Any Paragliders out there?

I’m a very active paramotor pilot as it is as far removed as possible as I can get from my Airbus dayjob. I fly mine as a motorglider (I spent a very enjoyable evening soaring the ridge at Chinnor last week) and it gives me much more freedom than full blown paragliding (or tree-hugging as we tend to refer to it). With regards to limitations… well I can operate from zero wind up to about 12 knots from any wind direction, I fly from all sorts of places (including friends back gardens and car parks), the current distance record is 1144km, the height record is above Everest, I can take a passenger, I can cruise at any speed from 20-65kph with an endurance of approx 3 hours. A complete set of brand new kit can be bought for as little as 3 grand and operated for £3-5 per hour all in. Best of all I am completely independent in my flying. I obey the rules of the air and abide by the ANO but other than that I experience a freedom that other aviators do not get. I previously enjoyed many years as a member of the British Gliding Assosciation however I eventually tired of the fact that so many people within that movement were more interested in administrating rather than enjoying their sport. Shame really.

Actually now i think about it (well it was 30 yrs ago:rolleyes: ) I did also manage to have a take off mishap as well,mind you we had been to the pub for lunch !!:D .However I did manage to successfully get to the bottom of Dunstable ridge a bit later 😉

cheers baz

😀

Happens to the best of us LOL.

I did try a bit of Hang Gliding and it was great fun but like most types of flying its the landing and or approach to land which gets ‘interesting’ sometimes and I always used to worry about the ‘landing gear’ (ie legs and feet).
cheers baz

Actually now i think about it (well it was 30 yrs ago:rolleyes: ) I did also manage to have a take off mishap as well,mind you we had been to the pub for lunch !!:D .However I did manage to successfully get to the bottom of Dunstable ridge a bit later 😉

cheers baz

Thanks:) 🙂 🙂

Dunno Will
But I used to regularly outclimb them in a ‘real’ glider near Gallows Hill, Wilts 😉
Good fun like Hang Gliding but performance very limited !
I did try a bit of Hang Gliding and it was great fun but like most types of flying its the landing and or approach to land which gets ‘interesting’ sometimes and I always used to worry about the ‘landing gear’ (ie legs and feet).
Just for comparison myself and my 1969 libelle used to regularly fly 300 Km,its manufacturers claimed L/D ratio was 38 :1 which approximates to 6 miles per 1000 feet height loss at (say) 50-60 knots.I would also guess that with a para you would be limited to flying ‘downwind’ on cross country flights.

cheers baz