Phil_P

Hey Alan, weather seemed perfect today so despite my dodgy hip I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately the hip couldn't keep pace with the motor and I face planted, but at least the kill switch was in by the time I 'arrived'.

Now working on the trike plans, as I suspect that'll be the last attempt at foot launch till I get the new hip and am fully recovered.

Phil

Hi, it would be helpful if you could tell us where you are based so we know what currency we are talking about

Unfortunately, the motors are very expensive for what they are. There are some people who are going a cheap diy route, using things like clones of the popular Honda GX200 four stroke engine. Others have used modified motorcycle engines. If you are a capable builder you can easily halve the motor cost. The wing on the other hand you pretty much have to buy, but good used examples can bring your costs down to more manageable levels.

Phil

I saw somewhere that someone who was having a similar problem put some rows of stitches (to bulk up thickness) I think crosswise across the webbing (although might have been along it).

Giving the clip a squeeze as you pull back the webbing against the cam, can help lock it in place.

I would be seriously tempted to buy some pucka paragliding boots if I were you. Nice high ankles with good lateral support and no hooks for the laces that tend to catch on glider lines.

If you only use them for flying, they will probably last a lifetime with care.

I like my Crispi boots.

At the current rate of growth, Iphone owners will have a 60% market share globally in 12 months from now.

Most software companies are focusing on I-phone apps for that very reason.

SW

I suspect that is a massively optimistic projection. Just walk down the street and count how many I-Phones you see being used, then consider that in 12 months you expect it to be nearly two out of three. Most people don't even need or want the functionality of a smart phone, so how are they going to be won over?

I could perhaps believe 60% of the smart phone segment, but even there, Symbian is king and despite it's clunkiness, WinMob still has a huge share, and with Android looking good I think Apple have a real battle on their hands.

As for software, I reckon that WinMob is still streets ahead. Perhaps not of the Apple when it comes to big commercial stuff (that you have to pay through the nose for) but look at the small developers building cheap or free shareware/freeware apps, and personally, I have yet to be disappointed when looking for something for a particular task.

WinMob of course is also used in many embedded situations like almost all of the Sat Nav products out there, so that helps it hang on tenaciously.

Sorry if I've gone OT a bit, just reflecting on phone usage.

Phil

Bon chance!

Phil

If you can use a room where you can at least have the wing loose (spare bedroom, even the attic), and then get a fan heater on very low to move the air around, it will dry very quickly. Shifting the wing about will help too (the marital bed is fine, but might not be the marital bed for much longer depending on your relationship ).

If the air is dryish, fling it over a rope strung down the garden, even in a zig-zag where space is limited.

As others have said, don't store it wet, although synthetic materials and threads are pretty resistant to mildew, your wing will smell well funky and sport some new attractive 'mould' designs. Think how mushrooms shoot up overnight, and you get an idea of how quickly mould can get hold.

Phil

Have you gone for the standard or the 'XP' model, Tom?

Phil

Well the combined ones are about $250 US per unit from Aircraft Spruce, so probably about £250 each in rip off Britain.

I'd guess that the strobe on it's own would maybe be a little less.

Phil

I think everyone will find that whatever clauses and exemptions may or may not exist, you are vanishingly unlikely to get in any trouble for operating an airband radio AS LONG as you use it in the manner in which it is intended. Start abusing the system by chatting to your mate (especially on 123.45) and you are likely to incur a great deal of wrath.

Doing your FRTL is one of the best ways of learning the right and wrong way of doing stuff, so you stay out of the poo in two ways. It will also boost your confidence in talking to those VERY professional people in ATC and LARS units. By doing so, we also present ourselves as good pilots, so giving paramotoring a good reputation.

An installation licence of ANY sort is going to be hard to come by these days, as NONE of the current hand held radios hold the required type approval. The only way you will get this is by using an older ICOM or similar (ICOM A4 or A22 for example). It is my personal opinion that this particular requirement may be waived within the next few years (but don't hold your breath).

Phil

DO NOT TOUCH THAT FIRM WITH A BARGE POLE!!!!

Just about any of the forums contains horror stories about their antics. I have my own. Once they have your money, don't expect ANY further communications. You might be very lucky and get your kit, but the odds are not good.

Even Click & Buy the online payment system dropped them because of charge-backs.

Phil

How handy are you at DIY?

I bought a pair of Peltor Optime III ear defenders with helmet mounts for about fifteen quid (new) then fitted some ANR inners with all the electronics, from Headsets Inc in the USA which were about a hundred pounds.

With some minor dremel work on the helmet mounts, they fit and look just like a set of Micro Avionics headphones for less than half the price (as they are ANR).

Very VERY quiet with the ANR turned on and quite quiet even without it, plug straight into an air band radio and connect to a 2m set with a simple adaptor. I have these fitted to an ICARO (2000 I think) helmet.

Phil

Thanks for your help Simon and Dave.

Motor :RAD MXL

Wing :Action 29

Harness: Woody Valley, Large

I don't have to adjust any trims of make any brake input to fly straight and level, its just the seat on the tilt that I'm finding a problem.

I thing I need to tighten the straps holding the motor to the harness?

Many thanks,

Jack

I have a bit of a theory here, bear with me;

As your prop turns CW, as you say this will result in the motor turning ACW, giving you a left side of seat low situation. I would guess that our bodies in an effort to create equilibrium will probably subconsciously weight shift somewhat to the right to counteract this effect.

The resultant that you are finding is that you are flying straight.

Well, here is a bit of a problem. If you lengthen the harness straps on the right (or shorten those on the left) in order to level the seat, you will effectively have introduced a control input that will result in your aircraft turning to the left (by removing the R weight shift element). So you now have a bit of a paradox; accept the out of level seat, or actually have to go to MORE effort in order to fly as straight as you are managing to do now.

Personally, I'd accept the out of level seat and be happy you are flying straight.

Phil

VMG is Velocity Made Good

I believe so Phil. Hence my ThrustSSC remark.

Andy

That's a respectable speed then. Not outlandish, but quite respectable. For most of us to better it, we would require very still conditions, as the gains you make on the downwind leg are never as great as the losses you make on the upwind one, so all the fantastic single direction speeds that people quote are pretty meaningless. A triangular course is even worse, as you lose either way on any crosswind element, which by definition, at least two of the three legs will have.

Phil

The quoted record speed is also an average. does that mean it takes in an upwind as well as downwind leg?

Phil

I bought the V2 and have put tomtom 6 on it (tomtom cost £00)

Pete, can I ask where I can get a legal free copy of TomTom? Or is it that you were fortunate enough to already have an unused copy to hand?

Phil

Here here, try and amalgamate a new child into your life rather than changing your life to fit the baby.

It meant our two were very well travelled and rarely, if ever, car sick. They also spent many hours outdoors in the fresh air when I was flying R/C gliders.

NB all the above is a little tongue in cheek, but with a touch of reality thrown in

Was very impressed with the build quality of the Kobra, nice piece of kit.

85 kg is positively skinny, what are you antipodeans eating as it's obviously good for you?

Simon, I doubt Piers will be much help to this guy given his location

Cheers Phil I will have a look at that.

I guess it's a case of just experimenting with the trim settings but obviously trying first with closed trimmers to see how it all goes. I could be worrying over nothing but nevertheless it's good to get some advice and feedback.

Thanks again,

Justin

Advice? ADVICE?, oh no, don't go taking my advice! Only been playing with these here paramotor thingies for a year or so, so everything should be taken with a pinch of salt. We are on an internet forum, right? Advice worth what you pay for it yadayada....

Phil

mode>

I guess that the trim tab was about 4 inches long.

I'm not sure that the 1/2 inch made a great difference and I was never particularly aware of the wing hanging back on launch. Certainly in higher winds however, setting it half out made the wing much more manageable. It was an XL wing, and I found it a little bit tricky to forward launch (but then I was at the bottom of my learning curve, so the wing shouldn't necessarily be blamed). Of course forward launching tends to imply lower wind speeds, so no trim alteration really required I suppose. My problem was usually the wing going off to one side, probably because I wasn't anticipating very well.

The fast trim was noticeably faster than slow, although I'm afraid I can't quantify it. The figures are on the para2000 web site if you want to check there.

Phil

It's got to be 42, that's the answer to everything isn't it

Cheers,

Alan

Ah, another HHGTTG aficionado.

Make mine a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

Phil

After a lot of searching I found Transair.co.uk to buy a England south chart from seems to be the cheepest I could find.

And they do a free subscription service that automaticaly sends out updated charts when they are released (quite usefull I thought)

Tom

Just in case anyone wondered, the service is free, the replacement maps aren't.

I get the feeling that the CAA probably fix the price with minimal or even zero profit, as there is so little variation, a bit like shops selling postage stamps.

Phil

Best you can usually do is to buy a motor off someone who HAD to have the newest toy, scared themselves witless on the first launch and is now trying to recoup a bit of their outlay. Motor is just nicely getting bedded in and enough cash in hand to buy the wing of your dreams.

Phil

I tracked one down somewhere on the net just by looking up the code printed on the belt. Came in about £15 delivered.

Phil