slim

It would be possible if I'd remembered who I'd given which tracker to. I'll try and work it out

You can download the Google Earth track points here (right click and "save link as"). These are the raw points from the very beginning, including when the guys have left their trackers on all night so there is a lot of data and some of it just wanders around in fields If you decide to buy a SPOT tracker do please let SPOT know that you're supporting Tip To Tip. They've promised to let us have the purchase price for any units purchased because of the project as a donation to the charities. Outstanding support. There is a subscription element to the service so read the details carefully to make sure you know which service you want. More fun later. Stuart

That's odd. Are you still getting the black shapes? We're pretty frustrated. We've been testing this stuff for months now and it has worked flawlessly. The week we need it to work and the satellite company decide to make all sorts of changes to their software and web servers! Grrrr. It is looking much better now though. Fantastic to see the guys flying this evening! S.

After the satellite company had a web server failure yesterday my geeks have been working on our own version of the maps page and it is up now. www.tiptotip.co.uk/TipToTip.php Our version has the advantage that you'll be able to see more than just the last 24 hours. We'll be adding more features as time goes on. The next one on the list will be a direct download of the KML file so you can fly it in Google Earth on your own desktop. Armchair TipToTip! Whatever next? Stuart

Why not go the whole hog and ask if there is a corner we can fly from when nobody else is using it?

Gentlemen, I have 18m of 19mm netting. Who's interested for real? Stuart

I'm hoping to pick up 10m tomorrow.

I was hoping to go public with this one when we have all the details nailed down but here it is in essence..... Any units purchased through Tip to Tip and signed up to the full reporting package will have the purchase price donated to Tip to Tip. I don't have the final pricing in pounds yet. I'll get an answer very early this week and we'll have a way to order on the Tip to Tip web site very soon (won't we Simon). If you can't wait then get in touch with me directly and we'll get it organised. I've been messing about with them for a few weeks now and they are the most awesome piece of safety kit I've seen in a long time. S.

A fine plan but my batteries are 18v - a bit of a hybrid system it makes for s short lived starter motor but faster starting in general

It was a little rough but do-able. I did much passing of the time with Col and a little ground handling during which I warmed up my motor several times and then got chatting again meaning it cooled off. When I was finally all set and ready to go my battery was flat. No matter, I thought, I brought my spare - which was also not having a good day. So we tried jump starting the motor from the car battery (that was a lot of fun) but by the time we'd messed around with jump leads and batteries and motors and wings it was just too late to do any flying so I packed up and went home. At least we proved that it can be done in an emergency and I'd rather err on the side of caution especially when I'm tired. No flying is better than an accident any day. Thanks for the company and the help though Col. Lessons from the day: don't assume that the battery in the "Charged" pile is bring the charger and the inverter

The weather looks ok for Tuesday evening and I'll be driving back from Bristol to Reading at about 16:30. I've told my wife I'm going to be late home Anyone else up for a couple of hours of early evening aviation pleasure?

Priceless. Well done that man.

That's why I'm not so worried about Simon branching out into internet security. (**************MESSAGE HACKED BY SIMON W 'NUFF SAID'***********************) Having said that, he's probably not worried about me branching out into the paramotor business

Ladies and gents, I'm in discussions with the University of Reading about using one of their farms as a flying site. They are being really enthusiastic. I'm going to go to the farm over the weekend for a final reccy. Some time in the next week or so it would be good to bring 2 or 3 people over with motors so that the farm manager and can see what we actually do and therefore make an informed decision about how far they want us from their cows. Anyone likely to be around please let me know so I can keep you informed. Google map link here. It'll be an interesting spot as we have controlled airspace above 2500ft and a small airfield (White Waltham) 6 miles East. Here's hoping!

Did you mean to say here is a link?

I soooooo know that feeling. We're all familiar with it. Stick at it

Strangely, the supplier just offered us another £6 off so that makes it £83 all up. Like I said - price is a strange place. PM me to order and you can have it by the weekend.

19mm netting : http://www.allplaz.com/acatalog/19mm_.5mm_Knotted_Netting.html Minimum order 4 square metres. Who's in?

I was talking to Martin at RAD the other day and he's using the 50mm x 2mm cricket netting on all new machines. I like the look and think it'll do the trick so if anyone else is up for a joint order count me in.

There will always be someone happy to live on less margin. Price is a dangerous place to compete. We donate a fiver to Paramotor Club for each one sold. The choice rests with the customer - it has always been thus. Stuart

Hi V23nb. Have you fitted and flown with the QuestXC yet? I'm deeply tempted.

I think you'll find it was a volcano in Peru. The chunks of molten rock flying through the air are definitely going to give your wing a bad day

Hi Guys, The best one I've found is called the Bak-Rak and you can buy it from me for £89 including delivery. It hooks on to a standard tow hitch. Feel free to ask questions. Here are some pictures of a Rad and a Parajet on mine... Here my RAD Javelin is in transport mode with a pair of kayak straps holding it down. I've driven hundreds of miles with it in this configuration without any problems. The Parajet is noticeably heavier than the RAD and would probably benefit from a piece of ply under it to spread the load but the Bak-Rak can easily take the overall load. Yours, Stuart.

I flew a couple of shorts hops just over a week ago and I've been trying to get my harness adjusted just right. I keep having trouble getting the seat to come down after takeoff. The answer is that I'm too tall for it so I popped over to Martin's place (RAD Paramotors) this afternoon to try on a new one. Thanks Martin, keep me posted on progress. So, having failed to read Simon's post a couple of days ago saying his mobile number had changed I finally gave up trying to call him today and headed over to the field any way. I arrived at about 18:00 to find nobody there but a gentle breeze from the North West. Being very much in the mood for a fly I decided that was what was going to happen so I got everything out and prepared myself. By 18:15 the wind had dropped to almost nothing so it looked like my least favourite takeoff conditions. No matter. After carefully laying out my wing and warming up the engine I decided to try a reverse anyway. It took a little more effort but, as Simon always says, commitment is everything and on the first attempt I had a wing above my head. I turned and started running. Easing on the power rather than grabbing the throttle certainly seems to work better and after about a dozen steps I was airborne. OK, so it wasn't a dozen steps in a straight line but it was full of commitment and determination and it worked really well. No pendulum from side to side and no heading back down to the ground. I know, nobody there to witness it so no kudos With 5 litres of fuel I'd decided that a reasonably long flight was in order so I turned towards the Membury tower and let the trimmers out. Climbing all the way I flew over the tower at about 1700 feet and then turned back towards the field heading for the wind farm on the other side of the Ridgeway. This was into the wind which at altitude was more like 10 to 15 mph so I wasn't making massive headway. My GPS showed speed over the ground at about 17 to 25mph. For the first time I came across other aircraft. There were a couple of microlights and a small fixed wing who was so busy watching me he almost didn't see them! 3000 feet is an interesting place! Then another small fixed wing flew right under me. I wasn't fast enough with the camera. He was about 1000 below. What fun. I tried experimenting with weight shift to counteract the torque steering and I think I got it about right. Of course anybody watching from the ground would have seen me wiggle and wander across the sky like a drunken gnat but I was learning all the way and not just wriggling 'cos I needed a wee. Using fuel like there was no tomorrow I decided to see if I could get to cloud base. A personal altitude record of 4672 feet! A couple of bad pictures of the wind farm later it was time to turn East and head for the white horse. Better pictures this time (yes I'll upload to the album but that'll be tomorrow now). I noticed people camping in the fields below the horse so I dropped down the other side of the Ridgeway where it was much warmer and waved to lots of excited children. Turning the engine off for a while made for an interesting experiment. Then it got even more interesting but it did re-start when I wanted it to. I flew past the white horse at the same height as it but about 100 yards away. There was so little wind that there was no noticeable lift from the ridge then I turned to go up over the hill fort. The people walking around it didn't think I was going to make it but I'm getting used to my rate of climb now and it was fine. Following the Ridgeway but now only a couple of hundred feet up I watch birds flying through the trees and waved at the dog walkers. Finally I decided that I could no longer see fuel in the tank so I'd better head back and landed with 250ml of petrol left. I did my traditional two pass landing (that at least makes it sound like I know what I'm doing) but I still managed to land rather hard and ended up on my face. I was further over the field than I wanted to be and so heading down the slope with no real head wind so I was coming in faster than I have before. No damage to equipment or myself and no witnesses so no damage to pride either After a quick bit of refreshment whilst packing up I drove home. That was my longest flight so far, just over 23 miles. It took about an hour and five minutes of air time as well as a personal altitude record. All in all not too bad for my first completely solo flight. I'm sure I made lots of mistakes and the more experienced among you will be tutting but for the moment I don't care. Sleep well all. Stuart Stuart

now I know what I want for Christmas!