It’s now been about 4 years since I’ve last been able to get actively involved in any form of flying for fun and my 5 year old is now starting to complain of boredom when he’s on the boat so a few weeks ago I decided to remedy things. I needed a complete contradiction to the Airbus I get paid to fly so I am now an independent operator of a fantastic paramotor!!! I doubt anyone else here has flown one but don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. I’ve been having an absolute blast and have found something (primarily freedom from heavy regulation) that is not available elsewhere.
I am now involved in a group of about 25 guys and girls and we fly from any of 3 fields in the Basingstoke area. The thing is that I live in the Windsor/Uxbridge/Beaconsfield area and could do with a flying site closer to home. Does anyone here have or know anyone that has a field outside any ATZ or control zone that I could use? The size required is largely dependent on what’s on the boundary but ideally a square(ish) field about 100-150 meters or more if it has no obstacles. It would be just me and one other guy wanting to fly on occasional evenings and we would ensure that we would get airborne with best practice for noise abatement, would vacate the area immediately and would return to land deadstick. Our units are very quiet and our climb rates are superb (our power to weight ratios are many times greater than a light aircraft as we don’t bother with the fuselage bit!).
One of the options I am thinking of is to use the disused airfields at Bovingdon or Wisley but how do I find out who the landowner is so I can seek their permission?
Any help much appreciated.
Regards
Ian
By: scotavia - 25th April 2007 at 18:49
Paramotors
Ohhh..I envy you, I looked into this a year ago , placed a deposit and having got the only book about learning to fly one I realised that I could not go ahead. This was only due to the fact that in my area of North Scotland there were no instructors. The company kindly refunded my deposit when I explained why.
By: wysiwyg - 25th April 2007 at 08:17
Wow, nearly 300kg of static thrust. That’s very impressive.
By: Rod1 - 24th April 2007 at 22:36
My MCR01 P/W ratio is .60 (100 hp 490kg)
Rod1
By: wysiwyg - 24th April 2007 at 22:22
OK I was trying to avoid this one but…
It’s none of my employers business, my house is paid off and my wife is considerably more well off than me!
By: Newforest - 24th April 2007 at 20:36
What does your insurance company think about you stepping outside the box?:D
I think you misunderstood the insurance question, how would your life insurance company think about this activity and how does your employer consider your hobby?:)
By: wysiwyg - 24th April 2007 at 17:49
My engine is a 175cc single cylinder ‘Black Devil’ 2 stroke engine driving a 2 bladed 115cm diameter wooden prop. It produces 21hp and gives a static thrust of 62kg. Bearing in mind with enough fuel for an hours flight (I can legally carry enough fuel for just under 3 hours) my all up weight is 120kg I have a power to weight ratio of just over a half. Out of interest the 4 RR Trents on the Airbus produce a maximum of 103,636kg of thrust and a max take off weight of 380,000kg. This gives a power to weight ratio of 0.27. The 757 I used to fly has a power to weight ratio of 0.34 and yet this is considered one of the highest performing airliners. Can anyone give any equivalents for common GA types?
Other than buying the kit my only costs are fuel (about 3.5 litres per hour) and oil. Insurance is not required but can be had for 100 quid a year. If you are a member of the BHPA then you get it automatically with your membership if you bother to do their powered paraglider conversion. Most people don’t bother.
WB – the paramotor lets you be airborne with much more feeling for what’s around you. An airframe tends to desensitise you from the rest of the world. I originally started to be aware of this through the open cockpit flying I used to regularly do. Now I get that feeling to the max!
By: Newforest - 24th April 2007 at 15:15
I needed a complete contradiction to the Airbus I get paid to fly so I am now an independent operator of a fantastic paramotor!!! I doubt anyone else here has flown one but don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.
Ian
Your thread title says it all! I presume this is the device you strap on your back and run along? Is this a Rotax motor? What does your insurance company think about you stepping outside the box?:D
By: wessex boy - 24th April 2007 at 09:05
I can’t help with the flying site, I’m afraid, but I have often thought that it would be great to have a paramotor in the boot of the car, for those spur of the moment “I wonder what that looks like from the air?” opportunities.
I know that they are starting to get a bit of regulation now, but it is probably the free-est form of powered flight.
I am sure that you’re power to weight ratio is something that varies wildly from machine to machine….and probably prior to and apres lunch:D
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April 23, 2007 at 6:22 pm