AndySV1K

Great shots,  I bet that was awesome flying along the cliff edges.

Andy.

Hi Sean,

Welcome to the forum.  it's full of great people.

Andy.

Love it!

Top notch editing there.  Each one gets better.

Andy.

I can see pros to that, but by the same token.....it's a huge amount to take in all in one go!

I did an intensive course the first time back in 2007 and yes you do tend to focus everything on it 100% for that period, but at the same time, i'm not sure it was any better or worse than If i learned piece meal.   I think taking more time and learning ground handling to the point where it was no longer a primary focus and more intuitive then I would have been more relaxed and able to focus on the flying part better.

Swings and roundabouts to be honest, some will benefit more from intensive and others more from a more broken up approach.  I guess the key thing is to make sure you have a decent instructor that you gel with so you can soak up their teachings in the best possible way.

Andy.

You'll find quite a lot of threads on this subject already, but from my point of view I can see pros and cons to both.

If i were doing it all again, I think i'd do initial training in the UK where your weather window for ground handling is wider than you may want it for your first flights so not quite as restrictive.

But then I can see the benefit of being able to do intensive flying after the first few flights to really get comfortable with it, that's where i'd maybe consider doing a course abroad.

I don't think I would do my ground handling training abroad as although it would be a nice holiday too, I think i'd rather do all that here.

Andy.

Was this you practicing with a few smaller firworks Simon?

If so.....are the high vis jackets fireproof? 

2 minutes ago, Kran said:

Andy, I viewed your video today both prior, and whilst I was fitting ALC lines.

Very easy video to follow, and made lite work of what could have been a complicated fitting.

Great Video, awesome.

Thanks....

Glad it helped 

Andy.

Happy to help, can I have a truncheon to bop people over the head if they don't 'respect my authoritaiiii'?

Andy.

Really no need........but I won't say no 

Careful now, I have a paramotor helmet i'm hoping to wear in the next week, you'll make it a tight fit with compliments like that! 

There must be a DNS issue with the domain that's stopping the non www site working.

Andy.

I can't really see how this is going to be much if any lighter than the Bailey.  It's obviously still a GY6 top end.

I have the V5 and yes, it's a heavy machine, but it's perfectly manageable.   Power is adequate too.

I think this being a ......cue the utterly horrible phrase......'Game changer' is probably unlikely.

But I hope it is and I hope it brings more manufacturers into the 4stroke world.

Andy.

Owning a Bailey i find the topic of 4 stroke paramotors really exciting but my god this guys voice could put me to sleep in seconds! 

I do hope it gets sorted though and comes to market, more 4 strokes available can only be a good thing.

Andy.

Are you using www.?  I know there were issues at some time if you didn't.  I think it resolves ok now but worth checking.

Andy.

18 minutes ago, Steve said:

Welcome Adrian - Nice to see another diver, there's a few of us in PPG   

 

You can manage the door at the next fly-in then, Andy.  

Fly-ins have doors??  

That sounds even harder than a spot landing!

Not sure if it counts but I feel over 50 on a regular basis, first flight in 10 years yesterday followed by a couple of hours martial arts training and today i've definitely aged a few years......but ready to go again!

Welcome to the forum and just to add to Andy's comment, I don't think you'll have any problem at all with your age.

Andy.

13 minutes ago, AndyB said:

Non of your first points have any bearing on........

An electric paramotor has been measured as using 5 kw at level flight.

Therefore, when I fly my potrol paramotor level, it too will be using 5 kw to keep me level.

I fly level at 5700 rpm with max rpm at 7600. As a rough guide I said assume this is half power. On my machine it as actually a little over half power (but that would make the next sum worse).....

If level is half power, then full power would be 5 x 2 = 10 kw. But my machine says it is 20 kw!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't sure whether you mean that it was 5kw of motor power, or 5kw of 'work' to keep level flight including losses.

Unless you are flying the same wing, same frame, same prop etc etc then I assume your losses and efficiencies could be quite different.  For this reason it's probably quite difficult to work out whether your level flight is indeed 5kw.  I guess it could be measured using a dyno if you know the RPM's, you'd still have the air density differences to account for but I would think this is much smaller variation than the rest of the chain of power.

Interesting topic!

Andy.

Another thought....

Is that 5Kw an actual power rating for level flight, or 5kw output of the motor?  What I mean is if your engine is rated at max 26hp, I assume this won't all get converted to actual thrust.  There must be losses involved.  Sort of like when engine manufacturers claim power at the crank, when power at the wheels is much less due to parasitic losses.

Andy.

Are you equating half the horsepower output to be half the RPM?

They could be very different.

If you're on a 2 stroke they can be very peaky power bands so it won't be a linear curve for power output compared with engine speed.

Andy.

That's a holiday and a half!    Have a good one.

Andy.

Signed.

Andy.

I have a bike in my garage so keeping things secure has been a big issue for a long time for me.

As well as having an alarm on the garage which is linked to the house (I don't set the alarm at night but the garage doors are on a chime so i'd hear them open)

The best investment is a wireless baby monitor.  I picked up an old analogue one from ebay for about £20 and its been running non stop for about 8 years now.  It's up in my bedroom so any noise and I hear it straight away.  It's not perfect for me now since moving as the garage is next to a busy road so I also get the noise from that but it soon fades into the background.

You're never going to stop people from trying to steal things, but if you can hear them trying to get into your garage you've got a chance to scare them off before they even get in.

Andy.

Visited the Membury flying site for the first time last weekend.

I had high hopes of being there for the whole weekend and getting a good few flights in.  hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha  How naive!   This is the UK!

Well Saturday got rained off completely.  But headed down sunday as it was forecast to stay dry.  Unfortunately the ground was so wet that it splashed your trousers every step.  There was no way my brand new wing was coming out to play

But still it was good to see the place and meet Simon, Colin and a few others that were there for training.  It actually got quite busy during the day which was great to see.  People at various points in their training.  And despite the pretty terrible conditions they were happy to have their older wings dragged around the field so that people didn't have a wasted journey.

It was a really good training vibe there, both Simon and Colin are really encouraging and I could see people making good progress throughout the day and even a few flights towards the end of the day with people doing some nice touch and go's.   They kept moving among the students making sure everyone had attention and each time gave them something to work on and practice while they went to assist the next student.  It's a good way to train as those moments when you are left to just get on on your own are great as they give you less pressure of being 'watched' but adds the pressure of making it happen on your own.I wasn't there as a student but with a friend who's learning, but as a complete novice myself it was good to listen in and pick up tips too.  

Good to meet you Simon and Colin, I'm glad I went down there and hope to return very soon. 

Andy.

Absolutely, but how many people actually carry paper maps now, I bet it's not many.  I used to carry cut up section in my leg map pocket.  But I don't think I ever used it, i relied on GPS.  (Never did any XC's)

I'm willing to bet that this 'pilot' didn't have a paper map with them.....or a clue   

I'm probably quite fortunate where I live in that there's only one small active airfield which I simply treat as a no-go zone, but what I don't understand is, firstly if that was someone flying locally, they have no excuse that area is a ATZ minefield.

Even if this was an untrained person, 10 minutes googling how to fly a paramotor would highlight this sort of info.  Also when they were flying, presumably they saw an airfield with planes around on the ground or in the air.  I can't believe that even the most stupid person on the earth wouldnt go through the thought process of 'oh look an airport, I hope it's okay to fly here!'  

Secondly the other potential is that it was someone flying in unfamiliar airspace.  Even me as a complete novice, my very first thought is.....check an airmap, get an idea of what sort of airspace im gonna be flying in.  Is it and area I can even fly in at all.....is it an area I can fly in but is so dotted with controlled airspace that it's simply not worth it.  or is incompletely free and open and I can go have some fun.

This surely can't be a case of naivety, you can't get into flying paramotors without any consideration at all into the rules of the air and airspace.  I get it if this was someone doing an XC and by miss-judgment strayed into an area they shouldn't be, but surely not someone who simply doesn't know any rules.  It can only be the XC error or someone who just doesn't give a flying f*** and is one of these people that thinks they can do what they like.   And if it's the latter, lets hope they are identified and shopped and get a big fine.  If it was an error and oversight then I still hope they are identified but instead some friendly education is given.

Andy.

I've never been even approached by a park warden or anything, probably because I haven't done it enough on parks for it to occur.

If i was, I would be polite and friendly and try and engage with the person.  After all I would only ever do it in a position where I deem it perfectly safe and of no risk to anyone or anything.  If that person turned out to be a jobsworth i'm afraid i would probably have some fun with it and suggest they call the police.  I'd love to overhear the conversation too.  "er.....can you come and help us stop this man flying his kite in the park?"  

I guess it's just one of those things, you could probably kite at a park for 10 years and then suddenly get someone who says you can't do it, then it either becomes a discussion/battle or you find somewhere else.

All we can do is be as safe, professional and courteous as possible and hope for the best.  But stand your ground if you think it's right to.

Andy.