rszemeti

I decided to commit to sailing, as the amount of flying ive actually acheived is not exactly huge ... and im getting woefully out of practice,

so, there a nice little 10-hours-use Casteluccio Fly 100 SMN on ebay now ...

Its all as it should be, nice and shiny ... and uber powerful with the 28hp Simonini engine in it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Castelluccio-Fly- ... 286.c0.m14

go on .. you know you want to

cheers

Robin.

Someone compared the use of 2m to 10litre plus fuel tanks .. illegal technically .. but who cares? well ... I guess one difference is a 14L fuel tank probaly only affects you ... I wonder how many of the people carrying 2m radios have any clue as to the bandplan? You knwo which sections of 2m are used for weak signal work? "oh, I listened, it was not in use" ... so you think you'd hear someone bouncing a signal off the moon to someone on a different continet? (yes, people do!) nop, but your 2m handy probably ruins there attempts. Or you just happen to have picked the channel that input to a local repeater and you can be heard all over the county? Unsuprisingly people whose hobby is interefered with tend to complain, and to the DTI and anyone else who will listen . like the CAA ...

The list goes on .. our hobby is pottering around the sky in a bag of nylon with a lawnmower engine attached ... other people prefer tlaking to each other on VHF, it takes all sorts ... Paramotoring is quite likely to come under a variety of pressures in coming years, from many and varied angles. Showing ourselves to be responsible airspace users will help. Getting peoples backs up is unlikley to promote our cause.

Preferebaly get an airband radio and alicence, its not exactly hard or expensive .. failing that, at least find out which bit of the 2m band is least likely to upset people!

Generally speaking ... the actual number of hours flown will make little difference to the diaphragm, the things basically sits there immersed in petrol 24hrs a day whether you fly it or not. Paramotors run such low hours per year, its basically just a question of when it hardens and cracks really. and whether you've done 5 or 100 hours is not going to make any difference. I've got a 25yrs old lawnmower still on its original diapragmn .. they seem to last 10 years at least under normal circumstances if its a qulity material in the first place, so Id go with whats Simon said basically leave it alone, perhaps change it when you rebore the engine and overhaul the carb ...

I agree. Why can't para wings have inflatable spar and/or ribs to fix the wing in shape like on power kites?.

Umm power kites dotn't have that ... well, at least not for that purpose. Powerkites for use in water have it, and its basically there to keep the front bit afloat and the kite in some sort of decent shape so that you can launch it ... once flying it does little or nothing ... Not seen a land based powerkite with an inflatable leading edge ..

Some years ago, people did try fitting carbon fibre battens to the front edge of paragliders in a bid to improve their resistance to deformation .. didn't really work ... I had an ailes de k Pantair, nice looking glider and very fast for its day .. bit of a pain to pack up with this poxy carbon fibre rod .. and i stopped flying it when it became known that they had a bad habit ... the carbon fibre spar certainly gave some initial tuck resistance if it all went a bit light ... but, if you hit a rough patch, or came out of the side of a thermal with enough down to force a collapse, then if it tucked, it would NOT come out, no matter how much pumping you gave it.

In the end, the problems of wing collapse have been solved by aerodynamic design and pilot training ... if you truly want a stiff wing that CAN'T collapse try hangliding or flexwing microlights The dangers of collapse on a DHV1 rated wing are pretty low to be honest, can mostly be avoided in the first place, and failry beninign even if the DO happen. From waht happened with the Pantair design, it was pretty obvious that you would have to make it VERY stiff to avoid collapse entirelyt, because the added risks of it tucking (eventually) and staying tucked, made it actually worse overall. Better to suffer a few minor tucks you can recover from than one you can;t ...

what exactly is it that you got living in the grass up by the flagpole?

Some evil beasties managed to get inside my socks and trousers and have eaten me alive, my wife thinks mosquitos, I think it could be tigers.

I've got bites everywhere, currently the best option seems to be scratching them with a wire brush, at 4am I was quite prepared to remove my skin with a blowlamp to get rid of the itching!

Next time, I'm bringing flea spray!!

well that is good my pal hs a gin bolera 3 so he is sorted i have a edel atlas which is a old wing an a action which bein new i wouldnt attemp to fly but read a lot on the atlas and sees a stable wing but not sure under power do you have any thoughts?

the edel atlas was a nice wing in its day, but its a) probably porous as hell by now, and b) too small and c) a bit slow and draggy. the atlas was a 2nd generation wing, probably dates back to 1990.

if it was large enough and the nylon not porous, then it might be OK, I suspect it will be too small for you with a motor, and i doubt very much if its still flyable, get a porosity check and line check done .. but to be honest, the check may be more than the wing is worth .. it

The GT is just way way too advanced for a newbie, leave well alone until you have some hours under your belt.

If its for charging the utility batteries while you a running up the motorway, just tap a wire onto the battery +ve and slap it on the lorry batteries ... the real deal is to use a thing called a "diode split" ... two diodes in the alternator output, one charges the vehicle battery, the other charges the utility battery, the diodes make sure the utility battery doesnt try and help start the car.

You can buy diode splits at most marine chandlers, because they have EXACTLY this same problem on boats .. or get a thing called a "split charge relay" ..

see http://www.tb-training.co.uk/16elect.htm

or, just bodge a bit of wire in from the battery +ve and remember to disconnect it once you park up

Dave,

What phone you got ? I'm due an upgrade and looking at Nokia n95 with 8gb memory.

I have had a couple of N95s now ... they make a fair impression of a camera, its a bit slow between shots.

As a phone its sort of OK, the contacts manager sucks

As a GPS forget it. 2 hrs battery life with the GPS on, assuming it even gets an initial fix, which can easily take 15 minutes, if you are stationary, if you are moving, it probably goes flat before it finds itself.

Frequently crashes, battery life of just over a day or so, if you forget to charge it overnight, it WILL die on you next day.

Worst phone ive ever owned

Worcestershire, and yes it is sodding windy .. to be fair, down here its not too bad, but looking up, the clouds are going rather briskly .. I'll give it a miss.

Its been liek this for weeks now

The pipe on ebay looks like it's designed to go pretty much full circle round the motor,

True .. Im assuming hes prepared to "have a go" ... since its a solo210 exhaust, it shoudl fit the exhaust manifild OK, just a question of hoping it fits around the frame ... looks the right sort of shape ...

persoanlly, Id juts go out and buy a Simonini

Any reccomendations on suppliers, models of exhaust or airfilter etc.....

I posted a link earlier ... read back up the thread .. to the right sort of exhaust being sold on eBay right now.

Filter .. go for a K&N ... if you fly from particularly dusty sites, consider a filter sock. Expect to pay about 30 quid for the K&N. If you go to the K&N site, download the selection guide, measure the intake of the carb, you can easily find one to fit ... then just email a few of the K&N sellers on ebay and for a price ... Halfords can also get them to order, but they quoted me 50 quid for the one I ended up paying 30 for.

Just because it's the sort of guy I am, I am going to let Mr Stan Stevens breathe a little extra life into it over the winter.

mmmm ... that will be going "BANG" then ... if you really want a tune try Graham File of Hythe. Stan is OK if you get the man himself ... more usually on of his monkeys does it .. some are good, some are umm "in need of further training" I've seen some stan stpehens motors with VERY dodgy squish setups. My GF tuned RGV often amazed several local dyno houses who had never seen anything perform like that, and it made SS stage 3 tunes look weak and very peaky.

Graham File would be my choice everytime.

Oh and for the original question ...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/paramotor-solo-21 ... .m14.l1318

In theory yes. The 11 to 15bhp from a Solo 210 is obviously MILES off what an engine like that is capable of producing ... to give you a clue as o what is *possible* ... a full spec race 250cc two stroke motorcyle produces around 80 bhp, a 125 single produces around 40 bhp ... so yeah, at 15bhp it is a looooong way off being "highly strung"

Whish is of course a good thing in some ways, we need a fair degree of reliability.

With your weight I would go for something a little more umm "pokey" ... 105kg would be a good match for one of the Simonini Mini2+ powered units ... witha 1300mm prop ... you should get around 80kg of thrust, a little more than the 50 to 55 from the Solo ...

Sadly of you already have the tuned pipe and a free-flowing air intake, its going to need a little gentle tuning work to get more out of the Solo ... a good 2 stroke tuner will be able to clean up the engine without destroying its reliability ... just clean up the gas flow in the bottom end, fit a carb big enough to let it breathe and sort out the squish band ... and avoid any porting work ... but its prbably a whole lot simpler just to go and buy a simonini

Mmm .. canopies eventually become porus .. 400 hours flying is a common figure .. its realtively rare for this to happen though, they usually get trashed in some other random way before that, or you just get bored of it and buy something else ... resale value of a 100+ hour canopy is about 400 quid ... of a 200+ hour canopy is about 50 quid. .. by the time youve put 200 hours on it, it will be 5 years old, shagged ut, and much better stuff will be on the market.

props and cages get damaged. you rip and fall, it ahppens. in THEORY they last forever .. in paractice .. well, it happens

And to exhaust your eyes. Is there much potential to recover costs - I am thinking of providing tandem flights in a year or two....... i kind of figue university students are a good market

umm none whatsoever.

1) first you need to learn to fly solo ... (think solo wing, mid sized paramotor)

2) then you need lots of experience .. (think a couple of years of good solid every flyable weekend)

3) then you need to buy a tandem paramotor ...

4) .. and this is where i *think* im correct ... to take a PAYING passenger who is not a student pilot under instruction you probably need a minimum of a BCPL (or whatever the current equivalent is) and worse, a paramotor with a Public Transport CofA, assuming im wrong about the first part .. you'll probably need at a MINIMUM a microlight licence, and register the paramotor as microlight, and even then you MAY be limited to cost sharing with other licensed microlight pilots ... I could be wrong, but im pretty sure you wont be able to do "aerial work" (as it is called) on an unregistered tandem paramotor .. and the licensing requirements will just be crazy .. if not impossible.

Honestly, I know it sounds like a laugh, but trust me, once you have had a go, and got say, 10 launches under your belt, you'll reallise its not practical t get payback from taking your mates out for a fly .. tandem paragliding is tricky enough ... paramotor .. gee, possible I guess, but, really, its far more difficult than you might imagine. ... just enjoy the weekend flying .. and get a bar job 2 nights a week.

Still enthusiastic of course!

1. Excluding fuel and treating yourselves to equipment, what is the average maintenance cost per year assuming you look after your kit etc (appreciate this is very broad).

2. General figure for insurance please. I carry on hearing its like 70.00 but i am VERY sceptical.

3. Cost of radio equipment (what is should look for).

4a. Fuel hungry wings i should avoid (weigh 80kg)

4b. Fuel hungry motors i should avoid.

5. Excluding training costs (which have been agreed). Can someone just give me an educated figure for sensible 2nd hand gear.

1) assuming you dotn break anyting ... the maintenance is essentially zero ...

assume .. you wear a wing out in (say) 200 hours (... yeah, I know, opinions vary) ... £2000/200hrs = £10/hr

you could probably put a similar figure on a motor .. techincally, they last a lot longer than that, but chances are after 200hrs of newbie flying, you'll have errm "worn it in"

so figure an equipment depreceation of £20/hr ...

actual maint is almost zero ... 50 quid for a yearly check of the wing? the odd spark plug?

2) 70 for risks, 70 for equipment

3) mmm . figure £100 for a radio on ebay, not really needed though. the only radios licensed for aero use are airband, and you need a couple of permits. failing that, try a PMR set (cheap and cheerful) .. 144mhz/2m is a) not allowed without a licence and b) not allowed for aero use anyway. if you really feel you must use 2m .. avoid the 144.0 to 144.6mhz section at all costs ... be a good neighbour 145.2mhz to 145.6mhz is at least socially acceptable...

3) and 4) fuel costs simply does nto come into it at all. compared to the costs of actually getting to where you are going to fly, the amount of fuel you will use is neglible .. the hungriest motor compred to the most economic will make about 3 quid a day difference to your flying .. it really is nothing compared to the £200 quid bill when you rip the wing on a wire fence .. or break a prop, or seize the motor .. or the £60 round trip to somewhere only to find its blown out .. again ...

Most people just stand upright on the bar and use the weight to keep on

Pete b

I'd go with that ... stand on it rather than push it .. and do it gently and smoothly, keeping the wing straight and balanced .... likewise come off it smoothly and gently too.

The problem I always have is .. on windy blustery days when you REALLY need the extra speed to work upwind ... its always a bit rough and I really dont fancy giving it full speedbar anyway .. ho hum. maybe im just chicken?

Well it doesn't give silence, so you should be able to detect changes. The note changes as revs change are detectable but very muted. What you may find is that any distraction from wind noise is seriously reduced, possibly making it easier to diagnose or spot engine issues.

Phil

In theory, it wont affect your ability to detect engine noises or any other problem one little bit. What you get is a reduction in all sound levels, you still get the same overall effect, just at a much reduced volume.

If flying without a radio, then there is minimal benefit, you could get the same results by simply sticking in a pair of foam ear plugs in before you put your muffs on. With a radio or other stuff, it allows you to have the radio at a sane level and still hear it clearly.

What would be neat is a system that allowed you to hear the wind and the rustle of the canopy fabric without the engine noise

I have had a pair for shooting for years, the are brill!!!

Shooting eh? I might have done a bit what discipline?

Are you any good?

I will report back tomorrow after a live engine run.

Absolutely bl**dy brilliant!!!!

Flick the switch and WOW!

As a matter of interest .. does this work with other sources of noise? for example ... kids? umm nagging wife? I can see a large market sector for this!!

If l am dangling under a wing/canopy at 2 thousand ft l want to trust it and if makers can produce a wing for nearlly a quarter of the price l'd be a bit hessitant.

Umm, like I said, you may well be getting someting made in the same factory ... same machinists etc, I guess what you arent getting is the benefit of all those visits by the designer to China to sort out all the little problems. Maybe you'll be lucky and get a perfect one first time out, maybe you'll have to return 2 before you do ... the quality control may well be a bit pants.

I don't think the problem is the quality of manufacture, as i said, they probaly get made in a factory thats already producing hundreds and hundreds of well known brand name gliders ... Counterfeit goods are a big problem when ther is significant R&D costs ... software woudl be the obvious example ... .a CD costs almost nothing compared to the cost of developing the software so piracy is always going to be an attractive option ..

In a huge market, like software, although piracy may well be rife, there is still enough market left for the playeers to survive and prosper (Bill Gates doesnt seem to have run out of dollars yet!) In a small and specialist market like Paramotor, piracy can have devastating effect.

When you have a population of a billion or so who's average wage is about a tenner a day you can make most things happen quickly.

However, ya pays peanuts, ya gets monkeys!

There was a certain kite manufacturer who decided to have their designs made in China. Their returns dept has never been so busy!

Umm, with respect ... thats incorrect

Many of the paragliders are made in China in the first place ... dont assume that just becausse its made in china its crap, theres an awful lot of top quality kit made out there ... I *thought* the Paramania stuff was made out there, could be wrong.

We used to import circuit boards from China, bare boards and populate them here, they were LOADS better than what we could get made in the UK and cheaper by 50%.

The reason they can sell you a wing for eur700 is simple .. thats probably exactly the same price Dudek and Paramania are paying for them. Good quality kit, fair price .. except, they ain't paying the R&D costs, the costs of supporting the dealers, the advertising, the dealers 30% margin, product liability insurance .. etc etc.

Im not at all suprised at the EUR700 price tag, sounds about right for the bit of kit.

But yeah, it sucks because although someone gets "a bargain" it shafts the companies that put in the hard work in the first place ... but you'd be wrong to assume that just because its Chinese, the quality will be crap. It could well be from the exact same factory that produced the original!!

OK, I admit it, im in gadget buying mode .... err, and I might be eyeing up that revolutions 26 on ebay .. hmmmmm

anyway ...

GPS .. what are people using thse days? garmin pilot? ... a PDA with some gps rx and some snazzy software? not bothering? ...

Ordered one and its pretty good. my reserve fitted it like a charm. I *think* I got the routing of the bridles right, looks OK. Love the nicely formed handle, sticks out nicely, easy to get at when you need it.

The only teeny weeny criticism of the reserve container is that the small loop of closure cord is stitched in, tied in would have been better, soit was replaceable ... if it gets damaged through some way (wearing on the release pin, scuffing from where you pull it through the eylete with a bit bit of cord, then you am stuffed.

Happy to buy from you ... got a website?

errm .. thats a reserve container made by gin paragliders, not a reserve of gin .. .

anyway...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/paramotor-paragli ... .m20.l1116

opinions? good .. bad .. medium?

got a charly revolution 2, just need a contaienr for it ...