Paramotor/Paragliding - anyone?
Discussion
Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
There's a school just up the road from me, just off the A515 between Ashbourne and Buxton. I keep meaning to go and have a look see. I nearly bought one when I lived in France, but didnt know how I would get through the training in French.
They only cost a few grand too.
There's a school just up the road from me, just off the A515 between Ashbourne and Buxton. I keep meaning to go and have a look see. I nearly bought one when I lived in France, but didnt know how I would get through the training in French.
They only cost a few grand too.
Between £1500 - £3000 second hand for the full lot, then training of course.
I was led to believe that, although there are risks in everything, you are effectively flying a parachute. If the engine fails, so what...further more many pilots wear backup parachutes. Obviously that depends on how high you are should anything.....snap.
Must be one of the safest and cheapest ways of getting airbourne.
Not going to set any distance records, but look quite a giggle.
I was led to believe that, although there are risks in everything, you are effectively flying a parachute. If the engine fails, so what...further more many pilots wear backup parachutes. Obviously that depends on how high you are should anything.....snap.
Must be one of the safest and cheapest ways of getting airbourne.
Not going to set any distance records, but look quite a giggle.
Oops! sorry, you poor impoverished student type person Balmoral Green said:
Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
There's a school just up the road from me, just off the A515 between Ashbourne and Buxton. I keep meaning to go and have a look see. I nearly bought one when I lived in France, but didnt know how I would get through the training in French.
They only cost a few grand too.
Balmoral Green said:
...but didnt know how I would get through the training in French..
An hour's French should cover it.
Frog "Voulez-vous spliperai les bonds surly avec un mower de lawn et un grand pantalon de seceur?"
BG "Ah oui - je suis un Englishman eccentrique, mes gonads sont grand et frabrique de brass, et mon Bentley est vert. Bring it on, son"
Frog "Eh...bon. Donnez le harness ici"
BG "C'est un peu tight, ne'pas?"
Frog "C'est un side-effect des son gonads en brass - pas de problem. Attendez! grippez-vous la...et la...et ici......contact!"
BG "Merde - le mower de lawn.....est tres forte en the old bruit front...."
Frog "Ne seriat pas un large blouse de fille. La cable de launch winch est arrive. Et...(snap)...'ere we go...."
BG "Weeeeeeeeee" (shoots to 3000 feet)
Frog, on ground, smoking some foul Frog ciggy..."Ah...le METAR....qui would have believed it....40kt gusterai 60kt, CB, TS, whoops a le daisy"
BG "Zzzzzzzzzap - arg....." (falls into lawn mower propelled blades..." Slish Slish Slish
eharding said:
Frog "Voulez-vous spliperai les bonds surly avec un mower de lawn et un grand pantalon de seceur?"
BG "Ah oui - je suis un Englishman eccentrique, mes gonads sont grand et frabrique de brass, et mon Bentley est vert. Bring it on, son"
Frog "Eh...bon. Donnez le harness ici"
BG "C'est un peu tight, ne'pas?"
Frog "C'est un side-effect des son gonads en brass - pas de problem. Attendez! grippez-vous la...et la...et ici......contact!"
BG "Merde - le mower de lawn.....est tres forte en the old bruit front...."
Frog "Ne seriat pas un large blouse de fille. La cable de launch winch est arrive. Et...(snap)...'ere we go...."
BG "Weeeeeeeeee" (shoots to 3000 feet)
Frog, on ground, smoking some foul Frog ciggy..."Ah...le METAR....qui would have believed it....40kt gusterai 60kt, CB, TS, whoops a le daisy"
BG "Zzzzzzzzzap - arg....." (falls into lawn mower propelled blades..." Slish Slish Slish
BG - we'll have a chat about this tomorrow over a 
.. 
Have flown for about 10 years now, though not as much as I used to.. Take a look at www.bhpa.co.uk/ and it will tell you all you need to know.
In brief, you are flying a sort of parachute, but one that is sealed at the back so rather than falling gracefully it will infalte as you move forward, make a wing and in theory you can then fly, not fall. The problem is that if for whatever reason your wing deflates you start to fall and need to re-inflate it pdq. Its a good idea to avoid turbulent air until you know what you are upto as the better performing the wing is, the more unstable it is and the more likely you are to need to reinflate it. Things that can cause your wing to deflate are flying through the wake of another paraglider, thermals, (especially at the edges where cold and hot air mix), hanggliders and gliders are bloody leathal and if you are not careful a seagul farting in your general direction.
You can buy a rig that will get you through your 1st 2 ratings (student pilot and club pilot) that enables you to fly unsupervised for say £1500, but schools that sell them will often do a combined instruction/wing sale for a bit more. You should look at 8-10 days flying at anything upwards of £75 a day for the training otherwise. Guessing at the cost, its been 10 years since I trained..
Essential equipment are a decent backplate to fit inside your harness, (mine is a combination of kevlar and foam of varying densities, hopefully stops my spine breaking if I pile in), a good approved helmet, (bhpa rated, cycling/climbing helmets will not do), good strong boots, (stops ankles breaking/twisting) and a reserve parachutre. Most people seem to work on the theory that if only batting around 200 feet up you don't need one, but go out to buy one when they first throw themselves off an alp. Big mistake. If you cock up/are unlucky at 200 feet you fall like a stone without a chute and hit the deck very quickly. You hve no time to react more than once. That reaction must be to throw your chute. With a chute you have a chance to slow your descent to a survivable speed. If the same happens at 2000 feet you have plenty of time to sort your rig out and only then after 30 seconds of concentrated/frantic effort do you need to pull your chute. You are much safer flying higher as you have more time. And the view is better
Weather in the uk does limit flying time, as does the fact that there are a lot more people flying than there used to be so the air gets busy, (and not fun if you are still inexperienced and trying to fly on a bank holiday in August). You will get a lot more flying time with a hangglider, but IMHO its not as much fun. You also cannot get a hangglider in the passenger seat of a TVR, but my paraglider fits just perfectly.
.. Have flown for about 10 years now, though not as much as I used to.. Take a look at www.bhpa.co.uk/ and it will tell you all you need to know.
In brief, you are flying a sort of parachute, but one that is sealed at the back so rather than falling gracefully it will infalte as you move forward, make a wing and in theory you can then fly, not fall. The problem is that if for whatever reason your wing deflates you start to fall and need to re-inflate it pdq. Its a good idea to avoid turbulent air until you know what you are upto as the better performing the wing is, the more unstable it is and the more likely you are to need to reinflate it. Things that can cause your wing to deflate are flying through the wake of another paraglider, thermals, (especially at the edges where cold and hot air mix), hanggliders and gliders are bloody leathal and if you are not careful a seagul farting in your general direction.
You can buy a rig that will get you through your 1st 2 ratings (student pilot and club pilot) that enables you to fly unsupervised for say £1500, but schools that sell them will often do a combined instruction/wing sale for a bit more. You should look at 8-10 days flying at anything upwards of £75 a day for the training otherwise. Guessing at the cost, its been 10 years since I trained..
Essential equipment are a decent backplate to fit inside your harness, (mine is a combination of kevlar and foam of varying densities, hopefully stops my spine breaking if I pile in), a good approved helmet, (bhpa rated, cycling/climbing helmets will not do), good strong boots, (stops ankles breaking/twisting) and a reserve parachutre. Most people seem to work on the theory that if only batting around 200 feet up you don't need one, but go out to buy one when they first throw themselves off an alp. Big mistake. If you cock up/are unlucky at 200 feet you fall like a stone without a chute and hit the deck very quickly. You hve no time to react more than once. That reaction must be to throw your chute. With a chute you have a chance to slow your descent to a survivable speed. If the same happens at 2000 feet you have plenty of time to sort your rig out and only then after 30 seconds of concentrated/frantic effort do you need to pull your chute. You are much safer flying higher as you have more time. And the view is better
Weather in the uk does limit flying time, as does the fact that there are a lot more people flying than there used to be so the air gets busy, (and not fun if you are still inexperienced and trying to fly on a bank holiday in August). You will get a lot more flying time with a hangglider, but IMHO its not as much fun. You also cannot get a hangglider in the passenger seat of a TVR, but my paraglider fits just perfectly.
Psychobert said:
You also cannot get a hangglider in the passenger seat of a TVR
In my experience, you can't get a passenger in the passenger seat of a TVR.
BG & Psychobert - if you're ever down Maidenhead way,
there's a complementary Yak 52 blast waiting. Drop
me a line. As long as nobody tries to jump out
after their sunglasses when the canopy opens at
the top of a loop.
Balmoral Green said:
BG & Psychobert - if you're ever down Maidenhead way,
there's a complementary Yak 52 blast waiting.
Wow! now there's an offer. Might take you up on that. You would be welcome to take a punt about in BG, it wouldnt be very exciting though in comparison.
Contemplating giving up the Rangie for a for
a more waft-able waft-mobile, but maintaining the
eye-watering running costs. So a Bentley looks
like fitting the bill.
Still, compared to the Yak, all forms of motor
transport seem cheap. White Waltham's finest
100LL at £1.20 a litre, and frankly if you're
spanking it, at about 2 litres a minute (and if
you're not, why bother?).
I've done Paragliding. Its a bit scary. Fun, but scary.
http://media2.big-boys.com/bbfilez/hangglidefall.wmv
http://media2.big-boys.com/bbfilez/hangglidefall.wmv
Psychobert said:
reserve parachutre. Most people seem to work on the theory that if only batting around 200 feet up you don't need one, but go out to buy one when they first throw themselves off an alp. Big mistake. If you cock up/are unlucky at 200 feet you fall like a stone without a chute and hit the deck very quickly. You hve no time to react more than once. That reaction must be to throw your chute. With a chute you have a chance to slow your descent to a survivable speed.
I find it very unlikely a reserve would be any use at 200 feet. By the time you realised you had a serious malfunction and it was time to cutaway and deploy your reserve you'd already have lost a lot of height and the chance of getting useable nylon above ur head before you hit the ground are zero.
Incidentally in a paraglider how does the cutaway system work, do you use a reserve static line ?
My automatic opening device for my reserve is set at 850Feet. (Skydiving)
BASE jump rigs are way way different from normal chutes in that their packing construction and openings are designed to allow very fast openings.
Would love to try paragliding though as I enjoy being under canopy.
eharding said:
BG & Psychobert - if you're ever down Maidenhead way,
there's a complementary Yak 52 blast waiting. Drop
me a line. As long as nobody tries to jump out
after their sunglasses when the canopy opens at
the top of a loop.
Thats an offer I can't refuse
Hilts said:
I find it very unlikely a reserve would be any use at 200 feet. By the time you realised you had a serious malfunction and it was time to cutaway and deploy your reserve you'd already have lost a lot of height and the chance of getting useable nylon above ur head before you hit the ground are zero.
Incidentally in a paraglider how does the cutaway system work, do you use a reserve static line ?
My automatic opening device for my reserve is set at 850Feet. (Skydiving)
BASE jump rigs are way way different from normal chutes in that their packing construction and openings are designed to allow very fast openings.
Would love to try paragliding though as I enjoy being under canopy.
You've got a point, but paraglider reserves aren't quite like the reserve rigs you are used to; at free fall, the will be cut to shreads if you try to open one. I don't know enough about freefall rigs to know how they work, but mine is designed to be opened very quickly and they are designed to be opened if you have a problem you can't solve and you still have a wing partially inflated as in the video. I guess it may be similar to a BASE rig in that respect, (i.e. fast opening and not yet in free fall).
The pilot in that spent about 35 seconds trying to sort it before he threw the reserve. At that point he still had enough of a wing inflated to slow his fall enough for the reserve to work. If he was at 200 feet, as soon as the wong surged infront of him he should have tried to correct, if that didn't work, throw the chute. It will slow you enough so that you probably will live even from that height. Its not goingto be pretty, though its better than falling without one.
There isn't an automatic system that I know of, though I suspect one could be rigged up. There also isn't a cutaway system, what you have to do is throw the chute, (manually - grab the bag and throw it) away from the remains of your wing. The theory then says once inflated, you gather one side of your paraglider in, (with no or little pressure in the wing you are supposed to be able to do this) so it doesn't snag. I've seen people come down on a reserve with a fully inflated and flying wing and been fine. Also seen wings and reserves wrapped around each other and the pilot was ok. Its not ideal, but the theory behind the reserve is get as much fabric above you as you can and hope it slows you enough. It really is a last resort, but its better than nothing..
Psychobert said:
BG & Psychobert - if you're ever down Maidenhead way,
there's a complementary Yak 52 blast waiting. Drop
me a line. As long as nobody tries to jump out
after their sunglasses when the canopy opens at
the top of a loop.
Thats an offer I can't refuse
Hilts said:
I find it very unlikely a reserve would be any use at 200 feet. By the time you realised you had a serious malfunction and it was time to cutaway and deploy your reserve you'd already have lost a lot of height and the chance of getting useable nylon above ur head before you hit the ground are zero.
Incidentally in a paraglider how does the cutaway system work, do you use a reserve static line ?
My automatic opening device for my reserve is set at 850Feet. (Skydiving)
BASE jump rigs are way way different from normal chutes in that their packing construction and openings are designed to allow very fast openings.
Would love to try paragliding though as I enjoy being under canopy.
You've got a point, but paraglider reserves aren't quite like the reserve rigs you are used to; at free fall, the will be cut to shreads if you try to open one. I don't know enough about freefall rigs to know how they work, but mine is designed to be opened very quickly and they are designed to be opened if you have a problem you can't solve and you still have a wing partially inflated as in the video. I guess it may be similar to a BASE rig in that respect, (i.e. fast opening and not yet in free fall).
The pilot in that spent about 35 seconds trying to sort it before he threw the reserve. At that point he still had enough of a wing inflated to slow his fall enough for the reserve to work. If he was at 200 feet, as soon as the wong surged infront of him he should have tried to correct, if that didn't work, throw the chute. It will slow you enough so that you probably will live even from that height. Its not goingto be pretty, though its better than falling without one.
There isn't an automatic system that I know of, though I suspect one could be rigged up. There also isn't a cutaway system, what you have to do is throw the chute, (manually - grab the bag and throw it) away from the remains of your wing. The theory then says once inflated, you gather one side of your paraglider in, (with no or little pressure in the wing you are supposed to be able to do this) so it doesn't snag. I've seen people come down on a reserve with a fully inflated and flying wing and been fine. Also seen wings and reserves wrapped around each other and the pilot was ok. Its not ideal, but the theory behind the reserve is get as much fabric above you as you can and hope it slows you enough. It really is a last resort, but its better than nothing..
Thx for that, still seems a chance of a reserve entanglement although having said that the rigging lines on a paraglider seem pretty long so maybe the reserves are shorter ?
You'd have to falling pretty fast for a hand deployed reserve to fully inflate and at 200 feet that wouldn't give you enough time to get it out of the bag, deploy etc. shirley ?
I can see the merits higher up tho, we're probably looking at this from 2 differing speed perspectives.
On a skydiving rig there is a cutaway handle which if you have a malfunction will totally cutaway the main chute then depending on how you've got it setup, the reserve deploys automatically or you pull the handle.
Do your reserve chutes have to be packed by a qualified rigger. In skydiving the reserves can only be packed and repacked by a fully signed off rigger ?
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