slim

Whilst I agree that landing on water should generally be avoided at all costs "A Bad Thing " the report does point to one key aspect - If he'd released himself from his harness and got clear of the kit he'd probably be ok. Staying strapped in to a huge buoyant harness was the key mistake once in the water. Your life is always more valuable than the equipment. Stuart

Ok boys and girls, I have a copy of the Discovery Channel Mission Everest program on my laptop. It is an hour long and nearly 1Gb in size so you'll forgive me if I don't try and push it across the Atlantic. I'll try and find a web server to put it on (anyone got one with loads of free download bandwidth?) Stuart

A geek who can fly!

Thanks guys - He raised a total of £53

YouTube only allow files up to 100MBytes and 10 minutes. This thing is going to be much larger and longer. I'll split it if I get time but I have to move the kitchen into the garage this weekend. The builders are going to take out the wall on Monday and my good lady has pointed out that if I don't move the cooker I'm not getting fed next week! Spouse maintenance - an important part of flying. Stuart

I have a friend in the USA lined up to record it as an MPEG movie. I'll post a link to it as rapidly as we can download it across the Atalntic. Fingers crossed that it works Stuart

Stuart & Alison M. Acceptance speech prepared.

Hi Guys, It never ceases to amaze me how my kids don't tell me anything Today my son is doing a sponsored swim to raise funds for the air ambulance. He's trying to do as many lengths as possible of the school pool during lunchtime. If you're up for a bit of encouragement then please post your pledge here and put the cash in Simon's tin next time you're at the club. Many thanks - you know it's for a great cause. Stuart

I have always been fascinated by flight. In 1978 people were trying to fly helium balloons across the Atlantic, I was about 10 when, one warm August evening, a hot air balloon knocked the chimney pots off our house and bounced into the field behind. I vividly remember running down the garden in my dressing gown and slippers, climbing over the fence and talking to the pilots - who kindly gave me a lift to the bottom of the hill where they could easily get their trailer to pick them up. It was magic and I was hooked. All the hype about the trans-Atlantic flights and then watching the basket clip the top of the house was just too much for a little boy. Ever since that day I've been trying to find a way of getting into the air. I was too tall for the RAF and red-green colour blind so a commercial license was out of the question. Then came wife and children and there was no spare cash (or time) for lessons but that didn't stop me from spending hours looking at different forms of flight. I thought about hang gliding but being a bit of a petrol head I never liked the idea of unpowered flight. Too much like hard work to "go" anywhere. Those of you who know me will know that my life is chock full of stuff - running my own business, wife and 3 children, and... and... and... etc. I love it but at heart I'm an introvert. This means that my "recharge time" comes from being on my own. I wanted to find an inexpensive, unregulated (I hate rules) and technologically simple (my whole working life is full of tech) way of flying that didn't have a passenger seat. Paramotoring fits that bill perfectly. I can't remember where I found it but it was almost certainly after way too much Googling My Grandpa flew Lancasters and Wellingtons during the second world war. In fact he got his pilot's license privately in the late 1920s flying bi-planes for fun! He died earlier this year and left me some money. He was a giant of a man, selfless, strong, true and brave. What better way to remember him than spend his money on flying? So why am I doing this? To fly, to be free, to be alone, to let my body go where my spirit has always soared - on the wings of eagles. Stuart

Now that is why I'm learning to fly.

put the word "youtube" inside [ ] and then the URL from the YouTube "Embedded" link which looks something like this: throw away everything except the and then /youtube inside [ ] so you end up with something like this: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/0QHJkoHJwJs[/youtube] There, clear as mud. Stuart

I claim the first real post with an embedded YouTube video The button doesn't work but the tooltip gave me enough info to work it out. Click here to see the post with embedded pictures and video. Stuart

Day n - a lesson in patience. I've stopped counting the days Unfortunately my motor is still not a happy bunny. Rob has done a fantastic job of rebuilding the carburettor (thank you so much Rob) - except that is for one tiny Teflon thingy so it still isn't working. I got some air under my feet by running very hard and pulling on the brakes but 6 inches off the ground and 2 feet along the ground doesn't really count So, as everyone keeps telling me, I need to be more patient. "oh, Lord, please give me patience... now!" Zach, my youngest, got hunted by a Red Kite: I did get a nice piece of video of Mike showing us all how a takeoff should be done. or here for the 61meg AVI file Until next time, Stuart

Strobes, another item for the dealership

Just so that nobody is in the dark... 143.950MHz is a frequency in a band allocated by Ofcom. As such it is illegal for anybody to use it without a license issued by Ofcom. On the other hand Ofcom and the CAA seem to have taken a pragmatic approach for the last few years and there is no reason to think that will change. Just remember that if you ever realise that you are interfering with someone who has paid Ofcom for a license to use that frequency then your only option is to stop transmitting. There are two good reasons why I care about this and I'm happy to explain them to anyone in person. You'll understand why. Stuart.

Now where can I fit a generator to my trusty (or not so trusty at the moment) RAD?

How much?

Col changed his speakers, mine are the originals. I'm not disagreeing with anyone. Everyone has had their experience and thus far mine has not been that bad. As possibly the only member of the club with a real amateur radio license I'm using a Kenwood TH-D7 radio. A truly excellent piece of kit but a price tag to match. Now of course I have to mutter dark things about unlicensed people using amateur radio frequencies... Stuart

Dear all, I've been toying with the idea of getting a Suunto X9i. GPS, altimeter, barometer, compass etc, etc all in a watch. In order to bring the cost down (£300) I'm looking to see if any one else is interested in any Suunto kit. DanTheMan has one of their altimeter, barometer, compass products (was it the "Core" Dan?). If we can get enough interest then they'll give the club dealer status and we can get a significant discount. Their main website is http://www.suunto.com and the outdoor products should be here The X9i page is here and it comes with software to automatically upload your track logs to GoogleEarth. For the gadget freaks amongst us this is currently as close to the state of the art as it gets Stuart

My Speedair works just fine. Obviously a Monday morning build.

That's twice I know of. Well done Col

Hi Sally Ann, Quote from my wife... On a more constructive note, I find that any hesitation as I turn and it all goes to pot. It really helped me to always make sure that I turn the same way so I know exactly where everything is going and I don't have to think about it. Also - the engine helps a lot. That is, after all, what it is there for. Perhaps see you later today. Stuart

Hey guys, I was trying to sort the album by "Last Pic" and got the following error... Sounds like a typo or a DB structure problem to me but what do I know? Stuart

Oh why can't I fly in the rain? I can walk in the rain, I can drive in the rain. I want to be up in the air! Oh why can't I fly in the rain? I can swim in the rain, I can even make love in the rain. It is so much fun to be up there! Oh why can't I fly in the rain? Who says I can't fly in the rain? The rain does not care If I'm up in the air! Oh why can't I fly in the rain?

Thanks everyone for all the wishes. Two top tips: 1) Trust Simon - he knows what he is doing. 2) speed - airspeed is everything. Run fast enough and you will find air beneath your feet! P.S. Wore my paramotorclub.org T shirt today at work. I think everyone worked it out by the silly grin and the willingness to re-tell the story to anyone who will listen