GB007

4 minutes ago, Paul Shotan said:

GB007

 Don't be disheartened... you've done everything right and that's all we can do . Beyond that it's down to the weather fairies!
As for being "frowned on" by UK trainers for your using Spain ...... any decent trainer will be happy to accommodate you, there should never be any "us and them" as far as UK vs Spain is concerned. If you do come across any resentment then you know to avoid that person from the outset. Fingers crossed for you ... happy flying.

Thank you mate

Reading this has made my heart sink as I have paid and booked on a Zero to Hero Paramotoring course starting the end of March.  I thought long and hard about doing the training in the UK or abroad, if I believed the weather was going to be good for training I would have opted to train in the UK.  In the end I chose Spain as I already done Hang Glider training here in the UK and it was a bit of a nightmare.  Not because the school was rubbish.  I went with a well know HG school on the south coast of the UK and cannot fault them, in my mind one of the best.  I am self-employed so was able to train most days the weather was right.  The EP was done without issue but CP was another story.  Due to weather the gaps between training days were so far apart I felt like each time I turned up at the hill it was like the first day training again, it was far too inconsistent not to mention the travelling back and forth hoping the day would be good to go or not.  I had so much fun with that school but it also took way too long and was not good for my confidence.   In the end I had to go Spain with the same school to finish off just because of the weather but sadly had an accident on my first flight over there (my fault) so could not complete the last part of my training.  Once I healed, I did complete my HG CP but with another well-known brilliant HG school in Spain. 

Now I want to train Paramotors all this was racing through my mind, what do I do this time?  On this occasion all Paramotoring schools are a lot further away from me.  It will be much harder travelling to and from training sites.  I did think of waiting until the summer but decided that was not a guarantee all will be fine either so I opted for Spain. 

I did do research on training schools here in the UK and Spain over the past year.  If you are clever to pick a good school how could you fault any of them.  I found very good reports on who I choose to go with from what seemed like happy students.  Another concern at first was who do I train with APPI, PMC or BHPA, how do you choose that when you start off and dont know better, different people say different things?   In the end I choose a BHPA school only on the grounds of my HG training schools are BHPA and cannot see how I can fault them, I’m sure APPI and PMC are just as good.

Right now I feel I’m in the same place as when I started HG.  I know going to Spain is no guarantee all will be fine but feel happy (with my finger crossed) I choose a good well-known good school and stand a better chance with the weather and hopefully get some consistent training and flying over the duration of the course which is no different to what I thought the first day I booked my Hang Gliding course here in the UK a few years back. 

What’s also slighty worrying me is if I need a little bit of further training or guidance once I’m back who do I approach and will they be welcoming or frown upon me for going to Spain?

I’m not trying to disagree or upset anyone here just explaining my experience of flying so far.

I might be given a Ozone Element Wing.  Not sure how old at the moment but told it's flyable but should get it checked out first to make sure.

Has anyone any comments/advice using this wing for training.

Worst way I could use for ground handling but it would be handy for training if checked OK to fly with?

What do you think, may be too old?

Thanks

Hi

8 minutes ago, benraven said:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Universal 1.1, I've flown it a couple of times & it's a brilliant wing, super lifty and has lovely control under landing. It's EN-B rated which is perfect for beginners and intermediates - the wing will be outperforming the pilot for hundreds of hours. 

Paramotortraining.com have Universal 1.1's as their school wings so may be worth giving Simon a call and having a chat about the wing and best options for training. They have a 28m too. 

In terms of the weight question, I'd be surprised if you're running 2.7kg of fuel, you'll probably want to account for slightly more. I reckon the 28 meter will probably be about right if you were going to end up doing long cross countries & were carrying camera gear. Depending on what type of flying you'll be doing you may want to go for the size below, you want to be closer to the top end of the wing than the lower end. I'd advise you speak to a flying instructor, they'll be able to help you chose the correct size glider based on your weight and type of flying. 

Thanks very much for your help.  The weights I used were not exact just used for the purpose of the question.  Now I know, when ready I will calculate what I need with real weights. 

1 minute ago, kiwi k said:

You could post your county location and go from there, due to health i'm still going thru training and it'll be 2yrs this July, my cost of training is something i can not disclose on here as there's more to it (extremely cheap), but dependent on location it might not cost you as much as you think, patience and practice help greatly help in our sport.

I'm located in South London.  I don't have an endless supply of money and would prefer it to be cheaper rather that expensive but money is not my real concern.  I worry about training being long winded due too much time between flights and training.  If I had a crystal ball and could see 2 or 3 lovely weeks in the future in this country where I could book that time off work then camp near training I think I would be OK.  As we all know with the UK weather you never know what it will do next.   

On 07/04/2019 at 16:32, kiwi k said:

GB007  i fly Uni 1.1 28 and i'm 90kgs but fly No reserve and a very light paramotor, the closer to the weight limit the better and more safer the wing, slightly over top weight is OK also, but dependent on your location and experience your welcome to borrow for a test flight if that would help.

Uni is beginner to inter and reasonably fast so gives plenty of hours before upgrading to faster or more agile wing.

Thanks mate, I'd say my weight fluctuates between 80 and 90 kg so with the paramotor I have in mind I would fall in the top end of the 28 weight range which suits me fine.   Its a shame as I know of a Uni 1.1 28 for sale but just don't have the finance in place until my vehicle sells, slightly temped to use credit card.

Thanks guys, this info is very useful and lets me know I am thinking on the right lines. 

I'm no brave pilot, in fact I'm a bit of a scaredy cat when it come to flying and will only fly a beginners wing for the foreseeable future.  Everything I found out so far suggest to me a Dudek Universal will be fine for my needs for a long time. 

I more or less know which Paramotor I want but the next hurdle is what training. 

I had the best Hang Glider training mostly in this country but due to the weather and trying to arrange days off work to match the weather turned my training into a very long drawn out event, there were months between flights that I found very counter productive.  I finally gave up in this country and finished my last CP tasks in Spain which solved my problem but got more expensive.  What do I do this time???

Hi

I’m kind of thinking out aloud here to get a response from you clever guys.

Q 1.

When choosing a wing (Beginner) and looking at the weight range I believe it consists of the following.  Your weight fully geared-up.

The weight range for the Dudek Universal 1.1 28 is 90-140 KG, the wing has have a 50 KG weight range.  So the Mid-range weight is about 115kg

If all my weights were the following it would put me slightly over the Mid weight range which would be perfect, I believe?  Have I read and got this correct or am I still missing something?

Pilot                      85kg

Paramotor            25kg

Fuel                      2.7kg

Reserve               2kg

Helmet                 1kg

Other Gear           5kg

Wing                     Is this added?

Total Weight         120.7kg

Please Note the weights I used here are as close as possible but not exact and only used for the purpose of this question.

Q 2.

Also if money was not an object what would you choose as first Wing?

Ozone Roadster 3 26 - I want this as I love colours. lol

Dudek Universal 1.1 28 - sensible option & cheaper thankfully

Thanks for your time.

For give me if this is totally stupid question and jumping on this post. 

I also just go the Powered Paragliding Bible and read up to Chapter 9 Airspace.  Am I right thinking this covers mostly US Airspace?  How similar is that to UK Airspace, Should I skip that for the moment and focus on the UK or keep reading as there is not much difference?

I know I will find this out sooner or later but could not help myself asking here.  Hope you don't mind?

Thanks

Kiwi - I have my BHPA Hang Gliding CP and mainly flown in Algodonales.  I'm low air time but have a couple of spectacular flights under my belt.  I own 2 Hang Gliders but still think I'm a bit scared of height which make me laugh.  Why do I still want to do it?  

I find Understanding the weather is a real challenge, I seem to forget more than I learn.

Thanks Andy

Am I allowed to ask who you trained with, if not, not to worry.

Hi Kiwi

I would not dare do this without training, I'm not brave enough.

PS: I actually think I’m a bit scared of heights.

Thanks

Thanks for this info Andy.

Does this mean if someone was APPI qualified they could not fly in the UK or just the BHPA sites and are there APPI sites in the UK?

Also if someone was APPI and want to fly BHPA sites would they have to then go through the training again but with a BHPA school?

Sorry I don't know what a Fly-In is?

Thanks

Hello

In my research to find out more about Paramotoring (If I got this right) I just found out there seems to be 2 ways to be trained, BHPA approved training & APPI approved training. 

At the moment I don’t see why you would choose one over the other, is it possible one better that the other?

What are the implications (if any) if qualified with one and not the other?

Many Thanks    

Thanks,

I've seen the ebay listing but also had funny dealing with him.  I arrange with him to visit his place with money in my pocket to spend with him only to be turned away by him when I arrived at the time he said? 

Very strange, that happened 3 times.  I dont think he likes me.

Hi,

Hope no one minds me hijacking this post and asking the same question, I'm looking for a cheap wing for Ground Handling only.  I'm located in South London.  Thanks