dmh Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hi there. Having been to SPLASH and spent a really useful afternoon with Simon and Terry in Braintree I am going for it when it warms up. Any advice welcome and also anyone else who is local and thinking of starting. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gammonrowe Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hi I'm looking to take this sport up this year, i love anything flying. I live in benfleet and was gonna start soon looking for possible sites nearby, unfortunatly i cant fly close to my house due to southend airport airspace but i know of a place near you in braintree area not been there yet but i have done some flying (not paramotoring) at rayne farm airfield and apparently they are known for popping up there so hopefully i will meet them. Have you done much in the way of research what paramotor are you looking at, wing etc. Are you looking at doing the paramotor course here or abroad? Send us a pm and keep intouch on your progress. Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hi there. Having been to SPLASH and spent a really useful afternoon with Simon and Terry in Braintree I am going for it when it warms up. Any advice welcome and also anyone else who is local and thinking of starting. Cheers! Hello, by Simon in braintree I take it you mean Simon ward of the braintree paramotor club, I have been over and met Simon too when I was first starting out, they are a great bunch of blokes, they fly from a farm next to the A120 near freeport, theres quite a few paramotorists around that way including qiuite a few lemmings members, I am not far from you in Harlow and am looking at a few different flying sites close by, first thing you need to do is find yourself a good instructor, dont worry too much about buying equipment just yet, do a search on the net and read others comments and reviews, build up a picture of what is right for you, first thing you should be looking at is a cheap wing for ground handling, once you are taught how to ground handl get yourself out as much as possible and just keep practising over and over, it will pay dividends when it comes to your first flight. Cheers, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 HiI'm looking to take this sport up this year, i love anything flying. I live in benfleet and was gonna start soon looking for possible sites nearby, unfortunatly i cant fly close to my house due to southend airport airspace but i know of a place near you in braintree area not been there yet but i have done some flying (not paramotoring) at rayne farm airfield and apparently they are known for popping up there so hopefully i will meet them. Have you done much in the way of research what paramotor are you looking at, wing etc. Are you looking at doing the paramotor course here or abroad? Send us a pm and keep intouch on your progress. Graham Hi Graham, there was a chap last year who flew around shoebury east beach during the summer, theres plenty of unrestricted airspace out your way, wakering, canewden etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gammonrowe Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 hi dave (outkast) I looked at the chart for that area unless i'm reading it wrong the east beach is in the mod restricted area, plus there is that and southend to contend with may stick to benfleet side of southend dont wanna get into trouble or cause any bad press for paramotoring. Have you been flying much? I will have to come down and meet you guys, cause i have only ever been up to paramotorsuk site in cambridge and that was a bit too far to go back and forth to. i will also be trying to pay a visit to simon at Lambourn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 hi dave (outkast)I looked at the chart for that area unless i'm reading it wrong the east beach is in the mod restricted area, plus there is that and southend to contend with may stick to benfleet side of southend dont wanna get into trouble or cause any bad press for paramotoring. Have you been flying much? I will have to come down and meet you guys, cause i have only ever been up to paramotorsuk site in cambridge and that was a bit too far to go back and forth to. i will also be trying to pay a visit to simon at Lambourn. Hello, I have been into paramotors for about 8 months, done all my ground handling at westmill near ware in hertfordshire, then went down to Simon at lambourn to do my flying, once the weather changes myself and Frazer will be back up the flagpole to get some more air time, if you get yourself a cheap wing you could do your ground handling around your way and then once you are ready to fly get yourself down to lambourn, yes I looked at the air charts for shoebury too and i geuss he must have got permission to fly at shoebury, wich surprised me as he is right next to the military establishment on foulness, we will probably try and get up to westmill once the weather breaks for some ground handling practice so will let you know if you want to come up, also looking at a site in cuffley wich is looking promising, just need the weather to give us break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer1981 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hey Yeah come down and have a laugh! My wing is on its way back to me as we speak now just need to wait for the weather?!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gammonrowe Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hi Dave How much ground handling did you do before going to see simon? Yeah give me a shout when your going to the flag pole i would like to pop up. i'm working this weekend but off next weekend. how do you find the pap paramotor cause i'm trying to do as much research as poss, is the pull start easy or hard? Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer1981 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hi Graham Me and dave both had the luxury of having our own wings which we could use as and when the weather was good so i would say we probably did around 20 hours of ground handling (and still are doing!) You can never do enough in most peoples opinion and im sure i speak for dave when i say that i found it really beneficial when it came to my first flight. Its all about confidence and knowing how to react to the wings actions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 just to echo what Frazer has said above, the more ground handling you do the better, think of it like learning to drive, once you know the correct way to do it, its just a matter of repetition until it becomes second nature, Jeoff goin in his book the powered paraglder bible says "to master kiting(ground handling) is to master launching". Launching is propably the most challenging part of flying a paramotor, get that process nailed and you are half way there, next time myself and Frazer are up at westmill I will let you know if you want to pop up for a chat and have a go at ground handling one of our wings. Graham, at the moment I have a problem with my PAP wich I cant seem to put my finger on, PAP usually have a good rep, having said that mine is quite old wich may have some bearing on it, they are well biult though and parts are readily available from skydragons. Cheers, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huffhuff Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I can vouch for these guys, lots of ground handling pays the dividends. I think i've even heard our own Mr Westmore say that their groundhandling time is obvious! Grab yourself a wing, find a field and practice practicr practice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.