Blackburn Mark

Interesting I have a secondary kill switch (Bailey V2) There are no "major" issues that would cause a panic response so I am guessing I would place myself within glide of my takeoff and attempt to reach the plug, if it was pre-igniting (still runs with the plug cap off) or I couldn't reach the plug, then I would have the option to pull the "fuel level viewing tube" off and allow the fuel to drain out but I would be pretty reluctant because if it atomises and plumes in the drag-shadow, it might get to the exhaust (four stroke, very hot, a chance of spontaneous ignition) I could attempt to pull the air filter off and block the intake (K&N cone type job).... I might even be able to reach and pull the intake manifold vacuum line... A full tank = four hours of flight on my machine (less at constant full chat) and I rarely take off without brimming it.... If all else fails, I think I would head for open airspace and allow it to climb, I'm assuming it would top out around 10,000ft and I am assuming cloud base would be below that so at least it would be nice and smooth even if its a tad cold

IMO its the tooling to make an appropriate crankcases that causes a bottleneck to stiff competition. Everything else could be bought off the shelf from mass produced stock. If it wasn't for the crankcase, a man in a shed with TIG and a lathe could put something usable together for less than a grand.... in practice, it would cost a lot in time and skinned knuckles to do so. The "Egg-motor" idea was a cool attempt at sharing the effort in saving cash but it didn't really take off

Bar-Steward! We want information! Pictures, documents, fail-modes, CAD drawings

I have heard of this... blows my mind as it is so counter to what I am accustomed to (thousands of hours under free-flight wings) The Niviuk Kougar 2 is "trims in, fly active" in turbulence which is a good job because I would really struggle to keep my instinct's in check despite understanding the benefits of loading the leading edge and almost allowing the trailing edge to flap in the breeze I struggle to grasp why some reflex wings will go tits up if you use breaks... I am sure it is because you got from positive to negative aerodynamic divergence in a short time (break pull) but I still cant picture the angle off attack switch which causes the collapse.

Bailey's... reliable and economical (both at the top of my list) "Low and fast" would be more to do with your wing and smooooth air unless you are talking about having more power to climb yourself out of an error...? I personally become attached to whatever I am flying... hate changing wings. I am assuming any modern intermediate ought to be enough wing to cruse at 25mph ish and have enough energy retention to pull out of any minor errors while skimming

Not unless you like long xc flights... the weight is a bit of a bitch!

I did a quick calc the other night... in still air, I am getting between 40 and 50 mils per gallon which tickled me somewhere between 2 and 3 liters per hour (best calc has me at 2.2lph if I fly like my granny) 23m wing and an old Bailey V2... weighs 45kg with reserve and fuel so its not all smiles Because of the "air speed / ground speed" anomaly, its not useful to measure efficiency in distance traveled. Also, you climb rate will be the same "down wind" and "upwind"... it seems you have hung onto the optical illusion created by the differing ground speed at low level EG: the "climb angle" is steeper into wind and more shallow "down wind" but the rate of climb will be equal given the same rpm etc.

Took me some effort to find this, I was sure it was a Yamaha derivative... (Cylinder head Naraku Racing for Yamaha Cygnus, BW 5ML 4V) So anyone with a V4 motor... This is a "Naraku" performance aftermarket part for the Yamaha Cygnus and looks identical to the Bailey V4 heads with the chevron cooling fins (which I could not find on any other head kits) V4 parts from the piston up, will very likely fall under "Yamaha Cygnus" parts or performance parts (big bore kits etc) The crank could be anything so only a Vernier caliper will solve that part of the conundrum. Maybe you use the term "Gy6" as a more of a colloquialism than I am willing to Jock

Ah, that's why I couldn't find anything... I thought I was losing my touch. £47 ... bit rich for a mere mortal like me. Ill stick with my idiot three notch scale.... 100% compulsory hands on = not flyable // Can eat a jam buttie = flyable // Can eat a jam buttie and smoke at the same time = bliss.

I tried googling this... I came up empty. Any chance you could enlighten me Andy?

I know what you mean 100% I wouldn't wright it off though, when I came up north, I bought a paramotor and wing out of the Loot (Classified add rag)... taught myself to fly (don't roast me, I know... very bad idea) and I fell for free-flight... I didn't get into paramotoring despite thinking it would be the dogs-bollocks. I flew it occasionally then sold it. Took me 20 years to get another and now I cant be arsed with free-flight... I have to say though, free-flight would be a bit shit if you only had 500ft compared to paramotoring at 500ft or less.

Ouch… that's not promising!

I used to work on Jethou (between Guernsey and Herm (ish))… one of the best jobs I ever had and believe it or not, I binned that job to learn to fly. It wasn't a terrible move as I got 15 years of obsessive playtime (free-flight) and now I bimble around on a paramotor. I will assume it very unlikely you would move (I was young and demented back then) so good luck on the getting permission. I think Guernsey have a club and special (very restrictive) permissions if my memory serves so you may be in with a chance but I'm guessing you will be pinned to -500ft and confined to specific arias. Herm used to have a couple of guys flying hang-glider's back in the day apparently (god know how) Nice smooth sea air though

Landing accuracy takes care of itself... land short and you have to bloody walk to the van! Engine off landing from +1000ft might be a useful discipline... I keep meaning to do it but I don't like long walks with my gear. When I say long, I mean anything more than ten meters

Splendid! If you manage to find a gap in the Scottish weather and you manage to get your paths to cross, let us know how you got on. I miss those early days of learning... tons of fun. PS: Don't listen to him Razzy, he is a handsome boy! (deep down on the inside )

Rip his arm off Razzy… just make sure to supply the butties, flask of tea, chocolate hobnobs and tell him he is a handsome boy (even if he is as ugly as a wellington boot)!

The head and cylinder on the V4 look different than the GY6... are you sure they are compatible/interchangeable?

This was the image release by Miro on 31 Mar 2017 (240cc likely rounded up from 232cc)... very similar to the one Scott posted of the more recent version. Looks nothing like any Kymco 250 engine I have seen. It looks like the common garden GY6 which Kymco use in some of their scooters up to 150cc but with a ceramic coated cylinder much like the ones Taida sell (232cc) If you have any images of a confirmed EOS 290cc I would very much appreciate a link as that would be a "new" version of the EOS that I have not yet seen!

Oh... stay away from hot gliders... you want a beginner or intermediate even if you have to pay more. An old hot glider will be an utterly crap analogue of the kind of wing you will end up flying on if you catch the bug.

Splendid… not sure everyone would agree but it is what I would do. Just be very carful, I know a few people who have been very seriously injured by being dragged into walls, fences etc. Light winds (less than ten) and lots of room so a dragging will only have you looking like an idiot rather than knocking your brains out I wouldn't pay more than a couple of hundred quid for an old wing... there are lots of them about that are too old to fly but it might be hard to rout one out... I gave on old Airwave Sport away a few years ago on the proviso that they would pass it along when it had earned its keep. Getting a cheap harness might be a bit trickier... they last a lot longer than wings. Sounds like escaping the earth now and again might do you some good

West coast of Scotland... lucky sod! Ill assume you have been watching "Fat Paramotor Guy"... Top class, I love that dude. I personally think fitness is more a concern than weight... EG: three failed launches and I am goosed (getting old) which would mean lots of wasted time during training... that's why the Fat Paramotor Guy opted for a trike. Finding training that isn't miles away is not easy... I would be tempted to hassle a free-flier to get you started on a ground-handling wing (old knackered wing) use that to get fit and tune your ground handling skills (hardest part of the sport besides reading weather) Its good exercise and lots of fun but it can still be dangerous if you don't pick suitable weather and a good kiting spot. That would place the bulk of the struggle behind you if you decided to do the job properly and splash the cash on training.

Assuming you are doing a compression test: If you are at sea level, 14.7psi X 11 = 161.7psi That's in an "ideal" world.. I wouldn't expect to see 161.7psi I would be happy to be within 10% of that, but that me guessing

According to Wiki.... 11:1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cors-Air_M25Y_Black_Devil

I do understand why you would like to remain self contained with the charge system. I bought a charge board to do just this with my LiPo but I smoked that board on first startup and have not yet got to the bottom of why (it may need a capacitor after the regulator to keep the voltage stable or I may have just missed a short...?) LiPo batteries are fussy about being well treated and require a dedicated charge regime (including balancing) You may be able to find a charge board that is ok taking 22v input (mine can only take 15v max which may be why it smoked without the cap to tame wild voltages) A dedicated motorcycle LiPo will be very costly, bulky, a shit shape and require a new magneto on your motor... BUT will likely have charge circuitry built in. A 3 cell 11.1v 35C 5000mah lipo will cost you £27 (a 4cell 14.8v will be closer to £50) B6 charger less than £15 I am sure that is why most seem to charge separately when they convert to LiPo… it saves all the dicking about. Buy a battery and charger, solder some new connections, cut the charge wire, job done. My LiPo is mounted behind my back and it really ought to be elsewhere or be in a fireproof bag... its not wise to mount it where it can burn through your harness even if its being well looked after. You have some research to do and some decisions to make

The water cooled version is the less common version. I am 99% sure the Eos Quatro (pictured above in Scott's post) will being using the standard 232cc air cooled kit from Taida using an Eos manufactured crankcase. It will be "silly" money for us mere mortals! Boring is not an option as the cylinder skirts on standard cylinders do not have enough meat on them. The Taida kit is aprox £500 (crank, decompression cam, cylinder, piston head) so not exactly cheap even if you can make your own crankcase. Then you have the fear of it not working well (Eos are quiet and Baileys chose not to go for the full 232... there must be reasons for that)