in the future. Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

Have you never experienced a Gold Star 500 on Castrol R? I followed one on a run out from the Ace cafe. The smell alone caused a commotion in my pants. Mm-hmm! Apologies for bike chat. Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

Hi Bernoulli, I'm away at a motorcycle rally this weekend, so I won't be flying. Looking at the forecast for Darley Moor you might not be flying either. I assume Airways have advised you to call in at the latest opportunity to check. No doubt our paths will cross sooner or later. Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

Baaaa! Technically, if you were driving in an area of increased gravity, such as next to a mountain or the great pyramids, time would be passing slightly slower than the standard at which your speedometer was calibrated (or for that matter your GPS device) and you would take slightly less than an hour to travel 80 miles. Or am I being too picky?

I agree that most of the total noise from a paramotor is probably from the prop. However, the pilot has the engine very close to his (or her) ears and there is more to noise than dB levels. Personally, I find the tinny, rattly sound of 2-stroke expansion chambers considerably more offensive than the same volume of lower pitched 4-stroke sound. I also find I can hear speech better over 4-stroke sound than over 2-stroke sound, possibly because the 2-stroke sound contains frequencies similar to those in the human voice. The whole subject is, of course, highly subjective. There are some on this forum who actually claim to like the sound of 2-strokes. These people are perverts So long as you are happy with your motor, you have made the right choice. Pete.

Thanks for the replies - all is clear. Alan - I'm 115 kg clip-in weight with motor but no fuel - Ozone's website gives two sets of weight figures: 1) Weight range 95-110kg 2) Recommended weight range 95-135kg. That puts me either over the top or smack in the middle. Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

I've just bought my first wing, an Ozone Indy Large. In many topics on this forum, wings are referred to by thier area. The Indy specifications give two values for area, flat (i.e. total area as measured on a single plane) and projected (the area normal to the ground plane when inflated). Which is it normal to use? Am I flying a 26m or a 30m wing? Pete.

Another weekend of borderline flying weather was predicted, but it had been a few weeks since my last foray into the skies and I decided to risk a trip to Darley Moor. Saturday morning was bright and sunny with a cold northerly wind around 8mph gusting to 12mph. A bit of ground handling with the large Indy wing and I was expecting to struggle with the wind on the tow line. As it turned out, tow launching with that much wind was considerably easier than I expected. I had not performed reverse launches on tow before, but all went smoothly and I shot up like a kite, getting a good high launch, enough to make two circuits before landing. Somewhat over cautious of the wind, I landed at the north end of the field and had a long walk back to the launch gate. By my third flight of the morning, the sun had heated various patches of concrete and a plie of tyres in an adjacent field, creating a bunch of thermal activity and making things more interesting. Having gained some confidence with regard to windspeed and groundspeed, I managed to land a few feet from the launch gate. Wind and thermal conditions picked up quickly and a few spots of rain were enough to drive us inside for some theory. Predictions for Sunday weather were not good enough that I was likely to be making my first powered flights, so I returned to Norfolk to wait for a better day. Before leaving Airways, I bought a wing. The Indy that I have been training on since last month is now my own! It was just after I had done the deal that I was informed of Airways Norfolk training weekend with FlyNorfolk at Beeston. I was not going to miss the opportunity of some training closer to home, flying from a different field and the chance to meet my local club. My motor has been stored at Airways since I first took it there and now I had a wing to shift as well. If I was to fly at Beeston, I would need to get the whole lot back to Norfolk. Did I mention I drive a Triumph Spitfire? I can now show that it is possible to get a Bailey, a large wing, a tent, sleeping bag, airbed and a 6' bloke into a Spitfire. Looking forward to a weekend with Airways at FlyNorfolk's Beeston site and hopefully some powered flying. Pete Bailey 175 Ozone Indy

Bernoulli - speak to Morgy

OK, I'm a novice pilot with no experience of reflex wings, but to me the obvious questions are what was your sink rate at each setting and did you adjust throttle settings as you adjusted trim? Pete.

Ah, I see, 'enter right' = enter correctly, not enter in a right turn. Thanks for that, I'll have a read later when I have more than a tea break's worth of time (MOS) Pete.

Hi S1, I assume 5+/sec means more than 5m/s climb rate? Why do you need to enter and exit right? Do thermals rotate due to Coreolis? or is this so that other pilots are circling the same way? Cheers, Pete

It was my first experience of any kind of thermal. It was definitely not a smooth increase in lift, but a series of distinct bumps. I've no idea of what a large or small thermal feels like. I didn't have a vario so I can't give you any objective data. Cheers, Pete.

After four weeks I finally have the right combination of domestic commitments, weather and the gods of opportunity to do some more training. This time, I decided to travel from Norfolk to Darley Moor on the bike on Saturday morning. Setting off into thick fog at 05:30, I just made it for a 9:00 start somewhat mentally drained. The fog didn't clear until just before lunchtime, so more ground handling practise was in order. This weekend was Airways 'New Products Weekend', so there was a lot of traffic with visitors trying out various aircraft. This coupled with the wind direction limited the extent of flying through the rest of Saturday, but I did get a few more circuits in. Sunday started much brighter and less busy. The wind direction allowed for a good long tow and I had my first experience of thermals. To one side of the airfield is a Shire horse farm, with a long stretch of concrete adorned with a huge pile of detritus. Over that area was some turbulent lift, very bumpy, but if I kept off the brakes and steered by weight shift, I could actually gain some height! I had switched from the medium size Element to a large size Indy wing. I will be flying the Bailey on the large Indy, so this was a good opportunity to try it out. Despite being well under weight for free flying, the Indy responded just as well as the more heavily loaded Element. The large Indy allowed stationary landings in virtually nil wind. Later the wind shifted round again and was up from the earlier 4-6kt to 10-12kt. I took the opportunity to do some ground handling with the Bailey on my back. This is where the extra weight is really felt. Normally one would get the wing in the air, run and power up and be off the ground. I was getting the wing in the air, running (or more often standing still and trying to keep control of the wing), putting the wing down and starting again time after time. It really takes it out of an old git like myself. Another 170 mile ride home and I was very ready for a good nights kip or three. While the busy traffic of Airways 'new products weekend' probably slowed the progress of training, it did offer the opportunity to watch a number of seasoned pilots flying an assortment of wings and motors and to hear their comments, which adds to the experience. Looking forward to the next session and getting the Bailey in the air. Pete.

A fully advanced ignition should be readily identifiable when attempting to start the engine. It will yank the pull starter out of your hand as ignition occurs 30 or so degrees BTDC. Good tip, thanks.