Brian Case Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Hello everyone. I used to hang glide in England, Europe and Australia quite a few years ago, before I had a motorbike accident and broke my back. l now use a wheelchair. I did a paragliding course with Jockey Sanderson up in the Lake District but never followed it up, mainly due to the amount of assistance needed to set up, launch etc.. Microlighting is too expensive and complicated. Since l found out about the new medical exemption for <70 kgs trikes , which is now a blanket exemption, l've been busy thinking, watching and researching. Once in the air, only the hands /arms are needed, but the tricky bit to sort out is steering on the ground, which is usually done with the feet. Despite my extensive hang gliding experience, l think l'd prefer to use paraglider wing due to slower / shorter take off and landings. But obviously l'm still looking into all this. There seems to be 3 options and variations on combinations of any of the 3. Castor on front wheel/s set to follow wing input. A lever (and brake lever) low down to one side. Electric servo with control in hand or on control bar. For anyone interested here are some videos that l've found. I'd really appreciate any thoughts, ideas or experiences anyone has on this subject. Many thanks . Castor and lever video (this idea for a quad needs to be made lighter) ; Electric servo idea ( 7 minutes into this video ) ; Basic lever idea, watch his left hand as soon as he touches down, low and to the left (this is a full sized microlight ) ; So again, any thoughts and ideas most welcome.. Thanks :O) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 18 minutes ago, Brian Case said: Hello everyone. I used to hang glide in England, Europe and Australia quite a few years ago, before I had a motorbike accident and broke my back. l now use a wheelchair. I did a paragliding course with Jockey Sanderson up in the Lake District but never followed it up, mainly due to the amount of assistance needed to set up, launch etc.. Microlighting is too expensive and complicated. Since l found out about the new medical exemption for <70 kgs trikes , which is now a blanket exemption, l've been busy thinking, watching and researching. Once in the air, only the hands /arms are needed, but the tricky bit to sort out is steering on the ground, which is usually done with the feet. Despite my extensive hang gliding experience, l think l'd prefer to use paraglider wing due to slower / shorter take off and landings. But obviously l'm still looking into all this. There seems to be 3 options and variations on combinations of any of the 3. Castor on front wheel/s set to follow wing input. A lever (and brake lever) low down to one side. Electric servo with control in hand or on control bar. For anyone interested here are some videos that l've found. I'd really appreciate any thoughts, ideas or experiences anyone has on this subject. Many thanks . Castor and lever video (this idea for a quad needs to be made lighter) ; Electric servo idea ( 7 minutes into this video ) ; Basic lever idea, watch his left hand as soon as he touches down, low and to the left (this is a full sized microlight ) ; So again, any thoughts and ideas most welcome.. Thanks :O) Hi Brian. I fly a powered parachute trike, but I have fitted a tandem paramotor wing for considerably greater efficiency as the original wing was like something that had come out of the ark. One of the features of the trike is the the front wheel is fixed, and the only steering of any kind is by way of the brake lines to keep the canopy directly overhead. I only use my feet for the throttle and of course this can easily be changed to a hand throttle like all other paramotors. If you google aerochute and images there may be a shot somewhere of the fixed front wheel. If you search you tube there are any number of launch clips for them and no wheel steering needed in any of them. Landings just the same. I wonder if it is possible to amend a trike in this way, alternatively the Flat Top lite trike uses a castor front wheel which I imagine would simply follow the wing. Some food for thought I hope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Case Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 Thanks. Aerochute isn't something l've been looking at.... Great buggies for some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Case Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 Well......whatever steering solution l decide, this bloke called Gerry has convinced me to get my tools and mig welder out and dust them off. I have old and spare aluminium wheelchairs and mountain bike sized wheels for an off road chair. Going to be getting myself some decent aluminium box section and tubing. Here's Gerry; 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 17 hours ago, Brian Case said: Well......whatever steering solution l decide, this bloke called Gerry has convinced me to get my tools and mig welder out and dust them off. I have old and spare aluminium wheelchairs and mountain bike sized wheels for an off road chair. Going to be getting myself some decent aluminium box section and tubing. Here's Gerry; He's got a number of clips on you tube. He did manage to break his trike after an engine out forced landing, but it seems to have functioned really well for such a basic structure. He came out of the landing perfectly unscathed..........just a broken axle or something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Case Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 Thanks.. I've seen a few of his but l haven't watched that clip, l'll take a look and see what happened. l guess it's a little bit of trial and error. Hopefully not too many errors. He's got such a great attitude and a infectious laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Does anybody know what has happened to MARK JERKINS of yorkshire Paramotors? bought one off of him but now cannot get in touch,as i want a single seat trike off of him,seems his web site has been taken down as well, If anyone can help be grateful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi k Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Facebook under "Yorkshire paramotors training & sales" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parawheelie Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Hi Brian, here's a quick clip of my trip to Oman in March. Passed my APPI Pilots License and just bought the sub 70kg Falco. I found the castor wheel works fine. My new one is also a castor wheel and restricted to about 15 degrees steerage both ways. Will post pics when I get it flying..... Video_20180226212940722_by_videoshow.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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