Testing Paramotors

[woody]

Hi All,

Should there be some form of Test that the Paramotor should be subjected to?

I think there should be.

There are loads of Paramotor Manufacturers, even some who make them at home eg:

http://www.eggmotor.8bit.co.uk

But what safety standard do they conform to

How strong are they

What manufacturers actually test their machines

How do they perform

Does anyone know ........

Woody

[Guest]

Hi Woody.

The Germans are very keen on testing things. They test paraglider wings under the DHV organisation. They also have two paramotor testing houses the DULV and the DSMV. These test the structure and geometry of the harness and frame to 8g static loading and also a drop test (I think). The DULV also do some basic wing motor combination recovery tests which are of a pass/fail nature, so e.g. a Airgate Mantis flown with a Powerplay Sting is a tested combination that satisfies the German governement as a "tested" flying machine.

DMSV have recently been teamed up with the EN paraglider testing house (who used to be (AFNOR) to compete with DULV and the wing recovery testing is more comprehensive and with categories rather than pass/fail.

It is still very much "early days" and no clear standards have emerged, only some basic "lowest acceptable" requirements.

Paramotors are still considered "experimental" so anyone can have a go at making one. As manufacturers get established and testing becomes more sophisticated we will see clearer standards emerging I think.