Richard Leishman

Hi All,

I took my first flight on Sunday evening, absolutely amazing.

I have always wanted to do something like this but did not think it would happen due to myself being scared of heights.

Around two years ago my mother started pestering me to do a hot air balloon ride as it is something she has always wanted to do. I reluctantly said yes and this took place around six months ago from Nottingham with Virgin Balloon Flights. Absolutely loved it and felt so safe in the air. Since then I have put my fear down to a fear of falling as I can not go 2 meters up a ladder without shatting myself!

My first paramotor flight:

I took off fine with the first run with a reverse; there was so much going on that I didn't get time to think about what I had just done until I got to just over 500ft. I levelled out and put the brakes up, took a look around and almost shat myself (fear of falling).

My tutor lets me fly around but asked me to stay close to the field. After 15 minutes, he asks me to proceed to 1000ft where I circled the field a few times while he continued to talk to me about what I was experiencing and what to expect. He then talked me through performing a quick decent manoeuvre back down to 500ft which made me sick.

On coming into land, I didn't listen to my tutor properly and were a little premature on my braking. One of the strange things I noticed is that when you have been so high, 3-4 meters off the ground feels like you are touching down. I ended up stalling at around 1 meter and elegantly dropped to my feet and then forward to my knees.

Later on in the evening, I did some research about sickness, and I am going to try ginger root tablets next time I fly.

Enough of that anyway. The real reason I am writing this. I get the impression they are like gold dust, but I am looking for an old harness that can be used for ground handling. It would be nice to have a harness so that I can play around with my ozone spyder and possibly let a friend or two feel what ground handling is like. If you have anything, please let me know.

Thank you for your time and happy flying!

Thanks Andy, much appreciated.

Thanks Andy,

The last thing I want to do is annoy people in my area by taking off without permission etc, I hear that quite a lot of farmers already have bad experiences with light aircrafts etc. I have heard of people offering to make a donation to the air ambulance service in exchange to use their land, this backs up what you have said about liability on the land.

My plan would be to take off and then go off to fly somewhere else and come back later on to land.

Hi Tony,

I have 7 days training booked with a paramotor training company up north which start on 28th June and I will ask my instructor but it is nice to get a feeling of what others do.

Hi Guys,

So I am starting training towards the end of this month but in the meantime, it has got me thinking about where I could take off and land in my local area (Tamworth B77).

What are your strategies for finding a take-off and landing location, do you just find a field and hope no one notices, do you speak to local farmers? If so, do you offer them anything etc? Please correct me if I have this all mixed up but I do not know anyone personally who owns a field...

There is a massive fenced off field directly opposite my house which is owned by a school, probably talking roughly 6 football pitches in size. Should I speak with the school, what's in it for them? etc.

Thanks in advance.

Rich

I'll take a look, 

I think I will get my training out the way first. 

Steve, I'm not offended. I think I will need to learn what a fly-in is first 

Did you comment on this thread for anything in particular or to just pick faults? Did you have someone in mind that Michael should choose?

Thanks Steve but it doesn't seem bad, seems like a typical generic website filler statement to me. I checked them over fully first, seems to have a lot of reviews, uploading a video or two a week to youtube of training and have their own events. I have received a welcome pack explaining the risks, training procedures, etc. I definitely didn't want to go with someone who was offering a crash course, only takes one mistake hence why I am happy to travel a bit further field.

Ha no problem, I am training with http://paramotor-ltd.business.site/ starting on Thursday 28th, going up and staying in a hotel on the wednesday night for 4 days. Welcome to travel up with me if you can get onboard. The training is 7 days from 8am till sundown but you can split this up however you like, hince why I am doing 4 days.

Richard

Hi Michael,

I am from Tamworth and I think we actually know each other, didn't I meet you the other week when I came over to see Dave Harper?

I have booked paramotor lessons which start this month but I am travelling up to Scunthorpe.

Richard

Hi Jack,

I am new also, I have booked a 7 day block of lessons. I am travelling up to Scunthorpe from Birmingham to start my training at the end of this month.

Richard.