custom-vince Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) We all like lighter paramotors but how light does it have to be to equal out the amount of thrust from a heavier machine? Power to weight of known paramotor variants. Moster,Thor, Top80 etc. Choice of machines. thor100 27kg and thrust of 60kg >60/26 = power to weight of 2.22 kg of thrust per kg of motor moster 26kg and thrust of 70kg >70/26 = 2.69 techno 20kg and thrust of 60kg >60/20 = 3 top80 52/19 = 2.73 thor200 80/30 = 2.66 simply put 70kg thrust on a 26kg machine 70/26=2.69 2.69x20=53.8... 54kg thrust on 20kg machine has the same power to weight But... If we add in an 85kg pilot and divide the total weight into thrust I get a new slightly more relevant figure. 60 / (85+27) = 0.53 I call this power to total weight ratio 70 / (85+26) = 0.63 again it is kg thrust per kg of total weight 60 / (85+20) = 0.57 52 / (85+19) = 0.50 80 / (85+30) = 0.69 Does all this really tell us anything. How much lighter does the lower power machine have to be to give the pilot an equal climb out or general feeling of power? What is the relationship between perceived thrust vs motor weight? eg. a 30kg motor with 70kg thrust is equal to a 20kg motor with 60kg thrust. < 10kg less weight or 10kg more thrust except this statement is not true. how much thrust would the 20kg motor need to add to meet the same climb rate as the 30kg motor. given the same wing and pilot.? after that we need to factor in that pilot weight differs, then after that we factor in wing size... 50kg thrust 70-80kg pilot 60kg thrust 80-90kg pilot 70kg thrust 85-100kg pilot 80kg thrust 90-110kg pilot so now the equation goes... 52/ (70+19) assuming he bought the top80 > 0.58 60/ (85+27) this one bought thor100 > 0.53 (already the heavier pilot on the heavier machine is at a disadvantage to the lighter top80 pilot) 70/ (90+26) >0.60 (the 90kg moster owner did ok) 80/ (100+30) >0.61 (wow the 100kg fat boy did well on the Thor200 having the best score overall so far) lets put the 85 kilo pilot on a techno & a moster 60/ (85+20) =0.57 ---- 70/(85+26) =0.63 Its interesting to look at figures this way, but what does it all matter. Economy, reliability, power delivery, transferred weight (how heavy does it feel on your back, design has a big impact on this), torque control, harness comfort, strength are all major factors in buying a paramotor. Edited October 17, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_b Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Nice informative post Vince. You have way too much time on your hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom-vince Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 its something I pondered about a few times but only just wrote it all down. Thought it best on here so it can get ripped apart and other views accounted for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartasutherland Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Interesting. Thanks for pulling it together. I'm not actually that fussed about weight of motor and bought my latest engine because of the higher thrust (I'm 100kg). I went for the Thor 200 - which will hopefully work less hard in flight too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom-vince Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 What it showed me is that I always thought the big guy was at a disadvantage and had to have the heavier motor. But with the figures you come out pretty good. Except in economy, but Thor200 is pretty good here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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