Coolest flying toy ever?

bizousoft

bizousoft

ну Вовка
Mar 5, 2010
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Canada
not aff. with them, this was the only HD video I found, they just happen to be selling this shizznit also. From what I've seen it's safer than regular paragliding, probably because the chute is smaller so more control goes to the actual motor and not the wind

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1X5f8ToIME"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]

IMHO Freedom at it's finest: to be able to fly up to any peak you see
 


bizousoft said:
not aff. with them, this was the only HD video I found, they just happen to be selling this shizznit also. From what I've seen it's safer than regular paragliding, probably because the chute is smaller so more control goes to the actual motor and not the wind

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

IMHO Freedom at it's finest: to be able to fly up to any peak you see
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Personally I can't stand those butt fans. Canopy can and does collapse in dirty air.

Love ultralights though. True 3 axis control.
 
Uptime said:
Personally I can't stand those butt fans. Canopy can and does collapse in dirty air.

Love ultralights though. True 3 axis control.
Click to expand...

Please do tell. How safe are those things? What's dirty air? and what the hell is a canopy?? :) Do you mean the chute?
 
evo190 said:
No doubt... will someone invent a cheap jetpack already! I'm sick of ground vehicles...
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDC8Cs5gmqc"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]

but if motor stops, there will be NO gentle gliding...

btw i almost farted while LOLing at your avatar, fukin' halarious
 
bizousoft said:
Please do tell. How safe are those things? What's dirty air? and what the hell is a canopy?? :) Do you mean the chute?
Click to expand...

A parachute is the whole contraption. The fabric part over your head is referred to as the canopy. Paragliders aren't so much "chutes" as they are inflatable wings which may be prone to sudden deflation and collapse if you should find yourself in a sudden downdraft or turbulence. Skilled paragliders (without fans) can find updrafts too and stay aloft for hours at a time. It's a very popular sport around Whistler and Blackcomb mountains in BC.

There's a group of people that fly these butt fans here on the Costa del Sol that regularly take off 3 or 4 at a time from the elevated parking area by the beach in front of my place. It looks like a hell off a lot of fun. Noisy though.
 
inflatable wings which may be prone to sudden deflation and collapse if you should find yourself in a sudden downdraft or turbulence
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doesn't sound too safe :( I thought having a motor would pump air back into the canopy if it starts collapsing... wonder what are the chances of that happening
 
I fly paragliders (TONS of fun), motors are definitely something I've wanted to get into however I wouldn't say at all that they're 'more' safe at all. You give up a lot of spine protection to mount the motor/harness on you, plus you're dealing with a lot more overall weight.

I'm big fans of both though! :)

Something REAL freeing though about a personal aircraft that you can stick into a large backpack that weighs ~50lbs and is SILENT to fly. I haven't been moved to move to motors for that reason. Then again I also don't live where it's flat, if I did I'd probably be all over a motor.
 
bizousoft said:
doesn't sound too safe :( I thought having a motor would pump air back into the canopy if it starts collapsing... wonder what are the chances of that happening
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with proper wing loading, flying a FORGIVING (rated/designed/etc) wing in air that you should have launched in (assuming you don't live where it goes south in seconds like the tropics or something) the whole "collapsing" thing is a real rarity and is 9 times out of 10 caused by the ID10T error of panicking (or just being dumb) and grabbing brakes and then one you start to suffer a collapse braking DEEPER.

Lesson 1 on a paraglider is that when things go south and start to COLLAPSE (not surge, collapse) you go 'hands up' - meaning, take your fucking hands off the brakes (which slow the wing).

DHV 1-2 wings WANT to fly.

Rule #2 of course is to know when to decide to not launch due to conditions.

IF both of those rules are followed with proper training/certification and forgiving gear you have probably the safest form of flight besides a commercial jet.
 
Sonny Forelli said:
with proper wing loading, flying a FORGIVING (rated/designed/etc) wing in air that you should have launched in (assuming you don't live where it goes south in seconds like the tropics or something) the whole "collapsing" thing is a real rarity and is 9 times out of 10 caused by the ID10T error of panicking (or just being dumb) and grabbing brakes and then one you start to suffer a collapse braking DEEPER.

Lesson 1 on a paraglider is that when things go south and start to COLLAPSE (not surge, collapse) you go 'hands up' - meaning, take your fucking hands off the brakes (which slow the wing).

DHV 1-2 wings WANT to fly.

Rule #2 of course is to know when to decide to not launch due to conditions.

IF both of those rules are followed with proper training/certification and forgiving gear you have probably the safest form of flight besides a commercial jet.
Click to expand...


+1 rep, by the way for those that wanted to see the jet pack mentioned above in action

Martin Jetpack Video Gallery - Martin Aircraft Company || The Martin Jetpack
 
bizousoft said:
+1 rep, by the way for those that wanted to see the jet pack mentioned above in action

Martin Jetpack Video Gallery - Martin Aircraft Company || The Martin Jetpack
Click to expand...


I should also note- on a beginner to intermediate wing (many HIGHLY experienced pilots still fly intermediate wings due solely to their safety/forvigness) a "collapse" is NEVER a 100% collapse and is often a 'tip tucking' - or one side 'flapping' in that is under 25% surface area collapsed.

This usually happens in surgy air and even more often when flying deep into the brakes (due to mistake OR when flying slow intentionally for various reasons).

What most people may not know is that in these situations even with a "whoa! we got a decent collapse here" the wing un-collapses itself in about a second if you simply let to <or return the brakes - the two handles that you steer with> all the way up"

This is a decent sized collapse (quite actually) - take a look at how non-alarming it is.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYcZGIHcigo"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]

The other big thing that is the best friend of all pilots, ALTITUDE. He's probably 4-6k up, you have a LOT of time to deal with a problem at that height, so something like that simply takes management, not any panic.

Not to mention any of us with brains fly with reserves, so let's say something nuts happened he'd probably have 20-30 seconds to unfuck things <way worse than that> before deciding to say fuck it and throw the reserve. As long as you don't get into a spin this is a real mundane process (though probably ruins your underwear, thankfully I've never experienced this).

:rasta:
 
bizousoft said:
Please do tell. How safe are those things? What's dirty air? and what the hell is a canopy?? :) Do you mean the chute?
Click to expand...
I believe fatbat and Sonny answered this better than I could. For me it is just a personal preference. I use to hang glide and there would be para gliders and powered rigs there frequently. Every other weekend it seems we were pulling somebody out of the trees. I think Sonny hit the nail on the head about pilot error. Experience, equipment and conditions was the real issue not the type of aircraft. Got tired of driving 2.5 hours and conditions had to be just right to launch. With the ultralight I don't need a mountain and it's 20 mins from deciding to touch a cloud and climbing out at 600 fpm.

Don't get me wrong I love canopies. Just the ones we use are jumping from 12.5k and you get about 72 seconds of free fall before the pull.
 
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