eddi

Wow John, Thanks for this comprehensive answer. Yes, you definitely sold the aerochute :) I can't wait to fly one now. Cheers, Edward

Thanks for the info, John. I came across a setup instruction on Youtube yesterday. Raised one question: How do you setup in 5-7 knots of wind? Doesn't that blow the chute away or make it impossible to setup? It says flying in winds up to 15 knots but I can't find any trace of flights in windy conditions. All videos seem to be made in no wind conditions. Could you please be so kind and share some experience here. Cheers, Edward

Thanks John, To be on the safe side means that I only look at US-LSA then. The Aerochute is US-LSA so that fits the mold. I am amazed to find that there is no Aerochute available for sale. Speaks for the machine. There must be hundreds of them around. Let me first fly in one before I invest more time. Cheers, Edward

Hi John, you are a champ! Thanks for all your answers. I looked into an old copy of "World Directory of Leisure Aviation". A lot of paraplanes and trikesa re either tagged "FAI-ML" or "US-UL" or "US-LSA". As far as I can remember Ra-Aus happily accepts certifications from other countries. Do you know, what implications a FAI-ML certification has for Australia? I can't find any register on the web. Cheers, Edward

Hi everybody, I am looking into paraplanes at the moment and saw that the Aerochute is the only certified paraplane with RA-AUS (according to their website). Does that mean that only the Aerochute is allowed in Australia? Can't be so it's probably with the HGFA. I can't find a list of allowed ppc on their website. What do I have to consider if I find a good priced 2nd hand paraplane that is not an aerochute? Cheers, Edward

Hi David, That's what I thought too at first. Then I started searching the internet for reviews, videos,... Turned out that the FIB seems to do a great job in nasty conditions. The manufacturer even send me videos of flights in strong, gusty conditions. From what I learned it is mainly used in areas like Norway (Fjords everywhere and nasty weather all the time), The Amazonas (fly over dense rainforest or water), Florida (Everglades and the Keys), South East Asia (tourist sightseeing flights at beach resorts) or marine biologists (cheap aerial observation of wildlife). Greenpeace has a few of them. Some guys are at the moment attempting a round the world with it over the oceans. All in all I found more proof of safe flying in rough conditions for the FIB than with all the other trikes together. My explanation for this: The hull is made for expeditions and rough waters. Means that it absorbs and forgives a lot more than conventional landing gear. There's nothing to break away if you think about it. Means you don't have to land nicely. I've seen some footage where the hull is just slammed on the ground and slides on the side until it stops. Don McIntyre told me that you can hit submerged icebergs without nasty consequences. The manufacturer even recommends to slam it down in nasty conditions. The hull absorbs it. People I talked to told me that the flying characteristics are that of a fat pelican. It keeps you up pretty stable but doesn't do anything sporty. A guy that uses it in the Amazonas told me that people have ditched it into the rainforest and walked away. The hull apparently takes the brunt of the impact and reduces the risk of getting speared by a branch. That's in short what I have learned: Boring flight characteristics but highly forgiving in not so nice open sea conditions. Great energy absorption in super bad landings. Guess what John wrote sums it up for me: If the manufacturer doesn't need to put effort into certifications then I'll take it off my list for flying in Australia. Wasted enough time already. Thanks very much for pointing me towards the "Remote Area" requirements. I have started looking at the Aerochute. They told me that there is an emergency floatation device available for flying over water. Also told me that a lot of people in the NT and Singapore use it for what I am looking for. Weather permitting I will have a test flight in 3 weeks. Cheers, Edward

Hi John, the entire matter with the FIB is very confusing for me. There are over 1000 units flying in the most remote and hostile environments. In the USA there are several clubs. And yet here in Australia where the idea for it was born and where it would make so much sense the aircraft is not even really known. Thanks very much for pointing me towards Russel. I'll give him a call. Cheers, Edward

Hi everybody, It looks as if I will be either starting to fly with a Paraplane or a Trike. I just realised that these two aircrafts can be either registered with HGFA or RA-AUS. Where is the difference? Does it matter in regards to the licence. Anything I have to consider like areas I am allowed to fly, insurance issues,.... Cheers, Edward

Would that pole technology do any good on "conventional" setups? I am looking for a safe aerial sightseeing platform that can operate over water or just the NT with its estuaries. I'm just thinking out loud here without any knowledge of powered chutes: Could I attach a floating platform to this wing setup? I know there is a company called Rapid Launch that does seaplane PPC but their setup looks to complicated for me. The pole looks pretty simple and straight forward. I could imagine taking a tinny (or rigid inflatable hull), mounting retractable wheels to it (amhibious) and putting a proven PPC setup on it. Am I crazy with this idea? What would be the best source of information for such a project? Cheers, Edward

You nailed it Ray. It seems that beautiful country in Australia is most of the time so rugged that you have to look at it from a survival point of view rather from an aircraft performance view. I like the paramotors and wonder why I never looked at them. I did a tandem flight once but never thought of looking at the rigid frame bigger brothers. All the replies here have helped me get a better direction. The paramotor isn't much of a cost and looks like it can get me up for sightseeing with very little fuss. Cheers, Edward

Hi Baph, I had a look at it a few years ago when it came out. Very nice flying but the pilot didn't want to land it in what I would describe best as ripples. We had 5-7 knots steady winds which doesn't really churn up waters. I figured out that if landing in such nice conditions is too much of a risk I'm not interested. I also couldn't find any trace of this aircraft being used for flying over dangerous territory. Going back to the website the home page basically stated that the creators wanted an FIB with better flying performance. The Ramphos flies twice as fast as the FIB. I guess that says it all. Fast Flying = Fast landing = High Risk outside prepared airstrips (or on water). Thanks very much for pointing to the model. It doesn't get much attention either which I find strange. Cheers, Edward

Hi Doug, How do they go with landing on water or in rainforest? Sounds crazy but I'm looking at the aircraft from the point of having to perform an emergency landing in rough terrain. Just watch "keeping up with the Jonses" and you'll see what sort of terrain I'm interested to fly over. If I can imagine myself surviving a landing in that terrain the aircraft is on my list :-) Is there any one around in SEQ that I can have a look at? Cheers, Edward

Hi John, I talked to Steve Bell from RA-AUS 2 days ago and he said that he never received enough information from Polarismotor to allow it being registered with RA-AUS. The only one he knows of "officially" flying in Australia is owned by Adventurer Don McIntyre. That's registered as VH-experimental. Thanks for the link to Alinghi. I never took floats into consideration because they need smooth surface to operate on and don't look good when coming down in rough terrain or rough waters. The fact that the Alinghi team uses them will make me look a bit deeper into these particular floats. A racing yacht only operates in high wind areas and that always comes with choppy waters. I'll try and get in touch with the team. What came to me looking at the floats is that they might work on something like the Little Wing Gyrocopter. A super stable slow flying platform with little to none start and landing speed. Simple to build and not much to fuss around. By the way: Do you know any trike on floats in Australia that I might be able to look at or fly with? Cheers, Edward

Hi everybody, I live in Tanawha and started flying with the age of 6 weeks. I have thousands of hours in the air on nearly everything imaginable to talk about. Sad to say never as a pilot. I want to change this but can't decide what to go for. The reason being sounds awkward. I'm not interested in flying as such or getting fast from A to B. I love the change of perspective so it's more sightseeing than anything else. All the places I am interested to fly over are either estuaries or a mixture of water and islands. Scenic places with lots of wildlife. Means it must be amphibious to be save. Slow flying and able to deal with open water conditions are other must haves. Because it's slow flying it would be great to be able to trailer it around Australia. Adds easy to setup and maintain to the list. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg either and it definitely needs to seat two people. The list goes on and on but I guess the above mentioned criteria make the decision very slim. An aircraft that fits these criteria exists but it isn't certified by anybody in Australia so it has to be flow under VH-experimental. I've waited a few years now for an Ra-Aus certification but it looks as if it's not going to happen. It's the Polarismotor FIB. Going down the VH-experimental avenue for a simple ultralight amphibian sounds a bit over the top for me. Am I looking at this the wrong way. Any aircraft out there for the kind of flying I am looking for? Cheers, Edward