nirmal

I would agree with the needle bearing suggestion. It is extremely unlikely for a piece of metal that size to get past the air filter and reed valve. It would be interesting to see the state of the bearings when you strip the engine.

I'll take one if they are 2m radios of a reputable brand.

Whilst on the subject of wings, has anyone tried the Apco Vista HP? It seems to tick a lot of boxes on paper.

It's good to hear that you are doing well with your RAD. Just a note of caution; be very very meticulous in your daily inspection. One of the chaps who trained with me used to fly a very old RAD. I hope quality has improved since because he had problems with welded joints cracking both on the chassis and exhaust. He managed quite well because his wife is a welder for Rolls Royce (her work is the best I've ever seen; more like a die cast than a weld!). Just out of curiosity; did you consider the Miniplane when shortlisting or were you put off by the fibreglass cage? It ticks the same boxes but is arguably more developed.

Thanks Simon. Unfortunately I already ordered one on e-bay, which was delivered this afternoon.

Thanks for the info Pete. Do Parajets have the tank filter in addition to an in-line filter? I reckon a Kart filter should be okay on a Top80 on the basis that the fuel flow in an average Kart is likely to be far higher than in a paramotor. What do you think?

I have on one occasion had to make a semi-emergency landing during an XC because of loss of power. On stripping the carb, it was obvious that the little mesh filter inside the carb was completely clogged, despite the in-line fuel filter being clean. I am thinking of replacing the brass clunk on the end of the fuel uptake tube inside the tank with a sintered bronze filter of the type used in Karts. Fuel starvation with two filters in the line is a bit of a worry. I have heard that Parajet use a similar type of filter for their products. Can someone confirm whether this is true or not? What are peoples experiences with Tygon tubing? Is it better than the traditional reinforced black fuel tubing? I am thinking of replacing all the fuel lines with tygon. I have had problems with the outer layers of traditional fuel tubing disintegrating with time where it comes into contact with fuel and oil. The nylon reinforcement and inner layer remain okay.

How close was the police helicopter to you? Were you affected by the wash from it's rotors? Wouldn't chasing a paramotor constitute 'reckless endangerment of life'.

Gosh. That is pretty damning Fanman . On the one occasion I have had to use the services of Aerofix; the quality of work was truly outstanding, the cost very reasonable and communication excellent.

The forecast is for showers on friday evening and saturday evening , so you are not missing anything really. We should all get together at some point to push this club idea forward.

An update on the airfield. The owners are happy to let us use Chirk airfield for paramotoring. They don't want any payment for its use unless we are having large gatherings. They are happy to let paramotorists use it even on saturdays and sunday evenings as long as we keep well away from the car-boot sale at the bottom of the field but it will probably be better for us to wait till the car-boot sales end, so that there are less people around. It gets quite thermic there on warm afternoons even on low wind days because of all the roads, buildings and roundabouts around. I tried unsuccessfully to launch in very low winds yesterday, but the direction kept switching from east to south and even to the west every few seconds. I gave up and called it a day after 3 failed launches. No damage to either me or the kit. If anyone feels up to trying it out on friday evening, I am game.

Most modern propellers on larger aircraft have adjustable pitch in-flight. Wouldn't winglets would completely mess up the aerodynamics of an aerofoil with pitch adjustable to the same extent as a modern propeller.

I couldn't make it to the nats. Very late night yesterday, and I didn't feel rested enough to drive. If you are free on tuesday or wednesday morning or afternoon and fancy a drive down to Chirk, we could try out this airfield.

Actually, I have just found that they have a website but it is not very informative. http://www.chirkairfield.co.uk/

Macey, It is about 45 miles from you. It is outside the ''above 3500' class A airspace'' that lies above northwales and west cheshire. I will try to get there tomorrow and speak to the owner about groups turning up. Would everyone be happy to pay a small amount to use the place if that is what it takes to convince them? It would be an ideal base from which to fly over north wales.