Summer Idiocy?

[Cornish Jack]

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first 'real' Summer day this year and here on the N Norfolk coast the visitors were out on the beach and the kids enjoying themselves. Then along came 3 'Darwinian Candidates' or, possibly, 3 village idiots having an afternoon's jaunt ... in motorised para-gliders. Heading N - S at heights ranging from 150-ish to some 30 - 40 they proceeded gaily indulging their 'Look at me. I'm terribly important and daring' fantasies. Some while later, we were treated to a repeat spectacle in the opposite direction - only lower. So, if this brain dead trio wish to endanger themselves, so be it. I would, however, prefer NOT to have some gene-pool liability damaging me or my loved ones with the sudden arrival of the mechanical bits of their pointless pastime. Should any of them be reading this (assuming literacy is a skill which they DO possess), they might wish to bear in mind that their chosen 'display stage' included the Bacton Gas Terminal - the UK's main gas terminal, which has more 'plods' per square inch than you can (or would wish) to shake a stick at. Apart from the possibility of legal action, the general enthusiasm of our 'protectors' for shooting and killing things which they find disturbing (innocent or otherwise) might persuade them to re- route their future playtimes, both further from the inhabitants AND at heights which more approximate to FLYING.
Such a change, at least in respect of staying further from the buildings although stupidly low, has been evidenced by the clown with the low wing fixed gear aerobatic job which regularly demonstrates his (lack of) skill along the same coast line so one can but hope!

[Halfbaked_Boy]

Did you have a bad day today? :p

[The500man]

Oh, and there I was expecting another thread about the Olympics!

[Pace]

Cornwall ahhh a beautiful area which I know well having been married to a Cornish Girl.
I also used to fly a twin into a disused airfield called Davidstowe.
The reason was a building company needed to get management in on a regular basis to inspect the construction of a large factory.
Often the cloud was very low and I would do a very low pass over the runway to make sure there were no animals on the very short usable bit of runway remaining before landing the twin.
The amount of times I had people with chains dangling around their necks and smoking grass complaining was ridiculous.
The microlight club owner would call them Cornish Carrot Crunchers. The Cornish are unique in being quite isolated people but lovely too.
They resent the constant invasion of Emmits and oppose any development which will upset their meditational peace.
Are you really sure the events were as dramatic as you portray.
If so a visit to the Microlight club where they live may achieve something as most are sensitive about upsetting the locals me too even the Cornish Carrot Crunchers!!!

Pace

[Duckeggblue]

Errr ..... Cornwall?
Think he said N Norfolk coast.
( Very interesting story though Pace :))

[UV]

If so a visit to the Microlight club where they live may achieve something as most are sensitive about upsetting the locals

...and dont they need to be...

[patowalker]

Pray tell what a microlight club has to do with paragliders.

[Duckeggblue]

Are paragliders same as paramotors? People with engines strapped to back and parachute wing thingy (& do goose step to launch?)

[goldeneaglepilot]

Paramotors do not require registration or a licence...

[AnglianAV8R]

Cornish Jack ....."their pointless pastime" Without getting into disputes about their alleged poor airmanship, please explain why it is "pointless" Shirley it is just another way of enjoying flying?

To echo the words of my Kamerad, Pato.... "Pray tell what a microlight club has to do with paragliders"

Gawd! There's some right snobs around here :rolleyes:

[toptobottom]

Is this the sort of thing we're talking about?

http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/prooner/paramotor.jpg

[Gertrude the Wombat]

It might not be snobbishness.

Those who only fly certified aircraft and do actually know that there are such things as uncertified aircraft may simply think of them all as "microlights" and not be aware that actually there are myriad different types of uncertified aircraft.

I guess you could class that as "ignorance", but most people are "ignorant" of many many things that they don't actually have any reason to need to know.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Paramotor = paraglider + engine.

They are subject to the ANO the same as the rest of us, but unfortunately because training is not mandatory, many of their pilots have no idea about controlled airspace, rule 5, and a handful of other things that they really should know about.

Microlights in the UK are certified aeroplanes with licenced pilots, and tend to be operated rather more sensibly. I've yet to come across many paramotor pilots in microlight clubs, but a check here (http://www.bhpa.co.uk/paramotor/index.php) might find a paramotor club locally who can point you in the right direction.


Incidentally Pace, if you used to fly into Davidstowe, you probably were talking to the inimitable Ian Stokes who I also knew quite well. So, you probably will not enjoy reading the link below about his untimely ending a few months ago, but one should know perhaps.

Briton (http://www.jollofnews.com/20120627britons-killers-sentenced-to-death-in-the-gambia.html)

G

[Duckeggblue]

Must happen in July every three years!
Just reread OP's similar post for July 2009 called "Once is stupid..........". 'twas entertaining!
Would post a link if I were not so stupid........:confused:
Maybe we should just cut & paste to save getting overheated?

[Sprogget]

Paramotor = paraglider + engine.Strictly speaking that's not quite true as they follow divergent development paths. Flying a paramotor without the motor would be an uncomfortable experience and vice versa. What they have in common is they're both wings used to fly people around - but then so is a 747.

I raise the distinction since paragliders are largely flown under club auspices & as a collective flying community go to some lengths to maintain good relationships with landowners and other stakeholders. Paramotoring doesn't really exist within the same structure hence the odd rogue buzzing the beach drawing a bit of sniffy irritation such as above. 100% of pilots are out for a good time, slightly less than that are consistently sensible and exhibit empathy toward others, but let's maintain a sense of perspective.

[Sir Niall Dementia]

I had a go at paramotoring last year and loved it, unfortunately the present Lady Dementia decided it was too unsafe, I was too old, and it was about to become another toy, sadly she has a PPL so speaks with some aviation knowledge (she's also an ATCO, but I forgave her that some years ago) She also hated it when I tried paragliding, but that time she had made sure she knew where all the insurance policies were first.

I was a tad surprised when flying north up the eastern side of the Luton zone in a helicopter about 7-8 years ago to see a paramotor above Luton's usual layer of cloud at about 1500'-2000' flying straight across the 26 final approach. I doubt he would have shown up on radar at all, but I also doubt he really knew where he was. It was the usual early year weather in that part of the world, low cloud and fog at Luton and Stansted and clear and sunny in the BPK-BKY gap.

I wish anybody who is able to enjoy unregulated aviation the best of luck (I wish I could skip a few regs), but maybe a bit of training on controlled airspace wouldn't go amiss.

SND

[UL730]

Genghis - that is some justice handed down by Gambian court : looks as though the police in Gambia have some interesting interrogation techniques as well.

The court heard that Churwbiken was beaten, stamped on and burnt with cigarette butts while being questioned by police

Pace - I remember making an approach to Davidstowe and noticed that there were several anglers practising their casting techniques on the field. A missed approach and flying down the runway at about 1000’ attracted their attention. I was always wary after making a landing at North Cotes – just south of Humberside and running into several gulls who were ensconced on the runway. The gulls that survived but injured were humanely destroyed with a plug socket spanner I carry in the rear cargo bay and a large body bag was returned to CAA.

Sorry about the drift both contextually and now it appears geographically

[Genghis the Engineer]

Yes - I found it interesting that this simply seemed to be the police report in court, and the local paper didn't seem to find that at-all unusual or worrying.

A very dignified response from Gordon Salter as well I thought.

G

[Blink182]

Back to the original thread.......

I know that plenty of Paramotor pilots must have ended up hurting themselves accidentally ....... but has there ever been a documented case of a Paramotor injuring any Third Parties ?

[rgsaero]

"....... but has there ever been a documented case of a Paramotor injuring any Third Parties ?"

Don't know but there but for the grace of.... etc I could have gone...

About eight years ago returning from the west country to North London, at FL050 I was south of Lyneham, north of the ranges and receiving a radar service from Lyneham in good viz etc. I decided to go round a bit of Cu instead of thru' it, and thank God I did, On the other side of it at exactly my level and about 300m from the side of the Cu was a paramotor. Presumably no radio, not painting on radar etc. Would have been a nasty mess for both of us!

[Gertrude the Wombat]

at FL050 ... about 300m from the side of the Cu
Gosh! A paramotor flying IFR!!

Now that I would not have expected to meet, thanks for the warning.

[vulcanised]

Jack and others - does it not occur to you that their motive was simply to provide a bit of entertainment for others as well as themselves?

Not disputing that it was a bit dumb.

[DeltaV]

Does it not occur to you that Jornish Cack's motive was simply provide a bit of entertainment for himself? Either that or he's a right miserable git.

[SFCC]

The latter! Mehhhhhhhhhhh

[andrew_wallis]

I took a para-motor "pilot" up the other week. He spent most of the flight explaining how he enjoyed the freedom of free flight, the lack of regulation, and the easy going attitude towards training.
When I asked him how many hours flight time he had, he replied "about 2, I crashed during my second flight and sustained a compound fracture of my hip and ankle"
Maybe some training isn't such a bad idea after all, Darwin shouldn't have it all his own way.

Andrew

[Sprogget]

The thing of it is no one wants them. Paraglider & hanggliders are hill launched craft in nearly all cases, with a few tow sites knocking about. This means the clubs have negotiated the use of sites with land owners over decades. Those sites are mostly on or by farms and or on land owned by farmers with a bit of landed gentry thrown in for good measure.

So the agreements can be a bit delicate what with legions of scum sucking hippies traipsing over your land with their weird parachutes & aluminium stockpiles & the last thing anyone wants is to upset the arrangement by spooking the livestock with squadrons of 50cc flying lawnmowers buzzing around left, right & centre

So historically they've not been all that welcome & putting them outside of club control has led to individuals doing deals to use fields piecemeal, so there isn't a guiding hand overseeing the thing.

Least that's how it was before I packed it all in. I'd love someone to come along & tell me I'm wrong & it's all changed, but I imagine it still goes along like that.

[Cobalt]

I would never willingly fly a Paramotor - or an open flex-wing microlight or autogyro for that matter [wrong risk-to-comfort ratio for my preferences]

But each time I see one of them they make me smile - and I feel good for them that they can enjoy this kind of flying, even if at times I am astonished to see a Paramotor at several thousand feet, for example above me in the London TMA...

I only wish there were a way to ensure that everyone who takes to the air understands the rules.

Having no regulation for the actual Paramotor contraption is all fine, it makes a nice change from the general overregulation around in aviation, but there IS regulation for the actual flying - in the same way that a pedestrian or cyclist need to obey the highway code and stop at red lights... ah, oh, now I see...

[mad_jock]

I had a shot of paragliding and discovered that somehow I could break the laws of aerodynamics and physics.

It didn't matter what I did or how far away from the fence in question my testicles came in contact with something hard every landing. The fence post and barbed wire could be up wind didn't matter a jot.

Gave up when on the last trip I managed to seek out a key tensioning post didn;t even have any wire attached to it. Was just sitting there in the middle of nowhere hidding.

Sticking a big fan on the back would just seriously multiply the number and size of the objects I could crash into.

[lenhamlad]

Mad Jock, lucky you didn't land on the rear of a sheep up there. That would take some explaining to the local constabulary.

[mad_jock]

To be honest I wouldn't have minded that. You would only get in trouble if it was his favorite. Anyway you can still get an airport pass after getting prosecuted for sheep shagging. (We found out that little gem after talking to security at an island airport which sort of confirmed my opinion of some of them that they would have been worried enough to find out)

It was the lacerated inside thighs that really hurt.

And as for chucking myself off Glen Shee with all those ski tows about..

That would have been suicide.