Stuprop83 Hi,
I am presently 'refurbishing' a paramotor using an old Fly products power 115 frame which had a mangled bottom end that was badly repaired which I have rebuilt & rewelded. The original frame seems good quality. I have relapced the side arm system as they had a very bad reputation. To this I bought an old F3 adventure which had a low hours solo 210cc that didnt have any tuning components. I aquired a old solo210 with a high compressioh head, easy start and battered piston - looked like it had eaten an m4 screw. So now I have a good Solo210 which I have stripped & rebuild. I added a fresh breeze tuned pipe which has a lower tuned speed for fuel economy not just peak power. And I have made a large carbon fibre silencer. The original frame came with a large 18L tank so I have accomodated that on the reworked frame.
I was looking for a reliable unit that has sufficient power for a big 94Kg bloke for longer cross country, that is quiet and reliable. The F3 had an electric start which I have fitted with a 15V 2500Ah lipo. I also wanted to 'know' the unit so as being a mechanical bloke, like you sound like you are, I would be able to fix / repair / bodge things as needed in the moment.
Im just about finished - it runs beautifully, starts easy, sounds sweet and the weight is good. The solo also has a position on the end of the crank for a very small generator coil so you can recharge instruments in flight. I am planning on landing out a few times. The solo engine has a huge following in home build aircraft and parts are still available. there is a lot of Polish guys tuning them.
Loads of hours of work but I have what I want, I thinks its almost as good as new and I have spent about £800. maybe a tad more. I have the old F3 harness which i was planning to use initially but if anyone has a L/XL cumfy harnes (low attachment) going cheap I would be delighted to make an offer. I was planning to do a bit more flying before I bought a new harness so I can know what I really want.
I though about making the paramotor frame but there is so much work I very quickly decided to 'refurbish' one. There is also a considerable amount of knowledge and experience built into these things.
Ive taken about 5-6 months & I have a lathe, mill etc.. and was lucky to find bits out there but I think there must be lots of dusty projects lurking. I should say I'm not an experienced paramotor guy, my background was years of hangliding.
I picked up a nice 4 hours glider for £950 plus you will need a reserve
my thought process, given my mechanical skills was
Excellent glider, comfortable harness, good reserve chute, make the motor work
If I have this wrong then I'm sure I will have provoked some feedback ..
Hope this helps.
Mike
