slim

Hi all, since I've upgraded to fixed wing I haven't flown my paramotor in a while. It's just taking up space in the garage. Everything you see in this video is for sale. The motor had a new piston installed by Lee Mvm Moss and his excellent crew about 5 flying hours ago. The wing has less than 10 hours on it. The frame has more than its fair share of dents and scuffs but overall it's an excellent package and I've loved flying it. Make me a sensible offer and be ready for the good weather!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HapqjguLm1g

Hi all,

This just arrived from Thames Valley Police. Looks like weekend travel heading to and from Membury from the East could be problematic for the next few months....

Please see information below from the Highways Agency regarding the M4 closures.

Maintenance work to replace the beams and waterproofing material to the bridges which carry the M4 over the B4009 Hampstead Norreys Road near Hermitage, Brocks Lane near Frilsham and Burnt Hill Road has now started.  As previously advised, during work to demolish and install the bridge deck beams, specialist working methods and equipment will be required which will include larger cranes that will sit across all lanes of the motorway.

To allow this work to take place we will be fully closing the M4 east and westbound carriageways between junctions 12 and 13 over the following entire weekend periods (9pm Friday through to 5am Monday):

·         Friday 24 to Monday 27 November 2017

·         Friday 8 to Monday 11 December 2017

·         Friday 15 to Monday 18 December 2017

·         Friday 12 to Monday 15 January 2018

·         Friday 19 to Monday 22 January 2018 (contingency)

During the closures a clearly signed diversion will be in place via the A4 (through Newbury, Thatcham and Woolhampton), however as we are expecting this route to be extremely busy alternatives routes will be suggested further afield.

Significant delays are expected during these weekend closure periods, and it is advised that you plan ahead of your journey to allow for extra time or avoid this route where possible.

Wish I'd been there but prior commitments... Next year

I'm reminded of a Father Ted episode: Small... far away. B52H wingspan is 56.4m. Paraglider wingspan 8m-ish. They may be in the same photo but not actually that close.

Love it. Wish I could have been there. 

I had a much less serious crash just over a year ago. Broken bones etc. but not too much shattered. Recovery is at least 80% attitude. My ankle is still a little weak so I'm flying a trike now and, once I've mastered it, I suspect I won't go back to foot launch very often. The CAA have recently made exceptions for pilots with medical reasons for flying trikes in the UK so insurance is valid. Good luck with getting better Rik. Thanks for the flight post-mortem, glad it wasn't a real post-mortem!

And the fact that this time nothing majorly bad happened is no guarantee that next time the drone might not hit the pilot in the face or chest. Even a drone strike on the wing is unlikely to mean the paramotor crashing from the sky but it is likely to rip the canopy.

I doubt there was no damage. The lines it snagged are likely to have had some of their outer sheaths damaged surely.

Me +1

Really enjoyed the ones we used to have. Nostalgia rules.

Not sure I care where the snow is hitting me. I probably ought to be thinking about finding a safe spot to land

Attach a prop and hang points and you'd have a beautiful road-legal flying machine

My Dudek Reaction is probably way too large but happy to lend on YFIYFI basis.

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Beautifully fast now Simon. Well done.

I also couldn't log in using the link on the menu on the right.

I'm based on the East side of Reading - getting tight between the ground and Heathrow controlled airspace but loads of decent fields.

Unfortunately I'm going to be without a paramotor for a while but would love to have a local place to ground handle.

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Doh!

Ok, need an iPhone 5 with more screen space so I click on the right threads with my ageing fingers

Yes, hoping to make it to the flyin. Need to put it in the diary.

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Downloaded, installed, used, liked

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Hi Baz,

I'm based in Reading and looking for a site to fly locally but until then I'd certainly go with Simon's recommendation. The crowd down at Membury are second to none.

S

Was thinking of doing my Land Rover in the bright pink for a laugh

I'm going with the "it adds too much weight to be useful" school of replies. There are exceptions though. Most internal combustion engines are designed to provide useful power over a wide range of revs. This makes them less efficient at all speeds. If you can design it to be most powerful at a very particular speed, preferably the speed at which your alternator is most efficient, then you get a much higher power to weight ratio.

This fundamental design was used in older diesel-electric trains (who certainly didn't have to worry about weight too much). Petrol (or diesel) is a very efficient storer of energy... not least because half the fuel is in the air being pulled in to the engine. A battery powered system has to carry all its "fuel" in the weight of the batteries.

Then there are the capacitors as storage. To store large quantities of energy in a capacitor it would have to be huge. We've all seen the capacitors that the boy racers use to smooth power to their oversized amps in Vauxhall Corsas and yes, if you drop a screwdriver across the terminals you get a big spark and possibly a fire but that is a high flow for a very short amount of time. It is a tiny amount of energy compared to 300Amps for many minutes.

And finally, we come to efficiency. There is no way that all of this energy conversion is going to be anything close to 100% efficient so you'll be loosing heat all over the place.

It is a lovely idea but the physics are against you

S.

Most excellent. Well done Si. Now I don't have any excuses left... back in the sky here I come

S.

Trouble is you'd need three of them to match the power output of a Polini Thor 200.

Just saying.

S

There were many a comment when the crutches were put to one side and Lord Haze threw himself off the ledge. I hope he wasn't in too much pain

S.

Hi all,

How many of you have ever got your reserve 'chute out in anger? Not many I hope.

How many of you have ever practised throwing it? Not many I'll bet. Do you even know what colour the canopy is?

On Sunday I went to the Big Fat Repack organised by the Thames Valley Hang-gliding Club and BHPA at Rivermead in Reading. They set up a huge zip-wire that you throw yourself down and deploy your reserve. Then they teach you how to re-pack it. It was a really interesting day and I learned a lot - not least that velcro that hasn't been moved for 6 years is incredibly hard to shift. I strongly recommend loosening the velcro fastenings as part of your pre-flight checks to make sure you can throw it with one hand if the need arises.

One thing that did surprise me was the number of 'chutes that were deployed that didn't open because they were too tightly packed and had been sat on for years! Not much use when plummeting from the sky!

I'll definitely be going again next year and I'll be plugging it on this site when they announce the dates. A good day not wasted. Shame there were only a couple of paramotor pilots there

Here's a short video of my effort:

[youtubevideo]

Happy (safe) flying,

S.

Thanks Michael, it was good to meet you guys too. I used to be really good at landing... honest. I did it all the time - usually after running out of fuel

S

I hear you're a little bit biased in favour of 4-strokes Morgy