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Paramotor Club 2017 (Newbury) Fly-in 14-16th July


admin (Simon W)

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Hi all,

I am new to the paramotor scene, and I saw this event advertised and figured it might be a good place to talk to people about the sport and how to get started etc.  Is the event open to non-fliers?  

Also, will there be anyone offering tandem rides or similar (officially or unofficially)?

Thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Is there a schedule of events available anywhere (i.e. whats happening when over the weekend)?  I did have a bit of a dig around but didnt spot anything, but I may have missed a link somewhere.

Mostly interested in what time things kick off / wrap up for the day on saturday.  When the fireworks are likely to be.  And when anything specific is happening.  I am looking to drive up for the day, not camping, so just trying to gauge when best to get there etc.

Also, possibly silly question.  Do we have to pre-purchase tickets, or is it just "pay on the gate"?

Edited by Paraknight
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1 hour ago, admin (Simon W) said:

Amazing natural light! Great to see you again dude :-)

SW :D

 

My girlfriend took the shot whilst basking in the evening sun. ? Thanks for organising such a great location and a cool event @admin (Simon W). Shame about the weather, but everyone still had a great time. I got two flights in, even if one of them was at the crack of dawn! Hopefully we can go back there next year! ?

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Excellent event.  Had a great time, met loads of great people and got a lot of useful information about Parmotoring, and certainly makes me want to look into this sport closer.

That said, having had plenty of experience assisting with running large scale events I do have a couple of constructive suggestions.

 

Communication

Admittedly I came into this quite late in the game so I may have missed a lot, and also I guess there may have been mail-shots to the club members etc, but there was a fairly significant lack of detail about what was happening.

For example: 

  • there was no notes about people offering tandem flights, who to speak to, how much it would be
  • no detail about the planes, or how to arrange flights with them, who to speak to, how much it would be
  • no communication about how the free bar would work Saturday night (the flyer suggested it would be all evening, but it actually turned out to only be an hour or so)
  • no real plan on how parking would work (if a few more people had arrived it would have been a tight fit)
  • no pre arranged time for the fireworks

I understand that these events are more of a free-flowing social thing, but a little attention to things like this would make it slightly more approachable for newcomers.  My suggestion would be to make an event page on this site for next year that lists whats happening, roughly when, whos running it, and how much it will cost.

 

Site details, and signage

While the postcode was provided, there was no real explanation of where the site was, or any possible limitations of access.  I personally drive a very low-slung sports car (The red GTO by the fire pit) and while i was aware it was going to be in a field, if i had known it was going to be half a mile down a rutted and stoney dirt track I would probably have brought my partners car which has more clearance.

Also, I would suggest putting up a few more signs, ideally bigger than A4 if you can, and several roads away to guide people in a bit better, maybe as far as the A34.   I did find the place, but much of the last mile or so was driven very slowly looking out for any sign of paramotors.  Due to the weather there were none, so it was tricky to gauge if i was even in the right village until i was right on top of the farm with the signs outside.

 

These are really the only two significant issues i can think of. Obviously there's nothing you guys can do about the weather, and it was a shame not to be able to get a tandem flight, but hopefully this time next year I will be able to fly my own.  We shall see :D

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I think that the unplanned, free-flowing nature of fly-ins is a lot of the appeal. None of us thought we were going to a caravan club site, this is a bunch of pilots in a field (the word field says it all about potential access issues for sports cars), talking bollocks and drinking beer - and flying if we can. Once you're in the swing of that vibe, it would probably make more sense. 

I think Col did a great job with the signs, I saw them all and they were in all the right places.

I understand where you are coming from, and no offence intended, but this part of what fly-ins are all about. 

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Thanks for all suggestions which can help to better the awesomeness :-) 

You are clearly coming from a 'large event' background... (this is more of a small club / friendly event) it's not aimed at attracting the public and or new people to be honest. It's an annual 'club' party for the Paramotor Club members. :-)

I think as Steve mentions above, what you attended is a very normal approach to things in our sport.... :-)

The main reason for not pre printing information about event 'content' is because 2mph in the weather can change EVERYTHING and it was not until the day that the we knew if they were coming or not. (as it the nature of aviation) 

Ref the bar: £1000 went in an hour, according to the very experienced bar owner, for 200 people this should have lasted closer to 4 hours!! (this is also based on previous sales at past events) so WELL DONE EVERYONE FOR THAT!!! LOLOL I think we may have broken some sort of record there!! lol 

Can't wait for the next one now! :-) 

SW :D

 

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