benraven

I am soooo keen to be part of this crew!! Let me know when and I'll take a sabbatical from work

Can bring the tandem too

I have a few friends who fly wasps and they're good looking motors. They seem to build their machines in a similar speed to my maverick. I haven't flown one myself but I know they're full titanium so are lightweight, with the 150 engine they are just over 20kgs. 

It's now live on the PMC shop if you want to find more info: 

I managed to get a quick one in at Barry's Field last night, first 20 minutes were fine but rain was closing in and it started to get a bit gnarly just before landing. Still good fun and helped feed the addition - hadn't been up for 8 weeks before last night!

Bloody weather.

15 hours ago, MIke Page said:

Anybody have coordinates?

51°14'27.6"N 0°38'55.8"W

I've never flown from Barry's but don't live too far away. I'll give him a call, would love another place to fly from. How come he is so pro getting more of us flying down there? 

6 hours ago, GerardTC said:

The modification is very simple. Just untie the tip line, pull it out from the ring and connect it to the brake handle with a bowline.

How different is the flair with 2D steering?

Thanks, Gerard. I fly a Roadster 3 and find that to get a more responsive turn I have to swing the opposite way first. I'll have a bit of a play with the tip steering in the air and get a feel for it, then I'll likely tie it into the brakes for 2D steering. 

It should pack quite tightly into the reserve pocket  it should be absolutely fine.

My plane instructor gave me a piece of advice about landing that massively helped me and it applies to Paramotors too. It may help you too. When you flair try to focus on flying a couple of inches above the runway for AS LONG as possible. Shift your eyes up and don't look too close to your feet. The theory is that if you are focusing on landing your brain will try and make the landing happen quickly - you'll look close to your feet and the ground will be moving fast, this will add to the overload and you'll try and make it stop by landing at that moment and you'll be going too quick. If you slow everything down, shift your eyes towards the horizon, the ground will appear to move slower, you'll feel like you have more time and your depth perception will be a lot better. Then try and hold yourself 6-12 inches above the ground for as long as you possibly can - all a flair is, is a way of trading your airspeed for lift, eventually, the wing runs out of lift when the airspeed isn't high enough to maintain it. At this point, you should touchdown at a much more comfortable speed (and if you're close to the ground, nice and soft). Since your engine is off there is no way to add speed to the wing so inevitably you'll touch down when the airspeed can no longer sustain enough lift for your weight. 

In short: don't try and land, because it'll happen to quick - try to fly above the runway and you'll touchdown anyway (just slower). 

I hope this helps you, it definitely helped me get over the sensory overload when landing. 

I've put together a video of the weekend. Enjoy

If you're new to Paramotoring it's best to practice initial ground handling with a specific ground handling wing - training schools have loads of these things for this purpose. I say this because in your first few days of ground handling you'll likely be flipping the wing upside down and slamming the nose into the ground - this can damage the spars. The last thing you want to do with your flying wing. Older wings are also harder to ground handle than a new crispy wing so if you can get control of an old one you'll have very little problem with a new one. 

However, if you've done you're first flight or first few flights on the school wing and you're comfortable with ground handling the wing, i'd recommend ground handling with your flying wing. My wing is a different beast to ground handle to my school's wing and requires extra technique to handle correctly. It's super important to know how your wing will react on launch, how to recover if a side dips e.t.c... 

If you're an experienced pilot, I see very little benefit in getting a ground handling wing. Logically ground handling helps perfect wing handling & technique - and wings behave differently. When I bought my wing the first thing I did was ground handle it for a day to get used to it before thinking about getting a motor involved. If you're transitioning up a tier in terms of the 'level' of your wing its still going to be best to ground handle that way before you think about taking it up. 

Ah I see it now  I misread 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Hann__ said:

Better underneath than above, i suppose.

Surely you mean the opposite? Wake turbulence disperses downwards and sideways from a heli

I'd much rather have one pass below, I don't reckon you'd last long with one above you. I was inbound to Membury Airfield the other day on the paramotor and a heli passed in front and above by maybe 300ft, decided to stay out of its flight path for a good few minutes after it had passed just to make sure the air had time to settle. 

I've had a Chinook pass underneath me left to right in a fixed wing which was a pretty cool sight, but not on a paramotor yet. I'm happy not to have a close encounter with a heli but flying right next to Odiham and Lasham, under the Southampton, Farnborough & London airspace does bring its challenges. 

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, DavidG4 said:

If found a very good take off and landing area for if and when I ever mnage to get into ppg but it lies within  Boscombe MATZ so when the MATZ is active I'll have to get permission too.  If they say No, they say no.  

If the MATZ surrounded by Class G airspace you do not need permission to enter as the MATZ assumes the same classification (although it is a very good idea to advise them you'll be transmitting the MATZ). Where you will absolutely need permission is the entry of the ATZ at the centre of the MATZ. 

Personally, I live just a few miles south of the Odiham MATZ and would certainly give them a call if I was entering or transmitting close to the MATZ - partly to ensure we were able to safely share the airspace, but mainly because Chinooks have a ~100mph downdraft and that doesn't mix well with our wings  

 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, GB007 said:

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. 

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. 

4 hours ago, DavidG4 said:

A new sport??

'PARASLIDING'

I managed to find somewhere quiet to do the break-in and did it on my back. Back ached by the end of it but I'd much rather that than a couple of fingers lost from running it 'loose'. The tree method is probably ok if you know what you're doing - but as a newbie, I didn't want to risk it - one accidental quick roll-on or off of the throttle could be enough torque to shift it out of position. 

Agree with the comments above that helmet and ear protection are absolute musts for the break-in procedure, as well as a surface you can get a good footing on.  

Happy flighting. 

http://www.manchesterparagliders.com/ seem to be a school fairly near? They do PPG training. 

I've come from PPL(A) background too (C172 out of Goodwood), learning to fly a paramotor was the best and most freeing decision I've ever made - you'll love it. 

Ben

I'm from a GA background too (currently just over halfway through my PPL training - nowhere near the experience you have!!). I'm also pretty new to paramotoring but just like when you are in a plane, I find the key to mitigating fear is doing proper pre-flight checks. 

Check, double check and triple check you're hooked into the wing correctly with no twists and the carabiners are locked. Be absolutely certain your leg and waist straps are hooked in with no twists - give them a good yank just like the guys on a rollercoaster do with the safety bar.   As long as you've done your checks fully you should have absolute confidence that you're not going to fall out.

Get an instructor to help you with a hang test to make sure your harness is set up correctly. Your leg straps shouldn't be so tight that you can't get out of the seat. I find with my own setup somewhere between fitting a hand and fitting a fist between the strap is about right. The straps are obviously only needed for the climb out and approach/landing stages of flight so should be set correctly for those. When you are in the air the seat should be reclined just enough (but not too much - see riser twist) to comfortably hold you in without the need to keep re-shuffling into the seat. 

If you are still getting the irrational fear of falling out, go to Thorpe Park for the day and absolutely session every mental ride you can. You may have brown pants by the end of it but you'll also become acclimatised to being thrown around at high G force whilst your harness holds you in. 

I hope this helps & happy flighting