paulh

Revmaster R2300 - 82hp continuous $7,685 plus exhaust and freight costs etc from California, dropping Aus dollar affected tho. – reliability should be reasonable given the racing heritage and long development time, and perhaps at least as good as some other aircooled flat fours. Head cooling no doubt still an issue to be dealt with properly.

Higher cost of construction doesn't always equal better design or performance in many things, and most likely applies to aircraft as well. Keep at it Garry, I still think that there is a market gap that your are aiming for - just need RAAus to have a G endorsement

Wow, looks like something you see in a custom car show, love the polished step

Let us know the results of your trials (lazy I know but will save me the effort!!)

A smaller lowered powered engine would be a good match with Garry Morgans single seat touring motor glider based on his Super Diamond or his other self launch glider ideas. I recall him saying on a post on another thread that about 50hp would be about right.

Well I was trying to be encouraging! When the kids get older getting some time for yourself gets easier, but investing time in your family is probably one of the best investments a person could make.

Well it seems that none of the 4 strokes are popular by comparison to the two strokes - HKS seems to have a good reputation but perhaps a bit expensive, the American V twin from Valley Engineering a converted industrial engine has gone quiet, the NZ Aerotwin ownership back to the Kiwi designer but seems to also have gone a bit quiet, cash flow may be an issue (Quicksilver Aus testing one, info on web site), the American Thunder Aviation in line twin gone quiet (gone broke?), Half VW - not many seem keen on an old engine case cut in half (not my idea of how to build an aero engine) full VW plenty of these GPA, Casler, Sonex, Revmaster etc but most more than 50hp and perhaps not a real direct type replacement for a two cylinder two stroke. Weight probably an issue with VW types.

And after you make a raging success of the 94 hp engine how about a 50hp or so four stroke engine to compete with the two strokes.

XS 650 yeah almost forgot about it, had aftermarket pipes on mine just to make it sound better, the boys in blue were not amused (neither was my mum) - made a good noise even though the handing was a bit ordinary. Had a drag with a bonneville one fine day, the bonneville was lighter and a bit faster but the 5 speed gear change a lot better on the Yamaha, so he'd pull away then I'd catch up - never saw which one would win we ran out of road, a long street in the burbs actually, so common sense finally prevailed and we backed off. Dumb things teenagers do.

Beautifull

eightyknots if you did manage 10 hrs per week, and work on the build for say 40 weeks per year (time off for holidays, family commitments etc) and you are say 80% efficient (allowance for rework etc) for a 500 hour build (Savannah) then it will still take only 19 months. Promise the better half that you'll only need the garage for two years with a nice holiday at the end!

Phil - we all get discouraged from time to time, but keep on truckin, look at the end goal - your own aircraft that you built!!

Good stuff Pete, Garry's latest ideas elsewhere on this forum sound very good as well.

The beauty of the paraglider is that a lot of the important skills can by maintained by 'ground handling'. As with any flying I think it's important to regularly maintain your skills (that's what I tell my wife anyway!!). Not many paramotor pilots bother trying to thermal. I've heard of much older people continuing to fly paragliders but sticking mainly to nice laminar coastal air. PM me Phil if you are interested in having a phone yack in relation to this subject before we get growled at for thread drift!Laurie

Scott, I suggest that you could contact John Dawson president of Caboolture Aero Club, John was a mate of the Porters, this may be easier than direct contact with the family.

There are photos of Riama on the clubs web site, still proud of that beautifull old machine.

Garry I think you make some very good points about the future of recreational flying, the article "Tough Times" in the latest Sport Pilot is similar. I've read this sort or thing before unrelated to aviation, that the baby boomer generation has a high disposable income but the following generations ie our children have huge mortgages etc to pay off and some forecasters say that the future personal disposable income will decline. An indicator of this is the housing trend in SE Qld which has been for years now small houses on very small lots to try to get them more affordable but still need a big mortgage. Interestingly the majority of young people I meet in my work have little interest in big boys toys and are more interested in living closer to the city where the action is. They also didn't grow up with post war stories, books, movies etc that featured flying, and have grown up with technology and entertainment. Apparently a Play Station and on line games sitting at home on the couch is still cool when you are in your late twenties.

Others will have observations about different regions and have a different opinion.

Back to flying, we now have a market full of high performance LSA's, lots of expensive avionics etc but the cost is very high.

Every flyin I've been to, grey haired middle aged men are by far the majority, very few young people.

I think that you are on to something, looking for the next market wave to come over and perhaps not trying to compete with the huge selection of imported LSA's - simple strong safe aircraft that are less expensive to buy and run.

Choices like your Super Diamond trailerable with removable longer wings and modest hp so it's not fast maybe 70kts but can still be used to fly point to point,ie to the weekend flyin or a mates place but does have some soaring ability.

What do others think?

Didn't know carrots had gender in the UK, can't wait to see what the turnips look like!

I would agree that using a foot launched powered paraglider would require a certain amount of athleticism. I have several paragliding (not powered) mates in their 60's and not especially athletic but having developed and maintained the required skills, they are continuing to safely enjoy their flying.Regards, Laurie

A few questions if you don't mind, do the older guys need to keep flying their para gliders quite regularly to ensure the skill level is maintained for safety? Is a minimum no of hours per year recommended?

Proximity to suitable sites I assume makes a big difference to frequency of paragliding ie if you have to drive for a few hours to get to a site would make a difference with the amount of time available in our busy lives. Would be a pain to drive for hours and the wind direction and speed is no good. ( lack of use being one of the reasons I recently sold my sail board)

Do the paramotors on trike or quad buggies enable thermal flying or does the extra weight and larger wing make this not a normal thing and the flying is more like a powered parachute?

Paul

Sorry Phil thread drift, but I did like the text message request for landing permission!!

Hi and welcome, sounds like you jumped straight in, enjoy the ppc, they sound like a lot of pure fun (which is the point really of recreational aviation)

Landing down wind with legs for an undercarriage does sound bad. Love the idea of paragliding, silent flight, thermaling etc but seems to me to require a fair degree of athleticism, adding a motor opens up more choices but the seems to introduce extra risks and potential noise problems with small high revving engines.

The only time I've seen para motoring up close was at a fly-in were this guy was zooming about at low level, I suppose he might have been showing off but seemed risky to me, steep turns low to the ground, taking off wasn't easy either with a lot of manoeuvring on the ground to get the wing settled overhead etc.

On the evening of Saturday 6th July,

I received the following text message :

 

" HI - I'M FLYING A PARAMOTOR AT 2,000 FEET FIVE MILES NORTH OF YOUR AIRFIELD , NO AIRBAND RADIO. . . . . . CAN I HAVE PERMISSION TO LAND ? "

 

NEXT MESSAGE -

 

"HI, I'M THE PARAMOTOR CIRCLING JUST WEST OF YOUR AIRFIELD - - - - - CAN I LAND PLEASE ?? "

 

Regrettably, I'd left my phone in the car, so didn't get the message until I got home ! !!

 

MEANWHILE. . . WE WATCHED THIS POOR BLOKE CIRCLING FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES, THEN HE DISAPPEARED OOP NORTH.

 

Got to admit, it's a novel idea, I wonder how he managed to text whilst hanging on to his lanyards ??

 

Phil

Are they serious where the grey roof house is about 50m from the old piano keys?? Braver than me to live in that house, I like watching the planes fly over my area but they about 2000ft not 200ft

It was a lot of fun.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVInawCIdo

And now the fellows plane is a wreck after successfully avoiding the caravans, hope he's ok and had insurance

Nice videos Stefan, the countryside looks just like various parts of Australia.

Don't know if this engine has merit for the application

http://www.poweredparaglider.com.au/_ParaToys/Engines/(6)_HellCat_360/HC_360cc.html

35 hp four stroke flat twin water cooled, made for tandem powered para gliders on quads