Hann__

This has to be the record for earliest heated gloves enquiry of the year!! Are there any new-model paramotors that include a generator these days? The V5 does/did, it`s all about weight saving these days..

1) Correct - no license required but training almost universally advised........ Think of it as riding a bike on the public highway - no license required but you have to obey the highway code. 2) You need the landowners permission. Public playing fields will be controlled by the local council - they will have an appoplectic fit if they hear you want to use a paramotor from there - engines, flying machines and propellors do not mix well with the public. Find a co-operative farmer who will allow you to fly from a field. Fly responsibly, don`t draw attention to yourself by being a nuisance and keep the sport un-regulated. There are whingers out there..... 3)There`s a rule (among hundreds of others) that states you have to stay 500` clear of `any person, vehicle, vessel or structure` when flying, not during a normal take-off and landing, though. 500` is far too low for normal flight anyway- get high! (see above about nuisance..) 4) How high you can fly/altitude is `limited` by controlled airspace. It can be from the ground up or have a bottom `ceiling height` which you could fly under. Study a CAA chart of your local area. The CAA will see the consequences of straying into controlled airspace far more severely than plod would if you were to ride your bicycle on the pavement, however. 5)No. All these questions would be answered in more depth with your instructor, but that`s the basics. Where abouts in south Hampshire - it`s quite busy airspace down here, we can have a look and tell you where you could fly.

The pic is of The Solent area (Southampton).

....and another epic flight today! Same again - took off at 7a.m. and landed at 9:40, 69 miles. Due to the perfect weather i was able to fly a route i have wanted to do for a long time - circumnavigate around some local airspace. I have got half way around this particular route before several times (not planning on completing it) and thought that the distance was too ambitious, but i managed it today easily, even having enough time and fuel in reserve to do some local bimbling about stuff,too.. Morning flights for the win (except in winter, probably)! 10K altitude attempt next? Pic from today;

I`ve done nearly 100 flights since starting this PPG malarkey but today was my first ever early morning flight, and it was superb! I wasn`t expecting to be able to fly for another few weeks at least due to the grass on the field being too long but on a recent dog walk i heard distant tractor activity - could it be? Yes! They were baling up and shifting the bales away, excellent - great timing as the weekends` weather was looking blindin`. Got up early today and took off about 7a.m. The virtually nil-wind still-air launch was a no-drama first-time effort due to the super-cooperative Apco Lift EZ and i was away - only to see my right-hand wing tip folded up in a `cravat`.. A few tugs with the brake line made no improvement so i turned around and prepared to land. In another effort i got hold of the stabilo line and gave that a pull and out it popped.. Not one bump or jolt was to be felt the entire flight, really smooth air and a good speed was attained on both out and back legs - 67 miles in total. Visability was really good and the coastal landscape looked very different lit from an eastern sunrise rather than the evening sun that i`m used to. Landed at about half nine just before the breeze got up and the thermals started kicking off, and i`ve got the rest of the day to relax after a great start to the weekend. One of the reasons i`ve never flown in the morning is i`m always aware of the motor`s noise - not everyone appreciates that... I kept high and maintained a steady engine speed in an effort to reduce my presence - i think i got away with it. I might even do it all again this evening, and/or tomorrow morning as well, i`m liking this early morning flying, it`s nice knowing you`re not going to run out of light and it gets warmer, not colder! Cheers, Hann.

Hi Dariusz, The Axa policy covers: `Accident-related rescue costs (rescue of persons) 2600 Euro`. That doesnt sound a lot, probably just enough to pay for a local farmer to extracate you from a tree with his forklift......

Ivan, i forgot to ask - how was the Mosters cylinder head temp at what must of been an extended time at full -or near to - throttle?

It`s an interesting topic and one which may be relevant to me this summer. I`ve gone up to 7000` with no drama but would like to do a 10K. Trouble is, the area in which i fly has lots of airspace - there is a corridor of class G approx five miles wide between a 8 - 16K danger area (by NOTAM) on one side and class A airway at FL95 on the other.... Would you risk flying in the class G either side of that....? It would be legal to fly in that Class G but is it wise? What do folks do - just pick some suitable Class G and go for it? Ivan,great video`s - what did you do to combat the cold, and how long in total was the flight?

Thats crappy new Ganers, but the demand for these things is pretty niche, the market small and the community close-knit, so i would imagine that they will turn up sooner or later - especially so as yours are distinctive, easily recognised and cannot be mistaken as another. Good luck with the search, i hope you get them back soon and intact.

113ml of Castrol Power 1 Racing to 4.5 litres (1 gallon) of fuel. 2.5%.

The ND-G has the provision for adjusting the pitch oneself; http://www.e-props.fr/16/ngdA.php

If you like to experiment you could try an Eprop NDG ground adjustable?

On your diagram does the arrow point forward? If so, as you say - as pilot weight increases x will reduce to balance the moments so the pivot point will move back (towards the left on your pic)? The c of g on that paramotor is behind the pivot point? In your pic you say x needs to decrease but you say the pivot point moves forward (increasing x)..?

Pat, am i being really dense here, but - contradictory to what`s in the manual i know - to my thinking, the heavier the pilot the more towards the rear of the arms the hang point should be set?

Same here, i saw today was a goer so booked a half day off work at short notice yesterday and spent 2 1/2 hours in the air this afternoon - only my second days flying this year! Well, maybe i`m lucky or maybe my wife just puts up with me and my idiosynchrasies, but flying comes first! I`ve still not finished the skirting board from when the floor was laid 18 months ago, but that`s more a reflection on my total disinterest and lack of mojo when it comes to anything to do with DIY than anything else.. You`re right - there are loads of motors and wings sat in folks houses doing nothing, and they tend to end up for sale very frequently. I get the impression there`s quite a high drop-out rate for PPGers for one reason or another, so you can get nearly-new kit (especially wings it seems) for very reasonable money - half price kit with only a handful of hours. My first wing was a grand off the new price with 1.6 hours on it...

The trouble is, you do not choose when you can fly, you only fly when the weather allows you to. So you all wait until a flyable weather window appears, and all parties (who may have been patiently waiting weeks for a flight) all want to take advantage of this weather. Who flies? There may be only one way to decide: fight!! Flying opportunities are far less frequent for PPG than they are for GA. If you take it in turns your time in the air could be months and months apart. It ain`t going to work... You`ve got to be like an airborne Ninja when you`re a paramotorist - strike quickly when conditions are right!

I think it could be. The Moster is known to be a pokey engine, and that power has to come from somewhere. I think the Moster really begins to ramp up at about 5500rpm, and i fly level at 6000 - 6200rpm where the Moster is making lots of power and `in the powerband` or `on the pipe` so i`m flying at engine speeds where i`m making power that i don`t really need (for XC cruising). I`ve got an adjustable pitch prop to experiment with this summer and i`m hoping to tune it so that i`m in level flight at about 5500rpm trims out. Let`s see...

Why are they so prone to getting hot, though? I must say, the cooling fins on the cylinder do look insufficient - much less cooling area than say, the two-stroke Jap motorcycle engines i used to have as a teenager as i remember. GR002, what`s your fuel consumption like?

"with multiple SmartCarb equipped racers taking top spots in 2011 and 2012 " It looks like it`s been around for a few years, then? If it was `all that` we`d of heard of them before now and seen them fitted. The `will not leak at any angle` suggests that they will not necessarily be suitable for fitment at any angle, just that they won`t leak fuel when you put it into the back of your car, so not *that* suitable for PPG?

I like it - customising your motor to your individual needs. That`s going to be a weighty take-off with all that fuel! What`s your fuel consumption on the Moster? I see you`ve got a water rescue system there,too. I like to do long XC too, longest flight = 3 hours. Only thing is, to do long flights in summer you have to take off earlier when the thermals are still active, not too much to worry about - the first hour a little bumpy then you know it can only get better!

I recently sent my reserve to get repacked, and having never seen it deployed before i took it out with me on the daily dog walk and `threw` it when i got to a secluded part of the walk (where no one was looking or else they`d think i was weird playing with parachutes in the middle of nowhere...) I`ve a front-mounted SupAir. So i grabbed the handle and yanked - i was surprised at just how much effort was required to separate the velcro panel holding the handle in place... One hand couldn`t quite do it so i had to use both hands. The length of nylon webbing attaching the handle to the inner `nappy` (is that the right term?) was quite long, i had to really extend my arms to pull the nappy out of the container. But the nappy complete with chute didn`t really come fully out of the container, the chute just sort of pulled out with the nappy half in/ half out. The result was that the chute just sort of fell to my feet in a sorry pile as if it were my guts after comitting harikari...! I got the chute inflated and it seemed quite small, especially when compared to a wing, and i wondered just how fast the descent would be in a real emergency scenario. I suppose it`s a life-saver at the end of the day and it`s purpose is to get you back to the ground alive, even thought that may not be at a nice, slow descent with a comfortable, soft landing.. I weighed it, too - bloody 2.6kg!

Is it best to fly trims fully out in a Cunim, then......? ?

What are the two problems that need fixing? What effect does this mod have and what difference does it make to the engine?

In my first three years i averaged 35 - 40 hours a year from ~ 22 flights. I`m lucky if i average two flights a month... The winter months can be lean if you can`t fly during the week when it`s still light (shift work or being self-employed must be a bonus on this point) - good weather has to coincide with weekends. Then there always seems to be extended gaps due to things like breakdowns/waiting for spares, nowhere to fly from or fields waiting to be harvested, poor weather etc. At least it keeps your interest up, it`s not like something like fishing where you can do it whenever you want! The best piece of advice re: weather is to invest in a good quality crystal ball. So many times i`ve decided against flying when it`s looked 50/50 only for it to turn out fine a couple of hours later (when it`s too late)...

A nice, honest comparison there between the XX and your old Synth, Pat. So it launched easily, not quite as stable as the Synth in flight, it was a little bit more `reactive` in turns and seemed `about the same` when landing. Too often i read what seem to me to be over-enthusiastic reviews of wings the author enthusing about just how life-changingly brilliant this wing or that wing is.. "This wing is so easy to launch i could reverse it on the draught from a passing butterfly" "It`s so efficient i landed with more fuel than when i took off" "This wing glides forever - i cut the engine in Oxfordshire and spot-landed in Exeter" "Such is the agility of this wing i did a 120km XC flying upside down", .......etc... It`s good to read a review from a regular pilot like you to get a rational description. I also binned my Synth1 a year ago - like you i got fed up with it`s recalcitrance in nil-wind. They`re such a heavy old bugger.. I`ve gone from dreading forwards and avoiding them whenever possible to doing them virtually all the time now. In fact, this new wing lanches better in nil wind than when it`s a bit gustier. Apco Lift EZ. Apart from the ease of launching - to me - my new wing feels just about the same as my old one in most other respects....!