adamjedgar

ensure you have checked your static hang propellor angle..if this is wrong that may be the cause of your problems with the new setup. If you are leaning back too far the chances of torque induced steer increases...particularly when more thrust is being produced. im not sure whether swing arm pivot point height affects torque steer...i think it may.

Indeed...very lucky. I have flown the icepeak in some crappy conditions,however i was feeling pretty uneasy after this one. I gave that spot a wide berth and eve tually after another few heart fluttering moments...left the area completely and flew much closer to the ocean laminar air.

Hi guys, not a motoring video, but im sure you wont hold that against me...this is one of those heart stopping moments a paraglider pilot really doesn't want to encounter whilst very low to trees. I was flying a 2 liner Icepeak 6 glider and lost 2 of 3 A lines on left wing in the frontal collapse, spinning me and the harness 90 degrees in the process. For those who may not have flown high aspect ratio wings, any kind of issue like this at low altitude is massively dangerous and the chances of recovering from this height are not good if the high performance wing does not pop back out again almost immediately. Fortunately for me, on this occasion i got it flying quickly and flew away from the incident with only poop in my pants! From the screenshots you can clearly see that 2 of 3 left A lines were affected, so the left wing collapse was quite a decent one and i was actually very very lucky to fly away from this with minimal height loss. I was still shaking when i top landed 10 minutes later

Ah yes i see. How does that go when trimmers are out though? If both are joined then main brakes are also being used too.

So when forward launching the sirocco, do you also have tip steering toggles in your hands as well as main brakes?

This thought comes from my early free flight days rather than ppg specifically, however i find it to be true for both for me... Aside from the shoulder strap height being set wrong allowing the motor to hang a bit too low when standing, loose leg straps are actually the major cause of the problem for me. (I have skinny legs, and guys with stong/thick upper legs may find different experience)

How did that go when using trimmers where only tip steering is meant to be used?

I did a 2 hour free flight on Sorocco today...it doesnt turn well, however for low hang point harnesd i need to shorten brakes lines( which i did not do today) so i will reserve my judgement for now. I am going to shorten brake lines for my high hang point paramotor to see how it goes...this is so main brakes engage earlier to be in better sync with tip steering.

Has anyone setup the original speedster/sirrocco with integrated tip steering on main brakes? I have a high hang point no weight shift unit...just using main brakes requires enormous amounts of brake input to counterract torque steering and indeed to maintain level flight under power. I am talking pulling and holding at least 1 foot of brake. Before anyone says it...no there is not excessive free play...its almost got no free play. I find if i use both tip steering and main brakes it is much better and flies more like my dudek wing does with only main brakes. Trouble is, the dudek universal wing, although 1m bigger and a lower end wing than the ozone sirrocco, feels more manoureable without using tip steering + main brakes together than the sirrocco is using both. Perhaps the sirrocco is not designed for ppg units with no weightshift? When flying it today it seemed to me that the brake upper cascades are not really engaging much of the outer half of the rear wing. To my way of thinking this means the brakes simply do not have enough mechanical advantage to produce responsive turn. So my solution is one of 2 ideas... 1.alter the brake cascades by shortening those running to out rear section of wing to engage outer rears a little more when brakes are pulled or, 2. Setup an integrated steering system that uses main brakes and tips together. I worry that there is the belief on reflex wings that using main brakes when in full reflex mode with speed system activated is a dangerous thing to do. So on the original sirrocco am i going into dangerous territory in considering this idea?

I dont subscribe to the just belt on full throttle rule myself...i fly a very powerful unit for my weight...full throttle would see me face down in the dirt more often than not...i tend to use about 3/4 until i am well and truly airborne...even then my unit is so powerful i really dont need it flat out footlaunch at sea level. Actually i think the wing has a bearing on this too. I now am the proud owner of the sirrocco i negatively earbashed to its importer 2 years ago. One of my complaints was (and still is) its tendency to lag back under high power settings (risers almost touching cage), and its innability to keep straight against torque unless tip steering toggles were also used on paramotors that have no weight shift (high hang point) On this wing/paramotor combination full throttle is actually potentially very very dangerous at low speed unless both tip steering and normal brake toggles are used together. Due to height differences in the toggles i am not even sure if i can launch it using both without an integrated system that combines the two? (I suppose it would work even though tips would be engaged by about 100mm when main brakes are full hands up?)

I always power launch using thrust to bring up wing. I dont worry about directing prop blast away from wing...there is no need to do that. If you wing is having problems coming up through propellor wash then i would suggest one of two things 1. Ensure you fly a reflex glider....i have found they are better for power launching up through prop wash than standard paragliders (just my experiences) 2. Dont rev engine so much initially whilst wing is coming up. Because of the .oving airflow created by prop,you actually dont need much to get the wing coming up. Think of how little wind is needed to reverse launch and kite a paraglider these days. When foot power launching, the initial thrust is only a small amount to get wing up. As the wing passes 11 O'Clock, then begin to further open the throttle, increasing to take off thrust as you run forward (i can usually feel in my body the right time to open throttle more but i still regularly stuff the timing when i havent flown much). Too much power launch thrust too early will see the wing surge far too quickly then your body wont be able to get moving fast enough to keep up with it. Essentially it will lose its energy above your head and very quickly begin to settle back down to the ground again (at the worst possible time). Your efforts to then get moving will suddenly become very very difficult as the wing is then a big parachute because its not flying anymore. And thus is when i find im in danger of getting a line tangle around prop. If wing settles back to ground there are 2 things i try to do to hopefully avoid tangle 1. Dont turn around if wing is already behind me settling to ground (keep facing forwards 2. If possible try to encourage wing to fall evenly back down level (not so easy as wings not flying almost always immediately go offline to side) 3. Immediately shut down engine (actually this is the first thing one should do...i should have it first in list) Its a matter of experimentation until you find the right amount of thrust needed.

I am no expert at this however, from my limited experience, an awful lot of thinking and reflecting on my flights and watching others on youtube i would say this.... Make sure that you are not overbraking the wing...especially on climbout. Check your reach to ensure you are not inadvertantly holding on too much brake (i made this mistake once and was extremely lucky to not crash...i kinda did but it was onsoft sand and i mainly landed sideways rather than full stall tail slide to terrafirma. The difference between running along the ground and taking and easily maintaining level flight is only a few km/hr. Once airborne there is no need to reach for the nitrous oxide injection button. If anything once airborne, ease off the throttle whilst also leveling out the climb and just relax...your airborne and unless you chose a terrible launch site with lots of nasty terrain obstacles, you are actually quite safe where you are. Some people seem to panic once they get airborne thinking its vital they get as far away from mother earth as possible...they squeeze and freeze, which is almost always a very bad idea (as is playing around with throttle settings all over the place when climbing out). Think of it this way, each time you suddenly increase throttle, your engine is going to almost instantly produce an increase in torque and therefore torque induced steer forces. Then backing off again immediately begins the reverse..doing this over and over again actually increases instability and upsets in-flight behaviour of your aircraft. Not trying to push his channel but watch Tucker Gott taking off and listen to his engine rpm drop once he leaves the ground. I used to think this was just a bit of showing off, but i now see a lot of merit in what he does. Once he has settled everything down, then he powers up to a much higher setting and commences his climbout. In my opinion, if you are experiencing unsettling behaviour in your aircraft the safest thing to do is glide...even if that results in a landing. Even a hard landing from glide is going to be a better outcome than a crash under high power.

Is that the private field sw of sydney where the ppg guys have been flying for the last year? I havent flown the site im speaking of, its a bit too far from where i live, but i have heard about it

Sure that would be great.

Yes that could be it...however another point to consider is canopy curve across the span...if you look at apco, little cloud goose, and most velocity paragliders wings, you will notice they all have a flat arch through the middle span with shorter radius on the tips (turned down). This design feature apparently makes a significance difference on side to side oscillation....it certainly does on my 21m little cloud goose mk2. Another consideration is additional technologies used in the lineset that pull tips down when speed system is engaged...AR is not the only thing but generally speaking, higher AR wings are more efficient but with perbaps the exception of miniwings and speed wings, they are mostly harder to fly, flex more, and require more active piloting. An example of an outrageous demonstration is in the link below. Its called a "deathblade" and for good reason. https://vimeo.com/30837697 There is a 13:1 AR paraglider that needs a pilot who is absolutely insane.

I just thought about lightweight and dynamics and i cant help but make a comment and ask for input... In paragliders we generally say that increased wing loading=more dynamic wing and recovery. Manufacturers, well ozone at least, place the lightweight versions of their wings higher in the difficulty category for said wingtype. This would indicate that the lightweight versions essentially are generally more difficult to fly. If the wing is lighter, the total flying weight is lighter...which i would have thought = lower wing loading and therefore less dynamic. So if wing loading isnt what makes light weight gliders more difficult to fly and categorised higher, what is it?

Interesting...im going to start a new thread as this has just raised a question for me...

For me launch has been largely an irrelevant consideration because very early on in my ppg experience i was taught to power launch (use a little thrust from get go to bring up wing). This was because im skinny and forward launching with 30kg on my back was just too difficult. So my main considerations are efficiency @ cruise speed and slow landing speed (skinny legs so i dont like high landing speed with 30kg on my back). My main reason for asking about top speed is just as a matter of interest. I am picking up the 22mtr Sirrocco in the next week or so...i will try to do a couple of write ups on my experience with it as i progress. I am a little concerned though because, even though i was the first to fly it new out of the box 2 years ago, i suspect this particular wing may have bitten its current owner and consequently it has only been flown half a dozen times since unboxing almost 2 years ago. Wings that bite are to be respected i expect? Having said that i am actually quietly excited about taking possession of it.

Couple of things i noticed here that i would like to comment on in my experi3nce both free flying and motoring... 1. To pilot who purchased a 26 m speedstar after having had a viper...i am totally not surprised you are dissapointed...why on earth would you get that size in the speedster(its way too big after a viper). 2. Oscillations are almost always an issue with smaller wings..its comes with the territory and unless the wing has tip activation when trimmers are let out, this is going to be a problem to some extent and gets worse as the wing gets smaller. Some manufacturers have added technology into their designs to combat this exact problem when cruising (with trimmers closed too bad...you just have to put up with it or get a larger wing over 20m flat)...or buy an apco that has turned down tips/flat arch which apparently helps (little cloud do this with their free flying wings for this reason i believe). My understanding is that line lengths also influences side to side oscillation. 3. In terms of surging and twitchiness, i would suggest this is simply a matter of aspect ratio and also wing loading...certainly the higher the AR the more apparently unstable these things feel...ie canopy flexes more, they move around etc. Cetainly this lack of comfort is very pronounced when free flying high aspect ratio 2 liners. I think at the end of the day one has to remember that paramotoring wing selection needs to be made with the same progression philosophy as free flying gliders...indeed even more so because we are flying similar sized wings 30kg overweight by comparison. i free fly an Icepeak competition 2 liner and when go back to a standard wing it feels like they have no balls...very frustrating. On a positive note however, the comfort of the low end gliders is phenominal in shitty air. I think in its own unique way paramotor wings are same. One must compromise...but its important to be careful about wing size when going down the classes...for example flying a 17m glider and then buying a 26m is going to immediately frustrate even if it was exactly the same type of wing. One is going to feel like they are flying a bus.

good point christian, i wondered about the series 2 in the sirocco model...i note that in the specifications Ozone have lowered the aspect ratio slightly. I would have thought that doing such a thing would also reduce efficiency? Also, they say the newer sirocco 2 is a little faster, i wonder what they did to achieve that? Was it by increasing the speedbar range (which might explain why they lowered aspect ratio slightly). Christian what comparison in speed between the Sirocco and Speedstar2 have you experienced?

Hi guys, i feel very sheepish about even mentioning this, i am going against everything i have ever said about Ozone ppg wings and have been made an exceptionally good offer for the purchase of a 22m Sirocco with only 5 flights on it (one of which was mine on its very first ever flight after delivery to importer from the factory). I first flew the wing about 2 years ago...(Sirocco, not the Sirocco2) I did not speed test it when i first flew the wing. Whilst it has a couple of shortcomings that i found frustrating at the time, i remember it being fantastically easy to launch and felt right at home on it from the second i turned to take off. At the price it is being offered to me i simply cannot pass it up. Has anyone got any speed information on this wing? (middle weight range) 1. minimum flying speed 2. trim speed 3. trimmers out speed 4. top speed much appreciated Adam

Whilst i dont have a nitro, i do have 2 engines of same volume that are also at opposite ends of the weight scale (6kg difference in engine weight). The loss in power of my lighter engine is noticeable however the weightsavings make an enormous difference on the ground...and for me that is very good for the anxiety generator as one is about to touchdown at "fleetspeed". Having said that, in the air there are also significant differences in stability and feel...and these are in favour of the heavier more powerful engine and ppg unit. I wish i could test both engines on identical frame because to some extent, frame design and geometry must be a significant factor. I think with my current setup i need to downsize the wing to fly comfortably on the lighter engine.

Perhaps no ignition to coil...does it have any ignition switches, relays, or fuses? (Some paramotors dont have fuses but i thought i would ask anyway.) Seems strange that a coil would go on a new engine...something must have come lose surely? ...oh you said new second hand...oops.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/paramotor/permalink/1551623134890699/

Havent flown the spyder, only the buzz pwr, and the sirrocco (lightweight speedster). The spyder is the lightweight version of the roadster and i suspect it is an attempt at creating a reflex crossover pg/ppg wing not unlike the dudek universal...although a slightly higher rated wing class as the universal is also very suited for the beginner straight out of school. I would be interested in flying some of the latest model ozone wings to see if they have altered some fundamental characteristics i dont like. I make no apologies, I am a Dudek tragic unfortunately! (I am blinded by perfection...woe is me)