AN INTRODUCTION TO POWERED PARAGLIDING

Paramotors are powered paragliders. They are the cheapest, simplest and arguably the safest form of powered recreational flight. They can often be packed up small enough to fit in a sedan's boot and back seat, although most pilots prefer not to fully disassemble their paramotors and instead put them in a station wagon, in a van or on racks etc. As such you can be in the air with only a few minutes preparation. You don't need an airstrip for launching, a beach or good-sized field is sufficient.

The most basic part is the wing. It is a parachute-like ram-air wing that is typically used for paragliding. Paraglider wings come with varying levels of certification as to their level of safety in gliding flight but some paraglider wings are not very suitable for paramotoring in general, or for specific types of paramotors. For most people there is no point in using a performance paraglider as the added danger and difficulties of launching cancel out any gains.

The things that really separate paramotors from other powered aircraft are the very low flying speed, the thrust acting six metres below the wing, pendulum effects, and the very flexible connection between the motor/pilot/propeller and the wing.

The typical flying speed is only about 36 kilometers per hour so flying into a 15 knot headwind may leave you with only 5kph of groundspeed. If you want to do out and returns pick a light wind day. A great way to fly is to have a pickup driver so that you fly with a tailwind for a groundspeed that is comparable to that of the pickup car following a less direct route.

You can speed up the wing to about 50kph by lowering it's angle of attack or reflexing the wing but the chances of the wing temporarily collapsing in bumpy air usually increases along with the time it takes to recover. Lower performance paraglider wings are designed to quickly recover from collapses with minimal or modest loss of altitude and direction but it can be a scary experience for some. Paramotoring can be a quick way to learn about thermalling as you can't bomb out and end up on the deck if you lose the thermal. Turning off the engine at altitude and gliding on in silence can be done, although some paramotors can be difficult to restart in the air. Both hand start and electric start options are available. Thermalling under power and using idle or engine off for the glides, you will go further and faster than if you try to imitate free flying.

It appears that powered paragliding can be safer than unpowered paragliding even though the propeller and thrust increase risks. This is because most paragliding accidents occur in relation to launching, landing and ridge soaring. Paramotor pilots have a lot more options for launching and landing and so can generally choose much safer places to launch and land, as well as safer conditions and situations in which to fly. Many paramotor pilots only fly in the very light conditions of early morning and late afternoon. The low speed of paramotors and ability to land just about anywhere would be the reason paramotoring could be the safest form of powered recreational flight even though mishaps are reasonably common. Launching and landing into wind on open flat areas of grass or sand results in bicycle like groundspeeds that occasionally breaks props and bends cages but usually doesn't result in major injury to the pilot.

The engines are all lightweight two-stroke engines in the 80-300cc size range. A bigger, heavier engine may produce more power and hence thrust but it doesn't make a paramotor fly any faster, it only makes it climb faster or capable of taking a heavier pilot. They are not classed as aero-engines and exhibit all of the typical two stroke problems. Engine outs are not uncommon but so long as pilots stay within glide of a safe landing it isn't an issue. Don't expect a paramotor to be as low maintenance as a motorbike either; because paramotoring is a small market, manufacturers can't spend much on R&D. So you will need to learn a bit about engines or find a good two-stroke mechanic etc

PROPER TRAINING

For training in Australia you need first to learn to paraglide and gain some experience before you can begin training for the motorised endorsement to the paragliding licence. In Australia it is illegal to fly a paraglider or use a paramotor without holding a paragliding license and paramotor endorsement and being a member of the HGFA. Training is administered by the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia. Web: http://www.hgfa.asn.au/

Here's a simple run-down of what you need to do to fly a paramotor in Australia. ParamotorTraining

Paragliding is perhaps two thirds of paramotoring, so once you have mastered paragliding expect to have to learn half as much again to equally master paramotoring. Nil wind paramotor launches on flat ground are much more difficult than for paragliding so expect the training to be hard physical work.

YOUR OWN PARAMOTOR

Some people choose to build their own paramotors and only buy the wing and perhaps the harness (plus helmet, boots, radio, parachute etc). However such people often find that building a good paramotor is a lot more difficult and expensive than they expect. Many end up buying a commercially manufactured one if they fly often. Although it is relatively easy to build a paramotor that will get off the ground, it is much more difficult to build one that launches easily, is easy to control and comfortable in flight. There are no decent plans available for homebuilders. To design and build a good paramotor usually requires prototyping and lots of test flying. It is rather foolish to choose to be a test pilot at the same time as being a student pilot. Before designing & building your own it is far better to get some experience up on a new or second hand paramotor first. Try lots of different styles of paramotor to try to understand all the methods of torque compensation, attachment point set-ups, thrust transmission to the karabiners etc, as such things can make the difference between a paramotor that sits in the garage all the time and one that flies a lot. When buying a paramotor it is very important to do your research well as there can be lemons on the market. Currently there is nothing to stop homebuilders selling their first effort or two before they build one that they are happy with. Even many of the commercially built paramotors have their issues. There is no such thing as the perfect paramotor as everything involves tradeoffs.

As a rule don't get all your information from one source as they may have a vested interest or may not be the expert they think they are. Try to get second opinions on how good a particular paramotor is before you lay out the cash.

Do try to avoid noisy paramotors. Direct drive and small props are usually the loudest. Try to get opinions on how noisy particular paramotors are.

The majority of complaints from the public are due to noise. When flying under power don't stay in one area (unless it's deserted) but keep moving so that you spread your noise around. A noise that lasts a few minutes is much more tolerable than noise that just keeps on and on or that keeps coming back.

See our list of paramotor manufacturers in the links section for more information.

Whether you like turning off the engine and gliding in silence, like looking at the rainbow around your shadow on the tops of clouds, or like dragging your boots along deserted beaches it can be an enjoyable sport. The perseverance and kahunas required, the noise, the petrol smell in your car, the effort involved in getting off the ground, the weather dependency etc, all mean that it is not a sport for everyone. For the right sort of people though it can be addictive.

Contributed by Graham Sutherland