Anybody try powered paragliding ?

Doug · Jun 12, 2006

You strap this big fan thing on your back and fly under a canopy thing, looks like fun ! Anybody do it ? J-man maybe ?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.poweredparaglidingontario.com/gallery/images/images_destination/images/lift_b_jpg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.poweredparaglidingontario.com/introduction/introduction.htm&h=506&w=330&sz=44&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=0ZacbEaY4afpxM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=83&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpowered%2Bparagliding%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

Journeyman · Jun 12, 2006

I saw a guy once flying around my area in one of these contraptions.

:lolBIG:

Paterno · Jun 12, 2006

I saw one of these for the first time at beach this weekend. Pretty crazy looking.

http://www.seair.com/flyingboat.htm

Doug · Jun 12, 2006

there's a little regional airport nearby they take off and land there, looks pretty smooth. You have the fan thing on your back, get the canopy overhead, then rev it up, and run becoming airborne. Landing doesn't look to hard.

I've been 50 feet from these guys taking off and landing, I'll have to talk to one of them.

charleslanger · Jun 12, 2006

I always wondered if the motorized hang glider esp. or even that one, would've worked on 9/11...the flames could've caused huge mini-tornado drafts, yes...but still, a lot of folks were able to just sit on the window ledges......could've plucked off a few to safety at least...

Doug · Jun 12, 2006

Journeyman said:
I saw a guy once flying around my area in one of these contraptions.

:lolBIG:

I can see J going to Vegas like this !

Journeyman · Jun 12, 2006

Remember this guy?

James "Fan Man" Miller (1963–2002) -

The Fan Man Fight

Miller's first and most famous stunt happened during the 1993 heavyweight title fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. Miller descended into the second minute of the seventh round of the fight, after circling Caesar’s Palace for 25 minutes. The lines of his paraglider tangled in the overhead lights as he came down into the ring wearing a white crash helmet. When he hit the canvas, one of his legs got caught in the top rope of the ring. Fans dragged him to the ground and beat him. One security officer struck Miller 20 times. He was rushed to a nearby hospital as spectators cut his paraglider into pieces for souvenirs. After his release from the hospital, Miller was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he was charged with dangerous flying and released on $200 bail.

TTinCO · Jun 12, 2006

Great, instead of a traditional ultralight that collapses & then sends you sailing into the ground, this one would just drop you into a nice clean & compact pile of guts.

I'd do it-but I've also bungee jumped 300 feet(~500 before recoil) out of hot air balloons.

Journeyman · Jun 12, 2006

Sad ending for 'Fan Man'

Miller relocated to Valdez, Alaska where he continued to fly ultralight aircraft and paragliders in the Alaskan wilderness until he developed heart problems. He was diagnosed with a serious coronary condition, had heart surgery, and was forced to close his small computer business in Valdez in order to move to Anchorage, where he was closer to medical care and friends and family.
Miller was reported missing on September 22, 2002. On March 9, 2003, a group of hunters found a decomposing body in the Alaskan wilderness, and it was identified as that of James Miller. The death was ruled a suicide.
Although Miller's disappearance and death were reported in the local press, his suicide did not become widely known outside Alaska until later in 2003, when ESPN went searching for him to film a Sportscenter feature to be shown during the tenth anniversary of his stunt.

TTinCO · Jun 12, 2006

Journeyman said:
James "Fan Man" Miller (1963–2002) -

The Fan Man Fight

I was wondering if that's what it was. I remember that like it was last week & he had pretty decent control over it. Not a bad landing:lolBIG:

Doug · Jun 12, 2006

I think they wear a parachute just in case, or at least they can. I'd fly the thing, I like the landing part better with the boat thing. Seems the paramotor could lead to a sprained/ broken ankle with a bad landing.

Journeyman · Jun 12, 2006

TTinCO said:
I was wondering if that's what it was. I remember that like it was last week & he had pretty decent control over it. Not a bad landing:lolBIG:

The fans beat the hell out of him , I remember it well too, he got all tangled up in the ropes.

Read this one- :lolBIG:
A few weeks after the World Cup stunt, Miller used a powered paraglider to get on top of Buckingham Palace after painting himself green and covering his private parts with glow-in-the-dark paint. British authorities evacuated the palace in seven minutes, then came for Miller, who was arrested on the roof. They charged him with terrorism, believing he had connections with the Irish Republican Army.
"What was funny was I was trying to make a point to the Irish that they didn’t need to use violence to protest British policies," Miller told Valdez newspapers years later.
British authorities interrogated Miller in an effort to learn who had helped him. He was threatened with a life sentence but refused to rat out his friends.
Less than a year after his Fan Man crusade began, Miller was convicted in Great Britain of "flying without a ticket of air worthiness," fined 600 pounds ($1,500), held in prison for 42 days, branded an international terrorist by Interpol and banished from the United Kingdom for life.
"When the judge said I was deported for life, I asked if my ashes could be buried in England," Miller told a Valdez newspaper. "The judge just looked at me and said, ‘no.’"

uppy: "flying without a ticket of air worthiness"

Doug · Jun 12, 2006

says safer than a motorcycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_paraglider

TrueAirgo · Jun 13, 2006

I was minutes away from getting geared-up in Venezuela to give it a try, but chickened out.

Doug · Jun 13, 2006

I wouldn't try it without some instruction,more than you would be willing to take on vacation. Maybe 10-20 hours before trying it ?

Dante · Jun 13, 2006

para sailing once...not sure if its the same thing but that was a blast

Doug · Jun 13, 2006

No that's different. You were tethered to a boat and pulled behind right ? This is more like hang gliding with a motor.

Doug · Jun 17, 2006

I'm going to at least try a version of this stuff, like a passenger in a` 2-seat ultra-lite if I can hitch a ride. I'd fly with any unqualified pilot, don't care if I have high risk to die. I am not normal, I'll risk it all, including my life, no problem.

Anybody try powered paragliding ?

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