Mark Pugh

I bought a new Ozone Sirocco 3 wing for paramotoring with my Zenith and Polini Thor 130. It was brilliant, flew very well and I could throw it around the sky with never a ripple in the fabric. BUT, I then had a hip replacement and decided running to launch in nil wind and landing on my feet with the weight on my back was no longer a great option. I wanted to continue flying so bought a very light trike (Bailey Quatro Plus) with a Polini Thor 110 attached to it. I have now had 6 flights and they all went very well, 6 first time launches even in nil wind and 6 good landings...the last one was a bit on the heavy side! PERFECT. Accept, I've bought a new weighing scale to get the correct size reserve and slightly over-estimating on everything, the all up weight was 70kg for the trike with fuel and old reserve, 90 kg pilot and 5 kg for the wing. That's a total of just under 165kg; so I bought a reserve suitable for 180kg, it was a good bit lighter than my old reserve, but the all up weight is still about 160kg. My Ozone Sirocco 3 is a size 26 and the PPG weight range is 80-145kg. There is no way I can lose 15kg on a diet, even if I flew naked with no helmet, radio, tablet, vario, altimeter, camera, etc. I'm still well over the recommended weight range. In all honesty I was surprised the trike weighed in at just under 70kg, barely legal. It is a small trike with mounting made specifically by Bailey for their PPG. I'm not throwing the trike around like I would my previous back mounted Zenith, I rarely even change the trimmers from launch position, but my mates now find it hard to catch up with me even on full trimmers, I have to do a few 360 circuits to let them catch up again. Should I be worried I'm over weight? Or just fly conservatively until I can ditch the wheels again?

OK, I chickened out!!! I decided to buy a Bailey frame that was made for the trike. Just clicks together with two split pins!

Thanks Simon, good to hear from someone with your experience. I have actually purchased a Bailey Quattro today. The actual engine it had been flying with was the Polini 110. Now got to try and mate up the Zenith frame with the Bailey Trike! I'll take a proper look this weekend.

I've been using my Parajet Zenith for years as a foot launch, but old age, crippled hips and knees has meant I've got to convert to a trike. Today I've purchased a second-hand Bailey Quattro. I've only just got it back home. Has anyone mated their Zenith frame to this trike? I've been advised to try and get the axle (centre of prop) at neck height, but apart from this, I can't find any information on joining these two. Parajet themselves have told me I can remove the two bottom legs, they are only to stand the machine up and are not structural at all. I don't want to over engineer it, but I would like a neat job!

I have a bad hip and knee stopping me flying, will the polini 130 fly a light weight trike????

This summer I updated my wing. I'd been flying a second hand Paramania REVO2 size 26 or 27 (I forget) and loved the wing. But it was made out of heavy duty (bombproof) material, and never mind what I did, it always seemed to land very fast. I'm getting older (57) and wanted something that was just easier to launch and slower to land. After chatting with Clive Mason, I took a punt and ordered the Sirocco 3 that he told me fitted the bill exactly. I trust his judgement and have bought reserves, carabiners, etc from him before. It was quite a long wait for delivery but I've now had ten flights on it and I love it. I can reverse launch in the lightest breeze, it only feels like a maximum of ten steps and I'm in the air and every landing has been stationary and slow. It doesn't feel like that as I'm rushing at the ground....but, with a wrap and the two stage flare, it's unusual I have to take more than a single step as I reach the ground. Just what I needed. Even on the first flight it felt solid and stable. I'm not into acro (way too old for that!), but it's solid on wing-overs and easy in and out of the spiral dive. Very pleased with this wing, a bit un-imaginative in the colour scheme and design. But the flying is brilliant. Very impressed. My last new wing was 1997 when I got an Edel Sector to compete on, but I've had a few second hand wings before converting to POWER.

Hi Adrian, since speaking with you, I dropped more old mags to Ben and he has already taken the lessons and almost caught me up in flying hours!!! We have a small Telegram group, if you are still keen to learn or just have a chat, get in touch again. Covid won't last for ever !!!!!!! We are quite safe out in the middle of a field somewhere!

Having problems sourcing a new rev counter, parts of my digital display have stopped working and the glass is cracked. This unit only does rev's and temp and I'd like to replace it with the same. Anyone got one for sale????

I still fly out of Wootton Wawen and Great Alne with specific instructions from the farmers, having to text them before each flight and pay a small voluntary contribution. There are only 4 of us that fly frequently and we use a Telegram App to keep in touch and talk about the weather and potential days to fly. Generally fly at 1000 feet as we have a lot of horses in this area and do circuits lasting between 1-2 hours, down to the Cotswolds (Broadway Tower). Two of us flew yesterday, we average 2 flights a month over the year, but up to 6 times a month in the summer evenings.

I learnt in the UK with Andy Moon at www.planespeak.com All done and dusted in a day, he specifically tailors the day for Paramotor pilots if possible, but my class had 2 paramotor pilots, one balloonist and a gyrocopter pilot. We all wanted a days lessons finishing with both exams to get our radio telephony license. The license cost through CAA is expensive, the air-band handhelds are expensive (don't think BAOFENG prices!!!), but now each time I fly I let my local glider airports know I'm in the air "Powered paramotor one, operating out of Wootton Wawen, en-route to Alcester at 1000 feet". If the control tower is in operation that day they reply that they will let other air traffic know we are in the area. I've also called up hot air balloons on their frequency and asked for permission to fly closer. At first they ask me to stay 100m away and never fly above them (they have a huge blind spot upwards), but after they have seen my control, the local Virgin pilot, says "Hi Mark, come as close as you want". I tend to then move further away and pull a few wing-overs and spiral dives for their passenger amusement. Several times I've landed with the balloon and shared the champagne!

Hi Guys, I live in Stratford-on-Avon and fly from local sites. Parajet Zenith Polini 130 Thor and Paramania REVO 2 wing. We have a small local club on Telegram App. that lets other local pilots know if we are going flying that day. Officially there is no licence required to PPG but I would not recommend that route, better to take lessons that will also show you air law and how to fly safely. I was lucky, because I was an advanced rated paraglider pilot with over 400 hours, it was just a two day course to convert to Paramotor. I flew with an instructor from South Wales who taught on the beach, huge landing area, consistant on shore sea breeze. Perfect for learning. But there is another school in central lower UK. Both teach complete beginners from scratch or convert paraglider pilots. It's one of the few hobbies that REALLY gives you a buzz. Can't recommend it enough, but it will take over your life; always watching the weather, looking for the next window of opportunity! If you want more details, give me a shout.

Meaning, I stop using trimmers, so actually pull them in tight almost to the stops! I weigh about 88kg naked. Then fly with a Zenith frame and polini Thor 130 engine plus, usually about 8litres of fuel on launch!. Maybe 120kg total!

Ok, after being a paraglider pilot for 400 hours, it's taken me two years to put just over 40 hours on my REVO2 with my Zenith polini 130. Love the combination, but the wing is a medium and although I'm within the weight range for PPG (top end), it's not the easiest to forward launch and it comes in too fast for me. I take trimmers out, for slowest setting, come in fast and pull down to shoulder height at 1m off the ground, skim along bleeding off the last speed for a full final deep flare to land. But that last metre comes up very quickly and my 55 year old hips are suffering. I think I'm just too heavy on it, better for stability and speed, but especially bad if I have to turn in late for a small landing area. During turns I drop like a stone! I'm expecting that a larger wing will be more floaty and make a better final stall for landing slowly into wind. If I could have the REVO3 large I might be happy, but maybe better to upgrade at the same time and get a better second wing. I'm saving my money, doing extra overtime at work, what second wing should I be looking at. DUDEK, ITV, ? Not even looked at prices yet, but presuming my wing is worth £500 still and I will save up another £1500- £2000 in overtime. What should I be looking for?

Hi andyy, it is the next step to being "professional"; I fly in the UK and we are remarkably unregulated in our hobby, this will not last forever. I see at least an airlaw exam having to be sat and maybe compulsory insurance in the near future. I try to stay as legal as possible, I took my rating through BHPA school, so have basic insurance, always fly with a large reserve, now carry airband radio, try to fly at 500 feet and 1000 feet over villages and towns and obviously stay away from airspace. But several of my launches are grass strips and even farmers like to see some insurance in place before giving the go-ahead. The more "professional" we can become, the less likely we will become over regulated in the future.

Now it's early June 2019, just like to add to my own experiences. Since taking my rating, buying my second hand kit and gaining experience with the local Worcester Group; I'm now more likely to fly locally in Warwickshire. It did take a long time to find suitable fields. My three local grass strips were totally against it, I sent letters to the committees, saw them in person; but they mostly claimed they already had noise pollution problems and did not want another form of aviation there, especially one that was more likely to fly in the evenings when people were relaxing at home. I knew a lot of local farmers (20 years of metal detecting their fields and sharing finds, bottles at Xmas, etc.) but it's surprising how many fields are too small, have huge hedges and trees, or power lines in just the wrong places! Finally I managed to get a couple of great fields in different locations. The big help was having my motor on display to show them (on back of my car), taking photographs along of me flying (they look silent!), promising photos from the air of their fields, farmhouses, etc; but biggest single decision help was saying "Instead of buying you a nice bottle for Xmas, how about I donate £5 each day I fly from your field". Don't arrange to actually pay for the flight, this could involve insurance, paperwork, hassle. Just make a donation towards cost of parking car, cutting grass etc. This has encouraged farmers to say yes, and let's face it, I used to spend more than £5 in fuel to get to launch sites! The two fields I now have, are so large I can take off in any direction. This has greatly increased my chances to fly. Even though I worked through May, I had 5 evening flights, that's more than 1 a week!!! It's still taking forever to build my PPG hours, I have 400 paragliding and only 24 PPG. But that was in my first full year and with my local fields and more confidence, I'm sure I will get more of those flights in this year. Just remember, the first time people see a paramotor, they are interested and point and wave. The third time you go over their garden, they find you noisy and obnoxious. So take off, get high and vary your route. If you do find yourself going over the same point frequently, take a few A4 photos around and give them to the owner. They are more likely to continue waving at you ! In reality, once airborne we are supposed to cruise at 500 feet and 1000 feet over towns and villages. At that height we are much quieter, get a better view and are high enough to throw a few wing overs, spiral dive and if the worst happens, throw the reserve!!!!

Well I've now had my airband license for a while. Has it been useful? I can talk to the other paramotor pilot in my club legally from the air, I frequently inform my local grass strip that I'm flying "Snitterfield Traffic, Paramotor 1, operating from Wootton Wawen to Studley at no more than 1000 feet". If they are at the airport, I get a response that they will let other pilots know I'm in the air. Do they pilots then come and look at me, probably, I get them coming past with a wave but at least they've seen me! I'm still waiting to see a balloonist in the air while I'm flying, then I can use their frequency and request to fly closer. Not happened yet, but I'm hopeful. Amplitude Modulation does seem "lower" tech. compared with FM; background interference when talking even when the squelch is set properly. Older technology really. But it does seem to work better nearer the engine; with 2m or 70cm I did have to go to tick-over to use the radio at all, maybe that is just having a well designed Yaesu, rather than a cheap Chinese radio. Better filtering, maybe. Biggest negative is the expense, we can spend thousands on wings and motor, but object to the licensing cost and radio cost of airband. It would def. be much better if more PPG converted...but the cost would put most off. I now know of 4 PPG pilots that have upgraded to airband radio.