AndyB

Hodders, I think electric creates more problems : Very limited flight time. From my experience of high powered rc planes (double the power being used in this elec paramotor ) even 20 Kg of battery would give just 20 mins of flight......Maybe 25 mins if very careful. Safety: Needs a cutoff device. Also, even the best of fire proof bags would struggle to contain a fire. Just one cell going short cicuit would set off the whole lot! A 20 Kg battery might have between 30 and 60 individual cells. Charging. It takes a monstrous amount of very high powered chargers to recharge battery packs of this size. I have used three, 300 amp mains power supplies to recharge....and it still takes 2 to 3 hours. A spare battery pack costs lots and gives you even more batteries to care for. Running the batteries at high load (current) often creates a cell failure. Unless the battery packs and electronics are designed to cope with this then you either have instant total power loss....or, much worse, a cascade failure because the remaining battery cells are over loaded. I am expert in high powered electric setups and would not want to fly with an unprotected fire ball on my back. Providing protection adds more weight.

Electric also creates a new and VERY dangerous hazard. When batteries are connected and ready to go, but throttle at zero, the prop is stationary. The machine looks like it is off! However, the maximum torque and hence maximum damage potential is at that point. Many rc plane fliers have lost fingers because they thought it was switched off. This is why on all high power electric machines we use solid state cutoff devices......you can't have a "big switch" because the current is massive.

So stored power = 60*20 = 1200 w.hours I estimate that it needs at least 9 hp or 6.75 Kw to keep a small pilot (sub 60 Kg) in level flight.....probably more! So time aloft = 1200/6750 = 0.178 hours or 11 minutes. This does not account for higher power used at take-off, which will reduce this time. I think that until the advent of super batteries, elec paramotors will only ever be good for launching a PG up then fly using thermals.

Pic below is a 4.2m half scale plane. It uses two 9Kw motors mounted on a single shaft, with the coils aligned carefully so that the two speed controllers work together. Esc's are 300a each. Batteries 15 cell, 30 amp/hr. It also uses a solid state safety cut-off device that can be switched remotely, thus preventing loss of limbs!

What current was it pulling during your test? It is always best to tune prop diameter/pitch to ensure max current does not exceed allowable and then measure current at various rpm. Remember current * voltage = power. Hence you will know whether you are running it at a power that sustains level flight. I think you will have been running at very low power. Are you using 15 cell and what size batteries?

I have that on an Acro 2.4m wingspan plane with a 300 amp esc. Motor is rated at 9.8Kw or 12.9hp. This uses 15 cell 10 amp/hr batteries, that weigh 5Kg. Esc will not take full power for more than 15 seconds, after which it cuts out on overload! Flight time 8 to 10 minutes.

Great flight today over Marbella. I shouted down to the rich people in Puerto Banus "bet you haven't got one of these", but I don't think they heard me.

Get a book The Paramotor Bible, then you won't be asking such silly questions! Yes, those are pretty silly questions.

I have built and flown electric model planes with up to 18 Kw motors.

Fellow flyers are always welcome to visit. Amazing mountain flying as well! I am here 6 months of the year....Jan/Feb, May/Jun and Sep/oct.

It is here, just 5 mins from my house.... https://goo.gl/maps/XmUgf7PMPTM2

Had a tip tangle on take-off today. Not too bad, needed left brake at 2 or 3 to hold straight. The tip steering line had got itself tied in with the C's. Like flying with a little "big ear" on one side. More interestingly, this was my first flight on my new AC Nitro 200.....as my other machine broke again!

Cheers guys, will try a small bit of that!

I deliberately didn't fly low for long and yet still loads of wear. There always tends to be a 'haze' of sand in the air here, coming from North Africa - which we can see from here. It might also be sea air? ie with salt in it?

Only about 10 mins max!....there was not beach without obstacles on it (people). Most of flights were at 300 to 500 feet, apart from a jaunt up to 3500 feet to see if it was cooler. It wasn't.

Hi, looking for any advice or experience regarding protection of carbon props from wear. I fly off sandy beach and the leading edge wears out very quickly. The solution is to put tape on it. However, even the tape doesn't last long. The picture below is after 2 flights of 45 minutes.

I have a brand new AC Nitro 200. I weigh 92kg and any more power would be silly!!!! The 280 probably great for tandem or trikes.

Last time I looked none of their products had weights shown!

I was at Parajet a few weeks back and I was shown a part built new version of the Falco which is lighter. Work in progress.

Check out what Cayle Royce has done with Skyschool. He is a double amputee war vet. https://www.skyschooluk.com/skyweek

I think performance will be affected. The divergent/convergent section is the tuned part of the exhaust, designed to help pull the gases out of the engine. After this comes the silencer. These guys have combined both. Achieving rpm when stationary is easier than when moving as when moving more air is being fed to the props ie it is running at lower power/thrust when stationary. I keep saying, if manufacturers want to tune the paramotor engines then they need to put them in a wind tunnel!

This was VERY close...

My phone works perfectly well as a transponder. Shared my Google location with wife and she knows where I am now!

SI, do you log into cpanel or do they do everything for you? If you have the login details then you can get anyone with knowledge to look at it for you. I will be travelling for the next 25 hours and will have 2 of my family experts trapped in the car with me.

Running any 2 stroke without the prop on is very dangerous for the engine's health! It will be ok at idle (if the idle settings are correct). As soon as the throttle is touched the engine will over rev and destroy itself.