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Has anyone crossed the English Channel with their Paramotor?


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I am already getting crazy ideas about what I want to do when the Summit SS arrives

:acro:

The idea of crossing the English Channel is high up on my " To Do List " but not sure whether it is something that is achievable?

Has it ever been done by the ' Run of the Mill ' type of flyers?

I am also getting crazy ideas of going for Altitude records etc,etc

Am I crazy in thinking like this? Or should I just admit myself to the Rampton institution?

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I am already getting crazy ideas about what I want to do when the Summit SS arrives

:acro:

The idea of crossing the English Channel is high up on my " To Do List " but not sure whether it is something that is achievable?

Has it ever been done by the ' Run of the Mill ' type of flyers?

I am also getting crazy ideas of going for Altitude records etc,etc

Am I crazy in thinking like this? Or should I just admit myself to the Rampton institution?

yes its been done a few times, think the reason its not been done more is there is a mountain of red tape to plough through before you can go ahead, you are crossing a border after all.

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It's actually far simpler in a registered aircraft BUT I think the one that will scupper it is the requirement for the aircraft to have a 'permit to fly' I can't seem to find any exemption for this in the latest info. :-(

SW :D

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It's actually far simpler in a registered aircraft BUT I think the one that will scupper it is the requirement for the aircraft to have a 'permit to fly' I can't seem to find any exemption for this in the latest info. :-(

SW :D

As an SSDR, the Summit SS is not yet covered by any bi-lateral agreements with partner national aviation authorities. Any flight beyond the UK flight information region (FIR) will require permission from the aviation authority involved. In practise, SSDR aircraft have travelled quite widely in Europe.

With my original plan being to operate it on the US Register for the first 6 months I am likely to do the crossing under the US registration.

Crossing the FIR Boundaries aren't a problem, Just a simplified flightplan & radio contact is all that is needed. I am more tetchy about what Le Touquet will say when I call final for their runway.

I am considering timing my crossings to when the Ferry is crossing so I have a ditching plan

:P

:explode:

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Admin aside... Just think of the worst case scenario if you have to ditch, and cover all bases.

The Ferry will more than likely be going faster than you, and I wouldn't rely upon it as a safety net.

Everything is fine while the engine is running, but these things have a habit of stopping just at the wrong time. A few have done it in the past, and so far no engine problems...but...

Ramon, when he did the long flight from Spain to Tenerife had all sorts of safety measures, flotation suit, flares, radios, satellite trackers etc and a back up rescue helicopter!

Good luck if you attempt it, admire your drive, but please be safe [sMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND SMILING EYES]

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Admin aside... Just think of the worst case scenario if you have to ditch, and cover all bases.

The Ferry will more than likely be going faster than you, and I wouldn't rely upon it as a safety net.

Perhaps I am hoping to put too much faith in having a ferry beneath me, but my theory was based on the Channel crossing being about 23nm & the ferry taking 90 minutes to complete the crossing I 'guestimated ' that 10 minutes is used up leaving Dover Harbour & 10 minutes is used up Arriving at Calais.

Taking this into account I have 'guestimated ' that 70 minutes is the time to cross the 22nm of open water which gives the Ship a VMG of 18.8kts.

With the Summit SS reported as having a 30kts cruising speed I can accept a 11kt deficit due to wind. I must admit that thinking about being over water for potentially 70minutes doesn’t enamour me to the thought & seeing as I would have quite a large amount of PNR time I thought having the ferry below or nearby was a contingency plan.

The ideal situation would be to have an 11kt tailwind so the crossing would be only 32-33 minutes ( I would chance my luck then, but in any case where I could maintain the speed of the ferry I would be staying very close to ferry.

Having only 6:1Glide ratio I would need to be at 11280ft at the midpoint to glide ashore ( if the donkey ' donked ' ) so I believe I would need to get a crossing at 5500ft to reduce my PNR by 50%

Perhaps I will just get a Safety Boat to ' shadow ' me across.

:idea:

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I know a man who can either do this or arrange it 100% :-)

There is no better safety boat man on the planet in my and the entire TV industries opinion.

He is a mate so I am sure mates rates would apply.

SW :D

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  • 1 month later...

I have spent many hours crossing various seas in microlights. I had a few things that made me feel less nervous:

Radio.

Locator beacon,

Immersion suit. (you're welcome to borrow mine if you want)

Life raft. (bit heavy maybe!)

Life Jacket.

I too would love to cross the channel by paramotor. Feel free to flame me, but I wouldn't worry too much about the legalities. You have no registration letters but, if you want to be semi-legal, you can file a flight plan with a made up call sign (like 'paramotor1'). Call London information and tell them you're flying from a private field near X and landing at a private field near Y. Stay away from airfields and restricted airspace and nobody is going to bother you. Sure, you might technically be breaking the law, as you do when you go over 70 in your car, but here's the thing I've always found in over 20 years of flying - You can sum it up in a few words - Don't build your part up! :-) - You're a dot in the sky. Nobody really gives a shit about you or what you are doing. Sure, if we all crossed the channel tomorrow, we'd kick up a stink, but hardly anyone does it, so who is going to care? You will probably land in a field near a petrol station, fill your tank and fly back to Kent with nobody any the wiser.

In my experience, on a nice day, there are plenty of sailing boats and cruisers that you could land near to in an emergency.

Good luck! Hope you go for it!

Dave

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