PARAMOTOR TRAINING SYLLABUS AND NOTES                                 Graham Sutherland                                     Updated 30-9-03         Contents . Pre-training preparation . Checklist . Appraisal of conditions . Launch and landing site . Propeller safety hints . Paramotor aerodynamics, & Propeller Effects . Air Safety Hints . Launch Methods . Useful techniques . Cross Country flying . Mixed Operations at Airstrips . Courtesy to the public . Paramotor theory and maintenance . PRE-TRAINING PREPARATION Paramotor training is hard physical work. Once you are proficient it will be much easier, just as paragliding is much easier physically than paraglider training. It is not possible to spend more than a couple of hours a day running around etc with twenty to thirty kilograms on your back. However the longer you can endure it the faster you will learn. So to make your training progress faster, and be cheaper you can build up the appropriate muscles by spending time and running about with a backpack with 20kg of rocks or bricks in it. Either that or start working out in a gym, paying particular attention to back, shoulder and arm development. If you have the motor and want to do something while waiting for training, you can:  run in engine - safe starting technique, no throttle, braced against body. hands in safe places  get used to thrust on back, run with motor running and thrust. Get comfortable and confident with thrust & weight. Don't ever start a paramotor with significant amounts of throttle as the sudden onset of thrust can push it and you over with a fast moving propeller in close proximity to fingers and damaging obstacles. Start the motor braced against your leg & hands, body etc with your body on the centreline of the thrust. Don't start the motor while standing to the side of the motor as thrust can make it fall over. If your paramotor is of a type that can only be started this way then you must be very careful and make sure never to use any throttle while starting. Get a radio set-up for training. Initially you can use a speaker/mike taped or velcroed to helmet straps so that it is held directly over ear. Organise suitable training field. at least 200 metres by 200 metres (bigger if surrounded by trees and unlandable area) and safe to run on. . CHECKLIST (SAFE TIPE)     Spark Plug, lead & Decompressor not loose     All secure (nothing to blow back into prop)     Fuel Tap, breather etc     Exhaust is not loose or cracked     Trimmers & speed bar set up correctly     Ignition switch on     Propeller clean, undamaged & bolts not loose     Engine Mounts Wipe the propeller with a rag or your hand before flying as it accumulates crap in flight that decreases it's efficiency. You may also feel any damage. . APPRAISAL OF CONDITIONS         For any given conditions wind will be lighter at flat ground launch than for hill launch, and turbulent shear layer will be deeper.     ie what can look like flyable conditions (seen from a hill pilots perspective) on flat ground, can turn into a rough and vertical climb up into strong wind. . LAUNCH & LANDING SITE SELECTION     make up for increased danger by choosing safer sites     Allow for engine out possibility     Avoid launching in the lee of obstacles     You need much more space for forward launching than for reverse launching.     Launch from a hill in preference to a hollow     Turn off the motor before landing to minimise the risk of parablending the canopy. If you are doing a landing in a difficult spot turn off the engine as high as possible to allow the hot exhaust some time to cool. So that if you have a bad landing there won’t be hot metal to melt lines, canopy, arms or to cause a fire. Another reason for not turning off the engine at the last moment is that if you hit a gust etc turning off the engine will take some of your attention away from controlling your landing approach. Making your landing approach under power can simplify the approach as you come in lower and use the power to extend your glide to land where you want, however it does increase the risks (what happens if your motor stops during this low approach?). It is better to be experienced at making unpowered landing approaches. The only way to get experienced at unpowered landing approaches is to do them regularly from altitude. If you have an engine out and are forced to land in a tight spot you will be very glad of this experience. . PROPELLOR SAFETY HINTS   If people are nearby say "clear prop" before starting to remind them to stay clear of the prop.   It is dangerous to start the engine while standing to the side, brace it against your legs, body etc. Thrust can make it fall over if it isn't properly supported   If someone is standing next to you (maybe helping) while the motor is running get them to hold onto your harness from the front. So that you can't accidentally turn and hit them with the cage/prop.   Be aware that if you stand up (from having the motor on the ground) with the engine running the cage/propeller will tilt forward. Don't have anyone near you when you stand up like this.  Don't let anyone else touch the cage while the engine is running, as they may not be as aware as you are as to what is safe and what isn't. Don't fly with a damaged prop. Any damage that unbalances the prop by the weight of a five cent piece can cause problems. Keep a spare prop to be able to put on if you notice any damage. An unbalanced prop not only is less comfortable in flight due to increased vibration but it is shaking the shit out of your engine. The vibration increases wear on wiring and fuel lines and can cause fatigue failures in the exhaust system etc. . PARAMOTOR AERODYNAMICS & PROPELLOR EFFECTS     Effect of thrust on angle of attack, speed, climb, and likelihood of collapses, and airspeed.      Effects of under powered paramotors and over power paramotors     What to do if you get a collapse     Flying & landing in turbulence     Landing in strong wind     Torque effect, rotational inertia & yaw, Gyroscopic effects     Effect of motor yaw on direction     Roll oscillation     Using thrust for cranking turns     Avoiding your own wake.     Two different ways of flying (under power & on glide) . AIR SAFETY HINTS     Under power you are at a higher angle of attack than when on the glide. Under power fly with brakes up.     You are more likely to get collapses on the glide than under power due to lower angle of attack. So on the glide, or on idle in rough air, or landing, keep some brake on (the weight of your arms).     Trimmers up may have a bit less chance of collapses than speed bar, but if you do get a collapse you can't quickly return trimmers to trim like you can with speed bar.     Release speed bar quickly if you get a collapse on speed bar.     You won't hear collapses when paramotoring as you do when freeflying, so it is possible to not be aware of a collapse if you are getting thrown about in turbulence. This doesn't matter if flying a DHV 1 or 1-2 wing as the pilot input will be the same in both cases (maintain heading using weight shift and brake). It is best not to have a wing that needs collapses to be pumped out as you may not be aware that you have had a collapse.     If you get a collapse, hit very turbulent air, or if anything nasty happens, don’t just let go of the throttle. Ease it off over a second or two. You can get a surge that could make things worse if you just let the throttle off instantaneously. There is also a possibility of a dynamic stall or spin if you were on very high thrust.     Don’t use very high thrust in turbulent air. If you get a big asymmetric collapse it could result in twisted lines. Only fly low when going upwind. When flying downwind fly high enough to be able to do a 180 to land into wind. Low upwind 180s are safer than low downwind 180s as your ground speed is lower in case of an engine failure and quick forced landing.     Landing in strong wind/turbulence it is safer to land going backwards than to try to land with speed bar. Water landings are very dangerous in a paramotor. As well as the risk of entanglement, paramotors sink. A tree landing may be safer than a water landing. It can be very difficult to estimate your height above a large expanse of smooth water, so jumping out before you hit the water can also be very dangerous (people have died doing this).     Hitting your own wake:     Mostly it is your wing wake that you hit if you do 360's  at constant height. It is just like being waked by another glider, the only real difference is that you tend to be in a turn when you hit it. The tighter the 360, the nastier the wake can be, as you hit it sooner, before it can dissipate. To avoid waking yourself, don't do turns greater than 180 degrees at constant height. Doing 360's while climbing or on the glide, you won't hit your wake as you pass above or below it respectively. Be careful exiting a spiral dive under power as you can hit a very big wake as you pull out of it. Exit spirals either on idle or slowly. When exiting spiral dives you may want to reapply some inside brake once the glider starts to come out of the spiral. This will prevent your extra kinetic energy being converted into a steep climb out. Instead, you wash off this extra kinetic energy in continuing a more gentle turn. Be very wary of applying high throttle settings in a spiral dive as when you exit you can quickly climb back up into a very turbulent wake. Watch out for the prop wash and wing wake of other paramotors if flying in company. This is very important. Don’t cross behind other paramotors at the same level. Make sure you are either above or below their wake when crossing behind others. The prop wash can continue fifty metres behind and be very turbulent. When crossing low over linear obstacles such as fences, powerlines, creeks etc, cross at an angle so that if you have a power out while crossing you only have to do a gentle turn to avoid landing on it. If you cross at right angles you might have to do a big turn with lots of height loss to avoid it. Powerlines and telephone lines are most easily seen by looking for the poles. High voltage transmission lines on metal towers also have earth wires that are much thinner and harder to see than the powerlines themselves. These earth wires are typically strung tighter than the power cables and so don’t sag as much between the towers. As a consequence over a long span the near invisible earth wires could be up to 30metres above the more visible power cables. For this reason, if crossing these powerlines when low then cross at the towers as then you know exactly where the earth wires are. . LAUNCH METHODS Because of the great variation in harness/motor/wing combinations there is not just one type of reverse and one type of forward launch that is suitable for everybody, in all conditions. We will try the simplest and safest methods first, then if you are having trouble we will explore the other techniques.     "A"s & "D"s reverse launch     The combination reverse launch     Unpowered forward inflations     Throttle use during forward launch     Using the prop wash to build a wall and turn the canopy into wind     Cross wind forward launching     . USEFUL TECHNIQUES     Throwing lines over cage- For changing from forward to reversed etc, throw the riser/lines straight up and turn underneath while dipping the cage down. Learn and be confident doing spiral dives. They are a fun way to get down to check out something interesting that you have seen from above. They also make your flying more interesting and three dimensional. A spiral dive is also what you would have to do if you should ever get an in-flight fire. Steering with rear risers What to do if engine won’t turn off . CROSS COUNTRY FLYING     Height to Fly (wind is different at different altitudes)     Minimum heights due to conditions. i.e. in thermic or otherwise turbulent conditions fly above 500ft (or 1000ft) to give yourself some time to try to sort out any problems before you go for your reserve.     Remember that in some ways paramotoring is inherently more dangerous than free flying but we can make up for that by choosing safer places to take off and land, and the motor means we don't need to take risks with flying over tiger country etc.     Don't make animals run. A beast may be worth a thousand dollars to a farmer. Farmers don't like to see their valuable animals panicked in any way. Many farmers worry about running animals putting a foot in a hole, breaking a leg and having to be destroyed. You may consider it very unlikely, but to a farmer seeing a hundred thousand dollars worth of animals running across a field, the monetary risk can be enough to cause them to hate you. A small fraction of animals can be absolutely paranoid of paramotors. Unless you know the particular animals you must assume unknown animals could panic easily. Cattle and sheep will run relatively easily. Horses, and especially race horses are worse and can run full speed into barbed wire fences. (it's happened to me). Ostriches and emus have an instinctive fear of predatory birds flying over and can go berserk if you fly over low. Animals in small fields are in greater danger than animals in very large fields as they are more likely to run into a fence when panicked. If you land in a field with animals, don’t leave your wing unattended if it is not fully packed up. Animals get curious and can get caught up in the lines, then panic and destroy your wing.     Plan for fuel & duration     Set up a system to be able to check fuel level while in flight. A mirror is the best. This can be on a cord in a pocket so that it can't go back into the prop or can be on your throttle handpiece or glove. It can also be mounted on the cage where it can't snag lines during a forward launch. Be aware that the fuel tank in flight may slope down to the right (due to propeller torque). So it is better to view the fuel level from the left side, as this gives a small reserve after there appears to be no fuel left (opposite for Top 80 engines etc).     Only fly where you can glide to a safe landing. This makes XC flying more interesting as well as safer as you have to look ahead and plan your ground track to go around tiger country and to climb to cross shorter patches of tiger country. Your definition of a safe emergency landing is different to your definition of a safe planned landing. ie landing in farmers crops or in low scrub can be a safer landing than a tight little clearing. However if you do land in crops, you should approach the farmer, tell him you had an emergency landing due to engine failure and offer to pay for any damage to the crop.     Can fly in stronger (up high) winds than can free fly, but will have trouble going upwind     VTC charts Air Services Australia provides a pilot briefing service for normal aircraft that can be useful for us as well. You will need to use this service if you are intending to fly in what is marked on a VTC as a restricted zone. (ie R634) Just checking NOTAMS is not sufficient as some restricted zones are normally open and some are normally closed. The NOTAM only notifies of changes to this status. To use the Air Services Australia pilot briefing services you need a special “Phone Away” phone card. This card can also be used in public telephones as a normal phone card. Phone 1300 306 630  to have one sent to you. They come in $10 & $20 options. Once you have the card you can phone 1800 805 150 to speak to a real person who will tell you anything you need to know about where you intend to fly or about the weather. A briefing currently costs 50c but is likely to go up in the not too distant future.     Height loss techniques     Thermalling     Sinking air is weird under power     Upwind/Downwind groundspeeds and use of trimmers and accelerator Small increases in airspeed when punching headwind can make significant differences to ground speed and also save fuel. .  MIXED OPERATIONS AT AIRSTRIPS To minimise the likelihood of conflict with other aircraft it is  recommended that paramotors approach the airport above circuit height (at least 1500ft agl), lose height on the dead side, and fly an abbreviated  “standard circuit” inside the general aviation circuit. Land on the grass beside the runway on the circuit side, thus never crossing low over the runway. The purpose of this is so that other aircraft can obviously see what you plan to do. It is always worthwhile talking to GA & ultralight pilots at the strip to let them know of your ultralow airspeed, and very poor glide angle into a stiff breeze etc. Often it can be agreed that rather than hogging the circuit at ultra-low speed, the best approach can be to use the parachutists approach. This is to gently spiral down on the dead side of the strip then come in and land on the grass as far away from the runway as possible, never crossing over the runway. Don’t just do this approach however without first OKing it with the other pilots using the strip as they won’t know for sure that you won’t cross low over the runway. If you carry aeronautical VHF radios and announce your intentions at the more serious airports you are less likely to be asked to cease using the airport. See the HGFA Ops manual sections 6.3.3 & 6.6 . COURTESY TO THE PUBLIC     Minimise noise     Don't make animals run     A small fraction of people and animals are paranoid, you have to assume that they could be. Don't scare them     Don't fly low and straight at people as some will find this scary. When flying low always be obviously considerate of people on the ground. It’s no good if you know the people on the ground are in no danger. They must know it too.     Legally you must fly at least 25m horizontally or 100ft above people,  roads or dwellings, except during take off or landing.     Waving at people is good PR especially if they wave at you first. People that you wave at are less likely to complain about the noise, danger etc. If you are the only paramotor pilot in an area you have novelty value that makes low flying etc much more tolerable for the public. However, if paramotors are reasonably common occurrences, then people are much more likely to complain about noise, danger etc. So as paramotoring becomes more popular in your area you will have to maintain ever greater distances from the public. To minimise likelihood of complaints spread yourself around. Don’t always use the same place or beach for low flying. There is no need to hang around the same area, don’t wear out your welcome.  Be aware that if you are not obviously considerate of the public when flying low, they could complain and you could be forced to fly at 500 or 1000ft.     . PARAMOTOR THEORY & MAINTENANCE    The Wing     Unless launching regularly from high altitudes purchase a wing that is sized so that you are over the top of the free flying weight range with the motor but are in the weight range if free flying. ie motorised aircraft prefer a higher wing loading. The DHV certification is only for free flying. DULV certification is for motorised flying. As an example the medium size Swing Arcus is certified for free flying by the DHV for weights up to 105kg. The same wing has a DULV certification that goes up to 140kg. Flying heavy on a wing means that it will fly a bit faster and be more comfortable in turbulence. It will also be less likely to collapse. If it does collapse however the response will be more dynamic. For this reason stick to wings that exhibit mellow responses to collapses etc. ie DHV 1 or DHV1-2. (not many wings have been submitted to the DULV for certification) Just because a wing is DHV1 or DHV1-2 doesn’t mean that it is suitable for paramotoring. Some wing/paramotor combinations exhibit roll instability at high throttle settings. Some wings/paramotors are significantly more difficult to forward launch. The only way to be sure that a particular wing is suitable for paramotoring with a particular paramotor is to find people who are happily flying that wing with a similar type of paramotor. Either that or actually test out the particular motor/wing combination.    The Propeller         Propeller alignment     Wooden propeller storage so as to prevent it going out of balance    Two Stroke Engine Basics     Fuel & oils, compression & octane     Mixture adjustment     Making it live longer Paramotors are not like motorbikes in that they are not produced by large companies that can put megabucks into research and development. What this means is that you will have to know a bit more about your paramotor than you would about your motorbike. There are likely to be little modifications and adjustments that you will want to do. Diaphram carbureters seem to need more TLC than the bowl carbies in motorbikes. Also if you know a bit about how it works you can keep it running better and make it last longer. It is worth while finding a good Go-Kart mechanic that you can take any questions or problems to. Periodically inspect battery and starter motor wiring looking for worn insulation or loose connections. Short-circuited starter motor wiring is a potential cause of an in-flight fire. Inspect and replace the fuel lines periodically. They are another potential cause of an in-flight fire. Fuel lines can become hard with age and can have holes worn in them due to vibration. So check the points where the fuel lines are tied to the frame etc to make sure that the tie is not wearing the fuel line. Also check points where the fuel line comes in contact or comes near any hard objects. PVC tube goes hard with time in contact with fuel, but there are other materials that stay soft longer. Have a clear section of fuel line before the carby, so that you can see any bubbles in the line, and hence pick up any air leaking in that can cause the engine to run lean and overheat or stop. Go-Kart suppliers are the best places to get fuel lines fuel filters, tachos, etc. Don’t use fuel filters that are too fine as they have too much pressure drop across them and can cause the fuel to vaporise in the fuel line, producing bubbles. Metal mesh fuel filters are the best. Paramotors are subject to lots of vibration. If anything vibrates loose and falls off it can go thru the prop. Make use of nylock nuts or drill holes thru bolts and nuts etc and put a tie wire thru to prevent loosening. Running an engine lean gives maximum power but also maximises engine temperature, and can result in holes melted in pistons, seizures etc. Don't adjust mixture for maximum thrust but back it a bit towards running rich from the max power point. Typically a couple of hundred RPM below the maximum revs achievable. Be comfortable and confident of your mixture adjustments. Take your motor to a small engine maintenance shop and get them to show you how to set the correct mixture. Take it back and get them to show you again if you are at all unsure. There are other things that can cause an engine to run lean and overheat. These are air leaking into the crankcase thru a poor seal or a crack somewhere, or air bubbles leaking continuously into the fuel line. The attachment between the carby and engine is the most likely place for cracks and air leaks. Fuel primer bulbs are often a source of air leaks. You can check for air leaks by spraying an inflammable spray such as Aerostart around suspected points when the engine is running. If the RPM of the engine changes then some of the aerostart has been sucked in thru the leak. Air temperature and humidity effect the tune of the engine. There are days when you just don't seem to be able to climb well. Adjusting the mixture can help on these days. Take notice of how your motor feels and sounds in the air. If you notice anything strange, land immediately and check it out. Unplanned outlandings are no problem. Just hitch hike back to get your car. It's better than destroying your engine by trying to limp home with a sick engine. There is also a safety issue here as well. A sick engine with an unknown problem is more likely to catch fire or send bits of propeller or metal flying your way. Be very thoughtful and methodical when mixing fuel and putting it in the engine. If you forget to add the oil you will kill your engine. If you are interrupted or distracted double check to make sure you put oil in the fuel. Use an oil that is visible in the fuel when mixed. Learn to tell the difference between mixed fuel and straight petrol. When measuring out the oil for mixing, allow for a few millilitres to be left in the measurer. If you want your engine to last longer don’t use full throttle for extended climbs. Climbing a bit slower and thermalling up both minimise wear and tear on your engine. It is good to have that extra bit of power in reserve in case you need to climb quickly. i.e. if you buy a paramotor that is only just powerful enough to get you off the ground after a long run at full throttle, then it will climb painfully slowly and you won’t be able to fly close to the ground safely.    Pros and cons of synthetic oils versus mineral oils.    Octane rating of fuel and it’s effect.    Storage life of mixed fuel/oil    Dieseling (pre-ignition)