fanman

I posted a long time ago on this forum that I felt the Revolution was disadvantaged by its lack of split A's and received an onslaught of comments saying I was wrong. Consequently I bought a Revolution of my own and after spending several hours experimenting with launching and flying with the standard set up then modified the A riser to split A's. The difference in launch characteristics was dramatic. The wing was far less susceptible to being slightly out of wind and also lost its annoying tendency to bunch up in the center during a reverse. The A line layout ideally needs a slightly different distribution to work as well as some rival manufacturers split A equipped gliders work but then this would have been done at the factory if they had designed split A's from the start. In summary, benefits - many, disadvantages - none. I have now sold the wing so unfortunately had to return it to its inferior standard state as I felt I shouldn't pass on a wing outside its certified state. This was a shame as I had also fitted ALC to it so removed that as well.

Keep the chest strap tension right to ensure you don't get any lateral loads on the swing arm bolts in the event of an asymmetric. When forward launching ensure the risers aren't routed under the swing arms. Hang check the set up and do so while someone gives a 60kg push in the middle of the prop boss. This will alert you to likely angle changes between powered and unpowered flight. This can be significant if you are short in the leg and long in the body (ie a relatively high personal c of g) and can be exacerbated by the use of a behind the head reserve mounting. The low hang points can help with weigtshifting if the rest of the geometry is right while the swinging arms can help to absorb torque. Don't expect the harness to be anything like a free flying harness though. Finally check those swing arm bolts and arm ends regularly (and the harness and crab attachments) for wear and possibility of failure).

60-65% of naked pilot weight is likely to put you in a very safe position assuming the harness is set as the manufacturer intended.

Why would you want swing arms? Some similar set ups use 'comfort bars' to ensure you don't get pinned between the carabiner straps and the frame but we have found them unneccessary with this harness. Swing arms do not give you improved weightshift by the way, in fact they reduce the effect of weightshift by making your body movements articulate the arms rather than transmit the weightshift through to the crabs. Another urban myth busted! Swing arms help a powerful low hang point machine reduce some of the torque from being transferred to the crabs by allowing the motor/harness to twist within itself. Setting up a harness properly in the first place makes all this unneccessary anyway. Mid hang points give you the very best of everything.

Beware of urban myths! It is possible to get most wings flying quickly on surprisingly small motors if you handle them properly. Conversely I've seen many people mishandle easy wings with powerful motors and run for miles! Proper handling of the wing and body position dictates launch success not outright power.

We fly the Simo with the carabiner straps much shorter than that (not much more than the shoulder straps) which gives us a mid hang point allowing use of low hook in brake settings. This is far more convenient for using the same wing with a free flying harness or other lower hook in paramotor. It also gives greater range of travel for flaring.

Some set ups have a natural amount of sag anyway. If you are happy that the mounts are in sound condition but it is still sagging then you can shim the lower mounts and use appropriately longer bolts. Lateral differences should be expected in belt driven machines as the belt tension adjustment relies on an eccentric centered big pulley housing which when rotated and refastened allows you to take up the slack. The eccentric rotation means that with the exception of full slack or full tightness the pulley is off center either one way or the other.

Unless you have removed the screen in the pump side of the carb then a Walbro is not likely to suffer from a blocked main jet. It is worth back flushing (or better still replacing) this screen though. Bending the lever arm is a possibility if priming by manually depressing it through its orifice. Check the height with the very cheap tool from Rowena. If it is correct then look for air leaks in the fuel system as mentioned.

Try the FB using the original J bars. Many people find them just fine. There is a cheaper alternative to mofifying the FB that I did to a mates machine and we have both flown it this way ever since. Buy an Aerothrust harness from David Lankish in the US (cost me £130 brand new). The anti-torque strap is designed for props turning the other way compared to the Simo so just ignore that. It will fit the FB Respect frame straight away doing away with the heavy FB harness, ground handling straps and J bar fittings. It stays permanently attached to the frame like any other machine. The crab attachment is now on the shoulder strap (like an Adventure) and we happily fly this set up using brake handles set up for low hang points. Alan K on this forum flies this set up too however he has the old style frame on his Solo engine machine so had to weld in a bar for the harness to attach to.

Rumour has it that Diego has run a Top80 at full throttle for 24 hours continuously on a fuel/oil ratio of 100:1 with no problem. I have always used 65:1 in my Top80 as Miniplane recommends and never had a problem. PAP suggest 50:1 in the Top80's they sell but that is when people start getting coking problems. I also know someone who has been running FB simoninis at 60:1 for years with no issues despite FB suggesting 50:1. In my experience too much oil causes problems BUT running leaner oil mixes requires disciplined mixing.

Luke's advice is spot on. If you are running lean at top end on a WG8 then the only likely reason is air either getting into the fuel system (most likely) or leaking into the crankcase.

Some people deliberately prop them to rev over 10,000 rpm anyway. Personally I'm not happy if I'm getting less than 9700 with a standard prop.

The jumper switches are for the primary radio. The second radio lead is made up wired for a specific radio type when you order it. The second radio transmits using its PTT on the side of the radio while the headset PTT transmits on the primary radio.

You should have asked, we've been making and using these for years except we usually run them up the risers. The good alternative for cage mounting is to split the coax inner and sleeve, cover sleeve in heatshrink and then run the inner upwards and the sleeve downwards with the coil in the middle. Sort of like a capital T on its side. Cage mount on opposite side to coil pack and sheath kill switch wire to reduce RF.

Exactly, testing only deals with recovery from the situation, not the likelihood of it occuring in the first place. It's down to the buyer to choose whether prevention is better than the cure.

...or it could be argued that it would have been better to have been on the wing that was less likely to have the collapse in the first place. Better to have no turn than a 90 degree turn with no pilot input.

The debate about the issue of doing PG tests on wings that exhibit reflex is that the reflexed wing profle is less prone to collapse in the first place however that is not considered in the testing process. So... if a wing like the Revo 2 gets a B at slow trim without reflex while a Synthesis gets a C at slow trim with reflex then perhaps it can be seen that the idea of just saying B must be better than C is flawed. The reality of the situation is that all the beginner wings are suitable for learning to paramotor but sometimes you need to read between the lines of PR.

Perhaps a newbie should consider that if any wing that has reflex only when at the upper end of its trim range but is only tested when being flown as a pure paragliding style conventional airfoil it should be at least an A or maximum a B (low end?) to be suitable for a beginner. Vince, you didn't need to be present at the testing to know the answer and that is why I didn't ask where you were!

Vince, was the wing exhibiting any reflex at the trim setting it was tested at?

At last, Parajet finally moving in the right direction. This is a big departure from before and well done for having the balls to do it. Zenith sounds like a massive improvement. I am a huge critic of your previous products but if what you say is true even I might have to change my view.

The MicroAvionics headset will work with the PX777 when used with that adapter because it has a selection of dip switches inside one earcup that allows you to change various parameters of the headset. The Goldstar is less than a quarter of the price but has no option to make these changes. Pay peanuts, get monkeys. Unless you know exactly what you are after from the beginning, for many the Goldstar is the most expensive headset they will buy as it is £50 spent that will never be used unlike the £200+ for the MicroAvionics that they still end up buying anyway but serves a far more useful purpose.

Riser twist - mostly from excessive lean back of the propeller plane of rotation Flat spins - mostly through bad piloting often assisted by wing characteristics (design or porosity)

Every paramotor is capable of this if it is not set up right... even a RAD.

Tom, PM me your email address and I will send you something that will solve all your problems. One of the outputs from the Puxing is 5V DC. You don't want to put this through you headset as it has it's own power supply already. I have several PX777's on VHF and UHF that work perfectly with both my MicroAvionics headsets thanks to Alan K's help.

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