Chasing camels in the desert while flying

[Free Spirit]

This is great fun. Following the contours of the dunes, or chasing the camels and donkeys in the desert.

[Tower]

Eish, I thought my Aquilla was Sticks and Cloth, What do you call these things, Cloth only.

What is the performance like, surely not a normal Paraglider? Tell me more!

[Boeing]

Howzit Tower

Saw a guy over Brackenhurst / Glenvista area the other day with a similar looking setup.

Tried to find out what it is... apparently its called a Para-motor.

I watched this guy fly this contraption for a while and it really looks like a blast!

Apparently is also a popular form of flying in the Cato Ridge Area???

Im not 100% clued up on these things so if there is anyone out there who can Educate us on Para-motors and these contraptions, it would be great!

[DieselFan]

Damien has a nice clip of where he visits a paramotor and paraglider show.

You get to see them in action taking off etc just missing some high obstacles

http://www.emuvideo.com/videos.php?page=bf050716

[Bennie Vorster]

OK, so this must be a Para-man then.

[ZULU1]

Take a look at www.ppg.co.za its Tony Gibsons site, he flys a Hirth engined XC Excitor from Pretoria, what a serious piece of kit this is. Its 75 hp on a powered wheelchair..with a sail up top..

eish Zulu1

[Free Spirit]

The specs of these ones are:

Frame Aircraft Grade Aluminium

Certified in Germany

Rotax 582 UL DCDI Model 99

Max Gross Weight 432 kg

Glide ratio 6.1

Rate of climb 400 - 800fpm

Airspeed 26 - 35 mph

G-force tested to over 5Gs

Fuel: 13 US Gallons

[ZULU1]

Ths is the maiden flight of the Xciter PPG chariot. serious kit...

eish zulu1

[Biggles]

How do you license one of those?

I know in the UK you can get away without a license if its a foot launched motorised flying machine, I believe that is why most of the motorparas are foot launched... would you not need a license for one of it had wheels?

[ZULU1]

I have no idea, but I know that the pilots "keep" their own registration when calling on the radio. PPgs are the fastest growing motorised sport in the world, I suppose they don t need hangarage and so on, they can use the beach and playing fields. Dont have to worry about airfields closing..beginning to make sense.

Maybe the moderators should open a link for them to join in the forum as they are becoming really popular, these guys jump off mountains and I believe they have some experiences which they could share with all of us ??

I find the sport very intersting as I have a few buddies that fly them, really different technologies used and terminologies "air brakes" and so on. They share similar engines to trikes and have some incredible avionics systems.

eish Zulu1

[Free Spirit]

Here in the UAE they are registered as a microlight, with a qualification as powered parachute, and has a proper registration number. Training is 15 hrs, nevermind what your flying experience is, because its VERY different to any other sort of flying. All controls are with the feet and by "pulling the strings". Extremely manouevreable. I could not believe what one can do with these. And the climb rate is awesome for such a type of aerie.

It is also the first time I've seen a tandem one. They have a commercial operation here and are very busy!

[DieselFan]

Hmmm Having such a high wing could cause some severe sunburn

I was looking at PPGing before I looked at trikes as it seemed MUCH more affordable. Nice thing is packing two of them in the boot of your car, going to Namib dunes and flying at lekker slow speeds! AWESOME appeal.

[XCitor]

Hi
I have been asked by Zulu1 to join up on the forum to discuss the PPG(powered Paragliders)/PPC (powered Parachutes).
Firstly Zulu1 makes an incredible Headset system and we are all switching over to his Helmets and headsets. Try them some time.
The difference in PPG and PPC is that one is Foot launchable (PPG) and the other is too heavey to run with and is clasified in a different catogory (PPC). There are different license required in South Africa for both types and formal instruction is required as well as different license grades required to fly different wings. The power units are interchangeble to fly different wings and they start with Basic Paragliders to really advanced Dedicated PPG wings (with Reflex built into the wings). The reflex works very much like your Trike do and pulls the leading edge of the wing up the whole time as air passed over the wing the only difference ming wing have is that i can change the wing profile to increase the amount of reflex i want in the wing with trims. The XCitor you heard Zulu1 talk about is one of the more advanced PPC's on the market and i own the first in south africa and the next two are on order. This PPC (trike) has a speed range very similar to your earlier Windlass trike wings. it has a cruise of 60km/h with a top speed of 73km/h. The smaller high speed wing option takes the cruise to 75km/h and a top speed of 90km/h. Its Climb rate is very good solo it averages 690feet/min and maximum is 790feet/min. Duel and with a PAX and Pilot weight of 180kg with 27liters of fuel i managed 400feet/min. Remember the altitude for take off is 4670Ft/ASL.
The motor is the 70HP Hirth with fuel Injectors and auto mixture control.
The convential PPC as you have seen in the past and in the photos on this forum has a cruies speed of 50km/h whit the std wing and no top speed as that is the top speed too. you can slow it down by applieing the breaks.

The best part of PPG versus the PPC is that the aircraft and be broken down in 5 to 8 min and stored in the boot of most cars. You can have it all connected and running in 15min ready for take off. This never happens in that time as we are always chatting and joking before flight.

The XCitor is also registered ans a sport trailer in Germany so you can tow it behind you car to the airfield and has a DLUV airworthy certification too. We just need to see now if the licensing department will convert the licence to a South African one.
I hope some of the questions are answered. Please feel free to discuss this further. I will attempt to answer all you questions and queries.

[velocity]

I will attempt to answer all you questions and queries.

Hi T
When can we jump it... ?

We need to have that meeting @ the Dome soon as discussed - call me or Mike

Cheers
V

[ZS-NEL]

Zulu1 makes an incredible Headset system and we are all switching over to his Helmets and headsets.

Mmmmm, Zulu1 PM me with some prices and info


Thanks