Mark Pugh

Cheers Alan, booked in with Andy on 13th March. He sent the paperwork by email....even that is SCARY!!!

I'm free that day, but he hasn't emailed me that information yet.

Excellent, I'm now on a waiting list with Andy Moon. He has two PPG pilots waiting to learn and will try and get a course for just 4 of us, possibly with glider pilots or balloonists if no-one else is interested. It is expensive, days course fee is realistic at £70, but the two exams are another £130 at the end of the day, then there is a CAA fee of £75. Plus a £15 fee for handheld radio. But it is for life and I think that an Airband radio will slowly get increasingly used by PPG pilots. If we can afford £10k for kit, then a £275 payment for a legal radio to use in the sky is worth it. I believe when a course date has been organised, initial deposit is paid, we get some paperwork to read before the one day course, but Andy doesn't allow failure, so you better be up for it!!!

I learnt to parachute at Halfpenny Green in 1982/83....

I like the idea of a one day course after learning the material which is pre-sent. Who did you do this with, can't find anyone offering this on google and my local glider school want me to turn up daily for months at quite a cost! I have already bought a Yaesu radio with 8.33 kc steps, just because the price was right. I'm up for tuition and paying, but can't find a one day course anywhere. It took me 6 weeks just to learn morse code to the correct speed, 12 wpm. It only took me 2 weeks to know it to 10 wpm... but getting up to speed was the hardest, you lost the thinking milliseconds between letters. It's crazy to have airband and not use it.

As a paraglider pilot from years ago (my last new competition wing is 23 years old!) we would use this technique to come down on a spot landing. The glide was so good on a paraglider that it was difficult sometimes to get down that last 3 metres as you watched the end of the field getting closer and closer; or as you were about to fly over the spot in a spot landing competition. So you came in a bit high, and reached for the stall point, then let it fly again, reached for the stall point and let it fly again, reached for the stall point, etc. This would greatly reduce your final few seconds of flight and you came down heavier at a larger angle of fall. This is not needed with an engine on your back, you are generally flying a smaller wing and you are heavier due to the engine weight, your glide with engine off will never match a competition paraglider wing! Therefore you can work out the final glide angle and be much more likely to land next to your car. Reaching the stall point is an exercise best done at a great height. Generally you can't just release it immediately and hope it will all work as a wing again. We were taught, to hold the full stall in until you were dropping back under the wing, ready for release. But each wing reacts differently.

So Alan_k, in preparation for the RT license, did you take lessons with a local flying club? . I presume knowing "Q" codes and the phonetic alphabet from Amateur license helps, but surely radio procedure has to be learnt, it just seems that only a very small percentage would be useful for PPG.

It does appear to be the only legal way of transmitting from the air. Even with a full amateur license I can't use from the sky. I think the cost is not the issue, we manage to spend £10,000 on kit, even second hand costs about £3,000. I think using an "illegal" frequency means we can "chat" on the radio. What do we actually say? "Which town is that?", "Shall we go over there?" "Let's go up to the clouds", etc. I don't think we'll ever need to speak to a control tower, or ask permission to land; we can do most of that by mobile before we even launch. The only pilots that seem to use airband and the ones that are already licensed from other air sports, i.e. pilots of light aircraft, or commercial jets. Has any other pilot actually taken the exams just for paramotor use?

It does seem that I need to pass a theory test and then a practical. So why don't more PPG pilots do it?

I tend to fly between 500 feet and 1500 feet, only really going higher if there are good clouds with gaps to get between. At 500 feet you are rarely a noise problem from the ground, so can fly over horses and stock with no worries. It's only generally legal to fly below 500 feet if you have permission of the land owner, as when you are launching or landing. With permission, you can foot drag through his crops. But over towns get to a thousand feet, no-one will complain and if you have an engine out there is plenty of glide to get to a safe landing field. In an real emergency there are few places it's not legal to land. Also, say for instance you had a huge collapse and get your wing tangled inside your lines (cravat), or your lines started breaking one after the other under the strain (cascade), then you have plenty of spare height to throw your reserve, cut your engine and try to aim safely!!!! Big soft trees are ideal but keep your legs crossed as you go in! Plan for the worst and you are as safe as you can be. Most importantly enjoy, but by following air law you are leaving the sport open and basically unregulated for those that fly in the future. Keep well away from airports and know where all the classes of airspace start and finish. Free on App's like EASY VFR BASIC.

I have sites north of Stratford-on-Avon, but all required careful negotiation and sometimes a contribution. Best policy is take-off and fly away as you get higher; landing back in field with engine off, so a quiet glide-in. Anyone else flying locally, give me a yell: markdavidpugh@yahoo.co.uk

I've always flown paragliders with a VHF 2m FM radio and used frequencies just below the amateur band of 144-146 Mhz; when I started paramotoring, I found many pilots used the UHF amateur band in a similar way, so I purchased a combined VHF/UHF radio (I do have a full amateur license, but it's actually illegal to transmit when in the air on these bands, ok for arranging retrieves if you land out or summoning help if you are stuck in trees!). But recently I've been launching at a couple of green field grass strips and other users use Airband, so I purchased a Yaesu airband AM radio. I hope I'm correct in that I can listen in on these frequencies no problem, but I started asking light aircraft pilots and most informed me that the RT UK license was easy to pass with a written exam (about £30) and then a actual practical test that cost more like £120. They generally did not have lessons but asked a more senior pilot to show them what to do and bought them drinks for the night as they were shown! But it also appears that the annual license is another £120, this is usually paid for by the aircraft fees as the radio is attached to the plane. While looking at the CAA website it seems to show that glider pilots get a few frequencies for free to use. Does any PPG pilot have any more information about taking this license and getting permission to transmit in the airband range? It seems that usually it's light aircraft or even jet pilots that use airband whilst powered paragliding few pure PPG pilots get a license.

Just started flying from this area, have put photos in the "GALLERY". Any other PPG pilots in the area??? 6.01.2019 Alcester, Walcote, Haselor.