Thanks for the very informed responded to the recent paragliding questions. What about paramotor? Is it any safer from unpredictable phenomena. Any thoughts?

It is actually.

Air passing over an object creates suction and lift.

The motor allows you to induce that.

Problem is everyone hates you already or they will grow to hate you after the 2nd time you pass anywhere near them in your sky lawnmower.

Youll also still need to drop about 7k on a basic paraglider setup for your first 30 hours of engineless flight which can take a weekender a year to get sometimes 2 years.

And then you gotto drop another 10k 15k on a motor etc chances are youll have a comical prop strike while doing that.

Now heres the real downside.

Pretty rarely will you see paramotors flying on windy days for a good reason. So your basically limited to the earrrly hours of the morning usually on the ground by time wind picks up before midday.

Have a hilarious look at the video of the religeous kitesurfer damien? Danny? Damon? I cant remember some kid from california or something who jumps out of his paramotor because it caught fire or it was changeing direction or soemthing i cant quite remember but hilarious none the less.

Engine cut outs seem to be common or at least theyre the only slightly entertaining thing you could film on ya sky lawnmower.


Just because you have noise cancelling giant earmuffs doesnt mean anyone else does so you will be hated by everyone by your 2nd passover.

Might want to look into an actual plane. Im a big fan motor gliders like a pipi sinus.

www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/products/sinus/

As was said, people tend to fly early in the morning or the evening to get smooth air.

The wings generally have more reflex which makes them much more resistant to collapse. If they do collapse then they can enter a steep dive. That would be bad if you're close to the ground. Lots of paramotoring is done close to the ground ... because they can.

Reflex wings are less efficient than paragliders so serious paramotor pilots tend to use paragliders with motors.

There's lots of rules about where you can launch and land and how close you can fly to houses and stuff. You can't just piff off the local footy field and go for a fly.

As I paraglider pilot I found the culture of paramotoring a bit suspect. I think the perception of being easier and safer than paragliders influences the decision making process. Just push the button and off you go, how hard can it be?

Possibly the worst piloting and general behaviour I have seen have come from self-styled expert paramotor pilots. They made jet skiers look good.

I have a mate who flies both paragliders and paramotors. He uses the motor to get up then free flies the rest of the time. We've barely noticed he had a motor attached.

Ill 2nd everything gorgo said especially the tendency for motor pilots to be terrible pilots

I cant explain why but they seem to be more of a .... monster energy drink toteing motorcross bikeesque style of inconsiderate pilot verses the more scientific nerdy micrometeorogical expert thought out and planned style for freeflighters....

Terrible stereotypes both of them even wildly inaccurate considering the vast majority of paramotor pilots i am friends with are actually very very good acro and xc freeflight pilots

BUT im literally not friends with a single engine only pilot hahahha not even kidding and its almost unintentional.

I think thats due to in the aviation world when you get a whiff that anyone is wild and reckless or just incompetant you want to distance yourself away from them as far as possible not just while your in the air together but you actually dont want to be friends with them on the ground. It really sucks haveing a friend die so as a rule i wont put much effort and energy into being friends with someone who for example flys cross country without a reserve chute.


But they have theyre own little clubs and meetups and stuff im sure theyre great fun they actually have a pretty cool video about surfing the morning glory? Some Big roll cloud up north

So yeah theres a very clear tribal distinction and difference between freeflight pilots and the motor guys.

Think i said it before but dont look at paramotoring or paragliding as some sort of cheap plane or helicopter alternative.

Write down what you actually want to achieve and do think of it as a design brief if your goal is to sit on the side of a hill in ski jackets in 40c heat talking about clouds then paragliding probably it

If you want to piss off everyone along the beach on a jetski like a douche but your afraid of getting your hair wet maybe paramotoring is for you

If you want to fly a plane then just fly a plane.

Infact... go onto a aircraft forum maybe the cessna or caravans or jabiru sorta ones and ask them what they think of jellyfish (paragliders) your sure to hear some hilarious hair pulling nostril flareing storys about how dumb and insane they all think paragliders are but theyll also probably hate on non fixed wing pilots some even wont like tail draggers or the bigger boys your going to find division in all aviation for all different reasons.

For good reason

Theyre all tools to do a job. And theyre all have different jobs to do.

I have a very different mindset to alot of other pilots, You know the ones who actually ENJOY it.

Ive never enjoyed flying and hopefully never will.

Thats what keeps me safe. If i want enjoyment ill smoke a joint and stuff my face with cake and icecream while watching joey diaz talk about the time he got his nose hairs straightened out by someones little monkey.

Don't know if I said it on the paragliding thread, but flying costs about $100 an hour. The gear is the smallest part of the cost. All my foiling gear works out at about $7.50 an hour.

Flying is a lifestyle choice, not something you just do on the weekend.

Time off work (including not working at all), career choices that allow more free time rather than more responsibility, travel time, fuel, accommodation. Extra holidays to expensive places (or even long extra holidays to cheap places).

Technical clothing (shoes, windproof, down jackets x 100). Ultra lightweight camping gear for vol biv. Airfares to places where vol biv makes sense.

Off road capable car. GPS and satellite trackers. GoPros. and on and on.

I coincidentally retired from flying after my last trip away in 2018, and sold all my gear in early 2019, just in time for COVID.

I kept the absurdly warm expedition down jacket and the Everest mittens because they're really cool (and really warm as well).

I reckon av gas for a twin engine plane would work out cheaper then retrieves of you really crunched the numbers hahaha those drivers are never shy of a rib eye at the end of a 8 hour drive

I chopped the hoods off my down jackets and sewed them together for my mittens in europe and was sleeping in bear hides and caves in the julian alps (had no idea they were bear hides until someone told me i had been stomping around bear country for last month completely oblivious like an idiot)