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PatPux

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Posts posted by PatPux

    Patrick's Progression

    in Paramotor Training Blogs

    Posted

    You are correct, Rob, no speed bar attached. It's not come up in training, not sure what my instructors view on them is. Certainly early on I'm sure they're considered an added complication that a beginner doesn't need, but now as you say, something that should be thought about.

    Thanks for advice

    Patrick

    Wings

    in Wings. 'Paramotor wings'

    Posted

    Shane, I have an excellent condition Dudek Synth 34 for sale.

    Check with your instructor/Dudek site to see if it will suit your weight range?

    Could do you a super special Christmas price........

    Shane

    Same weight as you, and that's what I use, a good wing to start on. (Should have said: I'm fairly new, started training in April)

    Tandem Flight

    in Newbies ( want to fly a paramotor? )

    Posted

    Thank you all for your input. :)

    So whats it going to cost me to get up in the air? :?:

    Im not a rich man so would be looking at secondhand? Would I need to sell the wife and kids to be able to set myself up? :lol:

    I would think once I have completed my training rather than save up I would be best having my own kit ready to go that way I don't forget all my training.

    Also what kind of mainternance cost per year could I be looking at?

    :wingover:

    I have learnt this year after dithering around for a couple of years (a bit like George, but for different reasons) because I wanted to save the money up to be able to buy the kit as soon as I'd been passed by the school. Trouble is there's always something else that the money gets spent on.

    In the end, I thought it's now or never, (I'm 57,) I d find the money somehow and at worst I'd have had great fun just doing the course on the school kit.

    So my advice and I've seen others give similar.

    1. Don't wait, sign up now and start learning

    2. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING, YET.even if you had the money, start learning and listen to as many pilots and instructors as possible and read everything available. Be prepared to be confused to start with- everyone thinks their kit is best whether they're in the trade or just own it. In the end you will be able to make an informed decision on your own

    For info , I bought secondhand , but pretty new, none the less, and I spent about £5500, £3000 on the paramotor, £1200 on the wing, £900 on the training.the rest on bits and pieces. I dare say you could get away for £1000 or £1500 cheaper and you could spend £10k without blinking if you bought all new.

    I'm guessing at running costs , but if you flew an hour a week every week you might use around 300lts , and say £300 on insurance and a bit of motor servicing and wing inspection.

    Get signed up and start learning, it is just the best buzz!

    Patrick

    wheels

    in Paramotors.

    Posted

    So you are fixing them permanently. I thought it would just be a way of saving carrying it from the car into the middle of a field, say, then you'd take them off to fly.

    Good point about it tipping over, though.

    Not flown away from Memory yet, only got back to flying weekend before last, and the time away showed, then a good flight last weekend. I want to nail standing up landings, habitually, first.

    wheels

    in Paramotors.

    Posted

    You'd have to get rid of those little rivets that hold the rubber base pads on , but you could then weld a couple of short spigots on the back of the axle which would slide into those tubes.

    Then you could simply slide them out and remove the axle before flying. Would also maximise your ground clearance

    Mind you , if you could develop a light enough version , I could see some benefits to leaving them in place for flying and ......landing, that would definitely aid my style of arrival.

    Better not take this further for danger of sparking the debate as to whether you'd then need a full microlight licence ;)

    The 2013 Flying Show..

    in Events

    Posted

    Hmmm, this looks interesting. Is there anyone driving up from the Membury sort of area (Newbury, Reading, Swindon and the surrounding area) for a single day who might want to share a lift? I don't think I'll persuade my girlfriend that it's an exciting event, so will probably be heading up on my own. I assume that Simon will be staying up there as he's there for two days, and I don't think I would get away with the whole weekend!

    If you ( or anyone else) still want a lift, I'm driving up from Pangbourne on Sunday, PM me

    EveryTrail- Route logging website

    in Navigation

    Posted

    I thought this site was quite a good resource for storing or sharing all the details about your flights, if you record that sort of thing.

    It will display the route on a choice of mapping and on a PC it plays a natty elevation and speed graphic.

    You can also

    attach any photos and videos (only via Youtube).

    There are apps for iphone and Android. It does display on ipad , but its a bit buggy on mine , not consistently displaying photos.

    Im now adding the links in my training blog.

    Heres an example

    http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2456731

    Patrick's Progression

    in Paramotor Training Blogs

    Posted · Edited by Guest

    Day 25 23/11/13 Flight 11

    http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2456698

    A crisper day today with brisk 7or 8 mph breeze from the North West.

    I had in mind to try the flight I'd had planned for last weekend to the East but after an easy 1st time reverse launch and away in a couple of paces I just hung in the stiffening wind. So letting the trimmers out fully I started to make a little way. Going downwind too far was out of the question, so I decided to head into wind over Ashdown House and onto Ashbury.

    It was a beautiful clear day with fantastic visibility, but pretty cold , so despite plenty of layers, it was going to be temperature that would limit the length of the flight

    This was my first time flying in significant wind , so my first opportunity to experience reading wind direction by observing ones track across the ground.

    I was also flying for the first time with a small flight deck and some gizmos.

    Garmin GPS map 60C. Set with big text fields for Alt, bearing, time

    https://www.google.co.uk/#q=garmin+60csx

    Satmap Active .http://www.satmap.co.uk/about.php

    Lumix camera

    In addition I had the GoPro on the chesty mount. It is some use in that position, but better when easily grabbed (still in the elastic harness) and pointed where you want.

    After over 30mins slogging into wind to get over Ashbury I turned and raced back to the airfield by curved route to the East.

    On arrival over the field I got my housekeeping done and packed and zipped the flight deck and got the trimmers back in. Learning another lesson for a windy day- in no time I was too far downwind and making no way back, so had to get the trimmers out again to make progress.

    Once over the field my descent was slow and nearly vertical as I hung in the wind, although another lesson learnt was that my forward progress increased as I descended into lesser wind.

    I did not capitulate to my usual seated landing, but I still flared too high and stumbled forward onto my knees. It was a perfectly flared landing - just 6ft too high!!

    Some useful lessons learnt on flying in wind, today and still more to learn on hanging on to the flare in landing.

    https://vimeo.com/80176177

    [vimeo]

    [/vimeo]
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