thefish Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Can anyone help me, i want to take up the sport of paramotoring, but i need to convince my wife that 'statistically speaking' this is one of the safest sport that i could do. Does anyone have any stats or figures or stories ( or advice ! ), that i could use to strengthen my argument ? It seems that the only stories or videos i can find on the net seem to be about wing failures or pilots being taken to extreme heights. Any feedback greatly received. A very frustrated pilot in waiting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer_Dave Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Hi mike Safer than riding a motorbike on the highway for sure. Probably safer than crossing a busy street too. Aslong as your choices of when to fly (weather and wind) are good and the equipment is suited to your weight and ability, most of use would agree that the sport is very safe, and greater height = more safety. Always carry a reserve and be sure to use a good strong machine to protect you from the propeller and a safety crumple zone under your butt, just incase of a heavy landing. As found on the Flat-Top and Walkerjet paramotors. Very strong. Saves prop breakages too. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Hi Mike, I recommend the DVD Risk and Reward, I bought it and my girlfriend watched it with me, helped her realise it is actually a reasonable hobby!!. Its very good at going through the main causes of paramotor accidents and how to avoid them. A very good buy in terms of educational safety, ive watched it a few times, and got something from it each time. I believe paramotoring is about as safe as riding a motorbike but as the DVD goes into with paramotoring largely you choose your old leval of risk.......Just my personal experience. Hope it helps, Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 Discuss the difference between "hazard" and "risk". Statistics would argue in favour of PPG over PG, but included in the figures for death and serious injury are all the numpteys who would have damaged themselves if they had taken up tiddley winks! What we do is hazardous for sure, bumping into the planet can have serious consequences but what is the actual risk that I will encounter the hazard? That is (almost) totally dependent upon the choices I takes. If you look at the stats for incidents caused by equipment malfunction or failure compared to pilot error (usually of judgement) you will see that you can be very safe (even safer than driving in your car where collision with another vehicle is a high risk compared to midair collisions) In aviation generally the number of serious injuries is less than 5% of the number of injuries on roads per number of participants and in PPG les than 0.5% of driving injuries. HOWEVER what we cant know and what your wife probably can know better than anyone is how likely YOU are to get hurt knowing how irresponsible/responsible you are in your other life choices. Do you drive like a Kevin? or were there child seasts in your car before the law required them? When a pane of glass gets broken do you immediately secure the hazard or does she have to nag you for a year and the cat severs an artery...........those arguments are much more powerful than "x% of paramotorists get hurt" IMO. My philosophy is to study the theory and apply it, go on courses where I cant teach myself something, and read all the safety notices, forum posts etc to be as well informed as I can be. Finally, get her involved socially. Talking with other pilots and find out that we are not mad-crazy loons out for the next death-or-glory adrenaline stunt but sensible, thoughtful, careful people who have a deep-seated almost primeval urge to experience flight and that we are not truly whole until we do. She will see that you can be an even more fantastic husband once you fulfill this element in your soul and she will benefit immeasurably as you blossom as a pilot. PS I will dig out the CAA accident stats when I get home and you can compare with the DoT road death figures. the above is for General Aviation with trends for aeroplanes, helicopters and "Others" (gliders, gyroplanes, microlights and of course paragliders and paramotors). you can see that "others" have less than half the deaths than from light aircraft per million hours flown. Also the deaths that did occur in the last 3 year period only 2 of them were in PPG. Gyroplanes have more deaths per million hours then Microlights then gliders then PG and last come PPG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcs Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 From my perspective, my missus isn't bothered about what I do, its not that she doesn't care bout me, she just understands that I like to experience doing bizarre things and I'll go and do it anyway, and that's not to say I'm inconsiderate either, if I was single I dare say I would be a bit more gung ho but I always look forward to doing the next activity with her or holiday, this week I am not going to fly whatever the weather as I am on holiday next week and I don't want to risk even a minor injury that might impact on our trip. BUT, what she does like about Paramotoring is that when I come home after a good flight then I am in a REALLY good bubbly mood and tend to be a bit more sociable and helpful than I usually am, I'm a miserable bastard most of the time actually, especially through the worst summer I can remember that I decided to take up the hobby! I've had a go at several extreme sports and all I've ever done is broken a finger (and that's only because a motocrosser drove into my arse as I got up from a fall) because I know my own limits and stay within them. Neither I or she can afford for me to be off work with a broken limb or worse so I factor all that in to my flying, I'm not interested if the weather is almost perfect for it, it has to be spot on 6mph max for me! Not sure where you are but if you're in the west then you're welcome to join our gang and come and have a look with your wife. And talking more to Francis would be a good idea too!! Malc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_P Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 the above is for General Aviation with trends for aeroplanes, helicopters and "Others" (gliders, gyroplanes, microlights and of course paragliders and paramotors). you can see that "others" have less than half the deaths than from light aircraft per million hours flown. Also the deaths that did occur in the last 3 year period only 2 of them were in PPG. Gyroplanes have more deaths per million hours then Microlights then gliders then PG and last come PPG. Francis, maybe I'm being dim (or perhaps colour blind) but to me, the 'other' trace looks to be the red one, which is the highest, aircraft orange, lowest most of the time. and helicopters in the middle, yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 well spotted Phil ! the graph includes gyroplanes at a fatality rate of 45per100,000 hrs along with microlight glider sphg, pg and hg all below 4 per 100,000! take out gyroplanes and the graph for others is below GA. I have the document but can't post it til later. fatals between 1995 and 2004 ga 87 heli 29 microlight 23 baloon 0 glider 38' pg 24 hg 11 sphg 1 (2 more since 2004) to be safer than ppg you need to fly a baloon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 SELL THE WIFE AND BUY SOME NEW KIT!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcs Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 That reminds me of a funny joke, my friend said "I just got a new BMW Cabriolet for my wife", I said "Sounds like a fair swap" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I will start the bidding... two camel's and a goat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Mike, I did a fair amount of research before committing to take up this sport, I also had to talk to my missus to to allay fears. Paramotoring in the UK - Two dead in 14 years - both doing aerobatics, (one structural failure and another canopy collapse at low level) there will be more to come as the sport grows but that is to be expected. Probably numerous minor injuries, most unreported. If you treat this environment with respect, stay away from strong winds, strong thermic conditions, water and ill considered low flying you should die from one of the other multitude of things that take us away from flying. Flying beneath a fully inflated parachute is much safer than rushing vertically down at 110 knots with it rolled up in bag strapped to your back hoping that it will open when you pull the right handle. THAT is insane as evidenced by those that do it. One man's meat I suppose.... Paramotoring is in my opinion a safe but adventurous sport made very safe if you use your noddle and fly conservatively. You can even drop your odds on minor injury if you are reasonably fit and warm up 'athletically' before you launch and land. If you want to put anyone off this sport, sit them in front of your computer and type 'paramotor' into the YouTube search box. This sport has its fair share of idiots and they all complete for the Darwin Award whilst their mate films it with a camera. The very worst advert for paramotoring Mike, the very worst... Mind you, there is the odd good one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hi dude just sitt her down and say you are going take on one for 3 sports. 1st is skydiving 2nd is paragliding and the 3rd your going to buy a motor bike to race!! I bet i know whitch one she will go for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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