dehorridge

Thanks guys. All tied up with a little heat shrink to keep it smart. Darrel

My new Dudek synth. I realised, by reading the manual, that the brake lines on my synth were set for a high hang point harness. I use a low hangpoint on my motor and training harness. So I’ve shorten the lines to the marks on them and removed them from the lower pully but I’m now left with about 4 inches of spare line. What do I do with the spare. Do I just cut it off or do you tie it up somewhere? Darrel

Well is been a wonderful day. Pitty I could not fly today but fingers crossed since Saturday is looking good. Discovered that the Spanish have no idea how to wire so spent a couple of hours redoing poor electricals on my Airfer. All sorted now. Also got stick from the wife. I ran the motor up in the garden without closing the back door. Although I was 60 feet away, the motor push the fumes around the house. Don't you just love that 2 stroke smell. Darrel

Well the weather is all over the place at present. Still tomorrow looks ok (Wednesday) and perhaps a couple of windows over the weekend. Must keep the faith.. Darrel

Thanks. I have place in mind that has the size i need just need a idea of shore rating. After explaining what they were for, the guy suggested a 50 rating. I'll give 50 a go and see. Thanks Darrel

Ok, real techy one. Need to get some replacment anti vibration mounts. Any idea what rubber shore rating I should look for? Any suggestions for online suppliers? Otherwise I would guess that a 50 shore would do. And before anyone asks, yes I've looked and know it's not mentioned in the manual, online or anywhere else I can find. Thanks in adavnce. Darrel

Yea, Thursday looks nice. Need to make the most of it I think. Like everyone else, I'll be keeping an eye out. Managed a little more ground handling today. A bit gusty but good fun anyway. Darrel

Steve, Sent you a PM. Perhaps it will help. Darrel

Ah, lucky sod. Do you know where he flies from. Darrel

Ok, who was flying over Enfield today heading up the A10. I only saw at a distance but I was looking up in envy. Darrel

Well unless I can convince Simon to do a really early start on Sunday, this weekend is blown away. Oh well back to weather watching. Still my new flight suit arrived today. I can now walk round the house in a giant baby grow. Yes the wife has already called me a knob. Darrel

Do you know what. I'm so sad that I've even taken to reading Met Office weather charts like this http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/surface-pressure/ That said, there is still a nice bit of high pressure due with nice wide iso bars. Should indicate settled weather over the weekend (although looking out the window I find it hard to accept). Darrel

Simon, you reading this. So exactly how early can we start at Membury

Well I'm killing time now. Just hung the motor again and checked all my straps. Everything feels fine and I can slide into the seat with ease. Even took it for a powered run for 10 to 15 mins. Engine ran @ 4K with no problems, did not get hot and the plug was lovely. Guess my mixture is fine. Now time I got back to watching the weather channel Darrel

I'll be flying by then and assuming it does not clash with my holiday (23/7 to 6/8) then I'll be there. Will be good to see everyone and sample the delights of the paramotoring fraternity. I assume it's camping - although I'll see if I can borrow my brothers motor home Darrel

Another good day with Simon and the guys at Membury today. Plenty of practise. Ready for my first flight on the next good day. Just a little more time to play with my motor while keeping everything crossed for good weather. The next week looks pretty crappy but who knows. Darrel

Thanks Pete, think ill give an 1/8 turn on each and see what the plug is like. Better a little rich then melt down. Darrel

I know. Is there not some sort of dance you can do to rid us of this crapy weather. Tell me, I'm now totally addicted to weather forecasts. Is this normal

So I have a F-200 with Wal 37 carb. Just fitted a tach so I thought I’d have a go at tuning it up. First problem, I can’t hold on to the bloody thing a full RPM. Still I managed to tweak the Low and High to point where it picked up nicely and pulled to over 6K rpm (more there if needed). All this was done purley by ear. I then ran it up to full revs (well 6K since that’s all I could hold) and killed the engine. Checked the plug and saw a nice coffee colour. Then I let it idle for a while and again another nice coffee colour, a little darker but still coffee colour I then counted the turns and they are High 1 turn out and Low ¾ turn out. This is about ¼ turn less then the manual states (H=1.25 and Low 1). Is this typical? Now the question I have is: Should I tweak these ¼ turn out and run it slightly rich or stick to my settings? BTW, it was running very rich when I got it. Lovely black plug Darrel

So the crap weather has made training a little difficult. I must admit that I’ve almost forgotten what Simon and Membury look like Anyway, the rain has stopped for now so my brother (Chris) and I took my wing and harness out for a little play. Had a really good couple of hours in wind that went from 0 to 15mph in an instant. Great fun when the wing was up since it lifted us up and away. What a laugh. Several reverse launches and push along runs makes me long for a motor on my back. How many times did I think “ If I had a motor on I’d be up and away by now”. Even worse when you think I have a motor sitting in my garage ready to go. Before anyone says anything, no I’m not that stupid. I’ll wait for Simon before I venture on my own. Still it’s very tempting. Still the weather will break at some point and I can take comfort in fact that I remember enough of Simon’s teaching to finally get me in the air when it does. So here’s a quick question for you. Does it make sense for me to ask an experienced paramotorist to test fly my paramotor before I use it. Although I’m a good engineer, I’ve no idea what feels right on a paramotor. Any volunteers? Darrel

I live in the wrong country, I'm sure that's Sun shine in the those pics. Darrel

A few Pics.

yes its the same. A Fly F-200 engine. Mine has a smaller 2 blade prop at present but I've ordered a new 130 3 blade carbon one. I'll let you know what it drinks once it turns up. Darrel

Well given it's still pissing down I decided to run it up and do a mini hang test in the garage. All went well although i never new there was so much dust in my garage. The motor is running a bit to rich but I'll leave the tuning until I have the tach fitted. Loads of thrust and the harness seems to be alright although I need someone (Simon W) to give some fitting advice in person. Got the hang about right with around 10 deg of tilt static and basically vertical under thrust. Walked around a little. I know that Airfer's with the F-200 are not light but it seemed pretty good to me. Anyway, now I need to wait for the postman to deliver bits before I can do any more. One quick question. Anyone use Iridium plugs? Any good. Worth the money? Thanks Darrel

Well I've now got the motor. A day of tinkering ahead. Looks like a very nice machine, well made and cheap. Fitted my requirements perfectly. Got a few things on the list to buy and make. Tach and CHT Inserts for arms (avoid any broken arm issues). 3 blade prop. Craft a new throttle. The standard one is crap. Fashion a new frame clip. One is broken. Then give it a full check over, tune up and hang test. Then I've just got to learn how to fly. Come on weather sort your life out. Darrel