slim

And there speaks a woman who knows what she is talking about! Thanks for clarifying that.

Neil does have both fixed wing and helicopter licenses as well as paraglider and paramotor experience. The CAA were (and still may be) considering an experimental aircraft license which would have given the team 24 hours of flying time in the UK and Europe but I believe it didn't arrive in time. More than that is speculation and we're unlikely to get answers until the end of next month when the team return. Stuart

Hi Sam, Your request is an interesting one but unlikely to find too many people with spare kit. On the other hand there are a lots of people who love to fly and if you want to organise a fly in at your station (or any others) there are lots of us who'd turn up to put on a show. The MOD own lots of really good flying sites! Of course it wouldn't be a "show" because that would require CAA approval etc Stuart

Hi Gents, I'll chase up for you but I'm pretty sure the Paramotor Club Shop supplier is out of stock at the moment. As soon as they're in they'll be shipped straight to you. Other orders are being handled as normal. Stuart

Simon is indeed away but you can still order from the shop. You'll find the wings here. Simon's little elves will make sure the stuff still gets to you Stuart

Must admit, I wondered the same. Is it something to do with the proceeds going to charity? I think that the key point of the Tip To Tip filming was that none of the paramotor pilots who carried cameras were "working." There was no prior agreement to use any footage they took, no suggestion that they would be paid for that footage whether it was used or not and, in the final analysis, they were not and will not be paid for that footage. They were pilots who happened to be carrying cameras not cameramen who happened to be flying. Tip To Tip did not play fast and loose with the law in this respect. Stuart

Evening Norman Would that be a certain Stig of our mutual acquaintance?

Evening all, There I was not really watching Richard Hammond's "Blast Lab" on CBBC just now and they had one of those crazy jet pack pilots trying to drop a basket ball through a hoop 30m off the ground. In the background (not that far away) was a paramotor flying past. It was filmed last year some time. Who was that? Anyone we know? Stuart

That rip isn't simple DIY repair. I heartily recommend the loft. They did some work on my wing in the time they said they would, at the price they said they would (and not as much as I was expecting). Get the details from their website http://www.theloftworkshop.co.uk call them up and away you go. Get it done properly and live to fly another day. Stuart

Well look at that - no sooner have you pointed out the errant full stop - than it is gone. Enjoy the trip Simon - we're all behind you! Stuart

Hi All, My motor started first time on 5 separate occasions today including the one that took me for a quick half hour flight. It was very cold and the cloud was very low (almost fog ) so I stayed low. Rubbish landing but no damage to kit or me so not too bothered - a good learning experience. Stuart

Hi Outkast, good to meet you today and well done on the 2nd flight. Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing My motor finally ran just as the sun set so I'll try again tomorrow Hope you're feeling better. Stuart

Of course, having checked the conditions, I discover that it is too windy I'll keep an eye on things and maybe pop up for a sunset later. Stuart

Hello everyone, Anyone up for meeting at the Flag Pole (if we can get up the hill) today? I'm not likely to get there much before midday. Stuart

Watching everyone's faces as they watched the Tip 2 Tip DVD was fabulous. Nice food, great company and cheap drinks. All in all, a great evening. S.

My copy of the DVD arrived this morning! At lunch time I picked up my wife's Chrissy Prezzie. This afternoon I installed my wife's Chrissy Prezzie. This evening we all watched Fly Another Day on my wife's Chrissy Prezzie. 62" of widescreen hi-def projected perfection - the new telly isn't bad either and she still thinks it is her Chrissy Prezzie! But seriously... It was an awesome mission, flown and supported by a terrific team of people. I'm proud to have been associated with it - even in only a small way. Lynwen and Dave you've done a fabulous job. Order your copy of the best paramotoring DVD of the year here now. Stuart

I got home and started looking under shoes and coats in the hall. Finally my wife asked me what the **** was going on? "I'm looking for some post" I said. "Why the rush? Is it a present for me?" she said. But after all that - no DVD yet. Maybe tomorrow. Stuart - watching for the postman

Is that why you fly the really big jumbos - 'cos they can't fold you into the cockpits of anything smaller than a 747 Sorry mate, couldn't resist it. S.

Is anyone coming to the Christmas party passing by Reading and could give my dearly beloved a lift? I'll be at the 2010 meeting beforehand and she doesn't want to get there that early. Can't think why Thanks, Stuart.

Ben, You tried, you will try again, and you will keep trying until you are successful (which won't be that far away ). The only failure is not to have tried in the first place. Be proud that you are training for something that most people dare not even attempt Dignity comes from within - it is how you carry yourself after the event - not the event itself Ego you will have in spade loads when your feet finally leave the ground under your own control The things you seek are free. Buy them from yourself and you will truly own them. Buy them from someone else and you will always be searching. S.

Phil, I'd thought that the installation had to be approved even if the radio could be removed. I'm more than happy to be wrong though. Can you point me in the direction of a web version of the document? Your point about the Flight RT license is very valid. There is no substitute for proper training in any field (pun intended) Stuart

Hi Cra3y. I didn't say that your radio was causing interference all across the band. I only said it was causing interference on a range of channels (ok I may have used the word "wide" in there as well ). The proof is in what you said about de-tuning your transmit frequency so that the tower can hear you. Your signal will not only be audible on the tower frequency but also the one above. If your radio was transmitting AM then you'd be using the same frequency - he can hear you because of something called slope detection (see AlanK's earlier post in this thread) so you must be transmitting AM. Airband channels are on frequencies separated by 8.33KHz. If your tower is on 122.700MHz then the next channel up is 122.70833. Your radio cannot do 8.33KHz steps so you've changed the frequency by 5KHz. This means that you are 5KHz off your tower's frequency but only 3.33KHz off the next channel. This means that you are causing interference to someone and as we've already discussed in another thread, radio waves travel a long way when you are in the air. Amateur Radio 2m frequencies are separated by 12.5KHz, partly because FM uses more spectrum (a wider range of frequencies) than AM. Anyone who really can't sleep is welcome to read the excellent but technical page on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation. I'm not talking opinion here, I can walk you through the physics. The maths don't lie. Yes, Kenwood, Yeasu and the other manufacturers do build very similar radios and then turn on or off features in software for different markets but AM transmit on 2m is simply not possible on the VX series handhelds. As AlanK said earlier today, they have a different transmit circuit for 6m, 2m and 70cm. The 2m circuit doesn't have the physical components to do AM. And finally (yes I do mean finally, if you've read this far and still haven't lost the will to live then you must be at least a little tempted to get an Amateur Radio license ) we have the problem of antenna mismatch and filters. Cra3y mentioned that as the frequency changed the strength of his transmitted signal seemed to drop off, as did the quality. At the frequency that it was designed for, an antenna launches almost all of the electrical energy that the transmitter is generating off into the ether. As you tune away from that frequency less and less of the energy leaves the antenna and more and more of it bounces back into the radio - the first thing it hits is the power transistor that is your final stage amplifier. This wonderful piece of silicon was meant to generate radio waves not absorb them. It copes by getting hot and transmitting on other frequencies to try and get rid of the energy (causing even more interference) - for a little while. Then it melts. Once the smoke escapes it will stop working. PhilB has seen this first hand. Amateur Radio transceivers are designed for 144MHz to 146MHz where the wavelength is 2.08m to 2.05m. At 122.7MHz the wavelength is 2.44m, almost 25% longer. It is highly likely that more than 50% of the transmitted power is being reflected back into the radio. It could be as much as 90%. On that note I am going to lay down my geek credentials and go out and have some fun for the evening. Stuart. P.S. Gordon - unfortunately the CAA are not the final arbiter of things radio in the UK. OFCOM are. The good news is that they're far too busy to be looking for people breaking the rules. They only get involved if someone complains. The simple solution is to use proper kit and use it properly. You won't cause anyone else a problem, they won't complain and OFCOM won't find out.

You ask a tricky question! The A6 is approved by the FAA (US equivalent of the CAA) for use in the air. The CAA have different rules. If you want to use a radio off the ground then not just the radio but the whole installation has to be approved and registered to the callsign of the aircraft it is installed in. Because of this it is impossible for a handheld radio to be approved by the CAA because it isn't built in to the aircraft. Having said that the A6 is approved for use on the ground on Airband (obviously it doesn't than have to be installed in an aircraft ) I've had long conversations with the CAA on the subject and unofficially, someone using an airband radio properly (i.e. not causing interference on other frequencies and not ordering pizza on a Heathrow final approach frequency) isn't going to get into any trouble. I know it isn't a definitive answer but it is the best we have at the moment. Stuart

Aaaaaaaggghh. What you are doing is causing interference over a wide range of frequencies. Your radio isn't transmitting AM it is transmitting FM and all you are doing by offsetting your TX frequency is transmitting on an adjacent frequency such that the interference on the main frequency sounds a bit like AM. It appears to work but it won't work all the time and you are in danger of causing interference on other channels. The CAA and OFCOM have very strict rules about what transmitters can be used on airband for one very simple reason - if you get it wrong people will die. The VX-6R & 7R are not approved for use on airband and are not designed for it either. If you are going to break the rules please make sure you understand exactly what you are doing and what the impact of your actions are on other people. For an example search for a post of mine containing the phrase "black ski masks" Yes I am sounding a bit like the radio police and I make no apologies for it - I may not be able to fly particularly well but this is an area where I can claim guru status both on the technical aspects and the legal ramifications.

Of course you can take it away with you Pete happen I'll bring a boot load and the everyone can take one with them Oh look... pigs flying See you there Pete - and no I haven't forgotten about your radio, I just haven't made it to the fixit man yet. S.