pauldeakin

I can understand why the majority of pilots in the UK choose the 3 most common brands here, because they are easier to get hold of for test flights and because they can speak to other pilots that are flying them, but it is a little narrow minded to disregard a brand simply because it is not common in the UK. There are other manufacturers producing equally good or better wings that are often overlooked in the UK. The number of active pilots in this country is tiny compared to some other countries, some of these other less known (in the UK ) brands are very popular in other parts of the world and probably sell more globally.

There should not have been any unexpected gusts of wind on Saturday they should have been expected, I don't know where you were but on the South coast we had an early morning frost, a sudden increase in temp, and a moderate North East wind, and clouds popping up everywhere.

There is an EN966 'Certified for Air sports' standard I think the blue helmet shown in this thread is not certified. there is also an EN standard certification for winter sports, I do not know what the difference is between the winter sports and the Air sports EN standard, does anyone know? this would answer the original question.

Hi Jock, I am interested to see the arm backup plate, please post a photo. My thoughts on the arm connections are - When you fly in bumpy conditions, or if you throw it around a bit with steeply banked turns on a low hangpoint setup the front end of the arms can move sideways then arms then act like a lever trying to bend the bolt, you can reduce this effect by having the waist strap tight. The solution would for the arm to be clamped with plates on both sides, or to have large flat surface of contact between the arm and the frame.

Would you try to fix yourself? The sensible and safe advise is to get it repaired professionally, because you could injure someone if your repaired tip fly s off, but in answer to your question, I would fix it myself.

Interested, if we can arrange some training and practise on the low stuff, I am not able to practise it because too many people and cattle around where I fly.

I know of one in Hua Hin, which is a little nearer than Pattaya, but still 300-400km from Phuket, I don't know how good they are though. I know another school that is a little further away ion Chon Buri that I can highly recommend. If you friends name is Marco, he has already EMailed me, we are in contact. Paul

That is a useful comment and diagram you posted Dan, but for those that don't know i would like to point out that in the diagram the arrow 'RW' is correct only if you are flying horizontally level ie: not sinking or climbing. When you apply full power you will be climbing so the arrow marked RW will point down reducing the amount of increase in angle of attack, and reducing the chance of a stall. Also in theory you can get the same change in Angle of attack by doing the opposite, ie flying a small overloaded wing, and gliding with no power, in this case you will be sinking and the RW angle will point up, if it points up too much the wing will stall. Paul

Hello Iyer, Transporting your equipment by air is going to be your biggest problem, you will need to speak to your Airline or travel agent about it but be aware that some airlines will not load items if they smell of petrol fumes, or even if they have contained fuel in the past. You could send it by freight, but then you run the risk of getting charged import duties. I can tell you more about my experiences of that if you PM me. You could hire a paramotor, I can provide details if you wish, but I do not know of anyone that hires tandem trikes and you have almost no chance of finding someone that will hire you a tandem trike that you can fit you Parajet on. I would recommend flying with a club, I am here in Thailand until 1st Jan, you are welcome to come and fly with my local club, if you can make it to the North East. If you are staying in the tourist areas of the South, I can give you contact details of someone that will look after you, but you will have to negotiate a fee, as it is his business. Paul D

What do you mean by fitted incorrectly?

Much better to try a deal with it unofficially, the more official CAA complaints that are made against paramotors, the closer we get to more regulation. it makes no difference who the complaint is from, the CAA don't care about that?

The price of those engines from a dealer in Thailand are reasonable considering they have paid import taxes. Below is a photo of my VR, the thrust is about the same as the Polini Thor 100. I weighed it with 12 ltrs of fuel, reserve parachute fitted, and all my equipment, including some drinking water, it weighed 50Kg. So heavy that I strained a calf muscle whilst turning to do a reverse launch. I have just purchased a lightweight reserve parachute, a LIPO battery, and a carbon seat plate to make it a bit lighter.

Hello Dragonfly, I am interested in your reasons for choosing a European engine. Do you currently have a Yamaha VR? I like the Yamaha engine because it has water cooling and a float carb, it is better suited to the hot conditions and low octane fuel, also it is very common so maintenance and parts is easy. And it costs about half the price of most European engines. The downside is that it is heavy, the power to weight ratio is not good. I guess that is the reason you are looking at European engines, they are so much lighter, am I right? How much does a Polini cost in Thailand? Do you have to pay 30% import tax?

I have flown both of these engines. They both have a counter balanced crank, and are very smooth and powerful. If I weighed 75Kg I would choose the CMax, only because it is lighter.

But why have the engine running when clipping in? Why not get ready to launch, check you are clear then start the engine and go, that is what I do, with a pull start over the shoulder and no clutch.

No, livestock is not a person, vessel, vehicle or structure so you would not be breaking Air law, but a livestock owner could still sue if he thought you were bothering or buggering his sheep.

Thanks for the warning, but I think he got it wrong. The best way to check wind speed and direction at different heights is to look at the nearest sounding chart for the time you intend to fly these not only show the inversion but also the wind strength at different heights. See: http://rasp.inn.leedsmet.ac.uk/RASPtabl ... bleGM.html By the way: A Jet stream is a narrow band of fast moving air and not caused by or associated with an inversion. the air mass above the inversion may well have a different wind speed or direction, but as far as I am aware this is not caused by the inversion.

I agree with Dave, just get a really efficient wing, it does not need to be big, choose one with a good glide angle, and you will be amazed how easy it is to gain height.

I will shave my legs first to reduce drag

It was a normal flight, We was just surprised that paraglider wing was clearly faster than the reflex wing, so we decided to do a comparison. I did not have a GPS, next time I will take a GPS and get some figures.

All up weight was almost the same for both about 130kg. Max speed of 59kph quoted for the Zenith is without trimmers and at the certified weight of 115Kg. Both the Zenith and the Airflex are certified at max weight of 115Kg both were being flown at 130kg It looks like the new reflex wing from Gin the 'Mirage' is the same wing but with nylon battens in the leading edge instead of Mylar, and a new name.

the ground speed is not really relevant, we were flying into a slight headwind, it was only a comparison of two wings

Just been flying side by side 1. Gin Airflex, 28m, EN B, all up weight 130kg, no speed bar, 2. Windtech Zenith PW, 28m, EN B, all up weight 130Kg, no speed bar We were flying side by side at the same speed, I was on the Windtech Zenith with about 1cm of trimmer out the Airflex was in full reflex with trimmers fully out. I then let the trimmers out and the Airflex could not keep up. Why was the paraglider wing faster? Higher aspect ratio, more cells so neater profile, some reflex in the centre of the wing. Note: both wings are uncertified with trimmers open

No it does not tilt, but the upright bit lifts off easily to open the hatch

I have one for sale, can't use it any more because I don't have a tow bar. £65 in East Sussex https://plus.google.com/photos/108964538450131031082/albums/5379462662873509185/5742745184849735346?banner=pwa