nirmal

I believe that ever since the BMAA gave up regulating paramotoring, tandem flights are not approved of officially in the UK. The BHPA which is widely regarded as the current regulatory body for paramotoring has not approved tandem flying as of yet. With the sport not being legally regulated, no one will stop you from flying tandem with a consenting passenger, but flights for monetary or other commercial gain might land the pilot in hot water. I suspect manufacturers and retailers of equipment for tandem flights will not help because they are put off by the fear of legal action in the event of an accident. Your best bet is to source the equipment from Europe or get it custom made.

PAP do a 13 litre tank which was designed specifically for paramotor use. It is pricey, but attention to detail means it does a lot of things right (like being less likely to be hit by the prop than a generic tank, fuel outlet at the base of the tank and not discolouring with age). It costs £66.78 from sky dragons.

Is anyone flying tomorrow? If you are and you don't mind me joining, can you post or send me a PM. The forecast is looking good.

Has anyone on the forum flown the new Fresh Breeze SportiX (FB's swing arm version)? It's built like a battle tank and has a Simonini engine. I would seriously consider buying one if it didn't have those gaping holes in the cage through which brake handles could be sucked into the prop.

Aerofix's workmanship is top notch. They changed 3 wing tip cells on my Airwave wave, and I cant tell which side it was now.

PAP did something like that for their distance record attempt. http://papteam.com/images/2007/travesia ... Pierre.JPG For more pics, go to http://www.papteam.com/eng/, keep clicking on the old news button at the bottom of the page and go back to 31st march 2007.

I fly a PAP Top80 1400. I am about 5' 7'' and cage size has never been an issue for me.

Wouldn't the prop wash draw leaking fluid away from the pilotand blow it behind the cage? I'd buy a liquid cooled engine without a second thought if it was much more fuel efficient than an air cooled engine and didnt weigh much more.

What I would most like to see available for use in paramotors is an air cooled two stroke gasoline direct injection engine with a shaped piston head for maximal combustion efficiency, an oxygen/exhaust gas analyser with feedback to the engine management system and ultra lean burn and maximal power maps for cruising and take off respectively. It would have the efficiency and cleanliness of a four stroke with the weight of a two stroke and the added bonus of automatic adjustment of the fuel mixture with altitude. The technology is available and is widely used for small scooters and motorcycles. All it needs is a bloke with the knowledge, skill, resources and time to adapt it for paramotor use. High power is not the most important requirement of a paramotor engine. Weight and fuel efficiency are far more important. Sometimes, too powerful an engine can land you in trouble very quickly if you are not careful. Personally, I wouldn't buy a Wankel engined paramotor unless the weight is very significantly lower (unlikely if water cooling and radiators etc are needed) or it is much more fuel efficient than a conventional paramotor. I would be happy to accept a small weight penalty for significantly better fuel economy but the additional 8 to 10 kg weight of 4strokes currently available is a bit too much for me.

Thank you for the invite Meds. It is most gracious of you. I still haven't found somewhere to fly from locally. I live in Saughall, on the outskirts of the Broughton airspace and the Capenhurst restricted area. I've done all my flying in South Wales so far (where I trained with Welsh Airsports). I think I would struggle to get time off at short notice. Unfortunately the NHS has little sympathy for its staff let alone patients. I am currently doing a week of night shifts ending late on friday morning. I think fatigue will probably make flying a bit unsafe for me. If you are flying over the weekend, I would love to join. Hope to see you soon. Nirmal

You guys are making me turn green with envy with the amount of flying you are getting. I was hoping for a few hours flying in December, but I got well and truly shafted at work. They made me work 3 weekends in December plus late shifts on Christmas eve and boxing day. I went over to Boston (Linconshire) for new year and I had to tow along behind the wife and in-laws as they went shopping, while group of paramotorists where buzzing around in the sky above us. I am desperate for a flying fix now. If you are flying this weekend can I join?

I remember reading somewhere about someone trying out a flow sensor and they experienced the very problem you mentioned. The lightweight cheap flow sensors were highly inaccurate because of the low fuel consumption rates. The more accurate ones were too expensive and bulky to be of any practical use.

That is nearly £20 (including shipping) for something that you can make for about 2 or 3 quid Someone is taking the piss

There is quite a lot of splashing in the tank from the engine and prop vibrations. Liquid level sensors will probably not be very sensitive. The fuel level would have to fall much lower than the level of the sensor before splashing is a non issue. Capacitance is the most reliable method, but is complicated unless you are good at electronics and it is the most expensive. I think magnetic reed switches will probably be the cheapest electrical option that has a good chance of working. The key to making it work would be to have a narrow bore tube for the magnetic float and pin hole sized openings at the top and bottom of the tube to allow air/ fuel to flow in or out slowly enough to reduce the effects of splashing. The added bonus is that drilling holes in the tank can be reduced or even avoided. The cheapest option is to stick a small mirror onto a ski pass holder, and clip it to your belt or flight suit. You can simply pull it out to have a look at the tank whenever you feel the need to, and it safely retracts out of the way by itself when it is not needed.

I have given this topic a bit of thought in the last few months. The cheapest simple method (for people like me who are not very good at electronics) I could think of is to mount magnetic reed switches on the outside of the fuel tank and have a small magnet embedded in a cork floating in a plastic tube mounted vertically inside the tank next to the reed switches. A battery, a few LED's and some wire is all that is needed to finish the gauge. This way, making holes in the tank and the possibility of fuel leaks are avoided. All wires and electrics are outside the tank. By careful experimenting, the size of the air/fuel openings on the inner plastic tube with the cork can be adjusted so that the effects of splashing are minimised. By adjusting the position of the reed switches and their number, you can calibrate the gauge for volume and accomodate unusual tank shapes. Reed switches are dirt cheap, as are small neodymium magnets and LEDS. If you buy in large numbers, it is possible to make a gauge for less than £20. If anyone wants to commercialise this concept, feel free to do so but give me a concession when I buy mine .

Anyone used Oregon Scientific ATC2K Helmet Cam for paramotoring or paragliging? I might be given one for Christmas. Does it do a half decent job? It looks like the most convenient and rugged solution available, but if it is a complete pain to use, it would be better to know now.

I think this is a super cool antenna mod. It wont be very expensive either. http://picasaweb.google.es/clubmolinill ... DIPOLOVHF#

Cheers Richard. Your suggestion is much appreciated.

Yet another biker here. My current ride is a Yamaha FZ1 Fazer. It's probably one that I will keep for a long time if it remains in one piece. I used to ride all year regardless of the weather, but buying a new bike for the first time has made me cut out winter riding. I cant bear watching a new bike rust but I am not completely a fair weather biker yet.

Can anyone recommend a suitable field or deserted beach or campsite etc in north wales to take off and land from? Somewhere between Rhyl and Conway or the Wrexham area would be ideal. I would love to expolre the rugged Welsh countryside, but I am really struggling to find a suitable base. I've tried asking the microlight chaps, but they aren't keen on sharing their facilities. If anyone has used a place while on a trip, would you be able to pass some details on?

Hi Hammertime. I'm another Cheshire pilot crawling out of the woodwork . I live in Chester. I am also looking for flying mates and sites. I hope to get my written exams out of the way this weekend or next (I've already completed the BHPA CP tasks). Once I do that, I'll have insurance cover to fly independantly. I would love to meet up with you guys. Perhaps we could get something like the Lemmings club going here in the North West. Apart from the odd hang glider and a few microlights, there doesnt seem to be much ariel activity around here.

Is there any chance of the moderators making your contact details a sticky post somewhere on the website? Classifieds section perhaps?. The sort of service you are offering is not easy to get. It's exactly the sort of thing that you cant find when you really need it. Trawling through old posts months or years later wont be easy.

A quick way to check for movement of prop bolts and nuts is to apply a tiny dab of nail varnish on the nut or bolt head, and on the prop plate next to it. If there is any movement, the spots will not be aligned with each other. Nail varnish sticks to most surfaces and does not get wiped off easily. A bit of blue loctite on the bolt in addition to this along with new nylock nuts would prevent / spot loosening. On the hollow headed shackle bolts on PAP swing arms, I pass a small cable tie through the head and around the shackle bit to prevent it from loosening.

Did you have high tensile steel nuts and bolts fitted? They are more susceptible to fatigue and fracture than mild or medium steel. It might be worth going for a quiet walk over the route you flew, to pick up the debris. There may be clues to the cause there. It's a relief that it didn't end disastrously either for you or anyone else.

If you get your product certified by an authority like the DULV, your product will appeal to a lot of people who might not consider it otherwise. People sometimes have doubts about the quality of products manufactured in the far east, forged by experiences with cheap stuff they buy. As pilots, we rely on our equipment to keep us safe. You start with the disadvantage of having to overcome peoples doubts and misconceptions because of where your product is manufactured. Things like getting your frames TIG welded by and aircraft certified welder, warranties on the product, certification by independant authorities like the DULV, and getting your product reviewed and published in the paragliding / paramotoring magazines will help a great deal but at a not inconsiderable expense.