OT parasailing/gliding.. or what ever it's called

i live just off the A610 outside nottingham, and ever since i moved here
almost every nights it's not raining, there's a bunch of people gliding
about up in the sky below a parachute,

they are those things where you strap an engine with a prop to your back
(looks like a power float on it's side), clip a parachute to the seat, and
off you go,

They look bloody fun, like doing a parachute jump thingy off a mountian, but
without the need to climb the mountian to jump off it, just open the
throttle and up you go.

i've always wanted to have a go at flying, but cash is something i dont have
much of, and it seems most things to do with flying cost the earth.

anyhoo, i was out on the bike today, coming back from matlock on the A610,
and just after the bendy bits with the silly 35mph recomended speed
restrictions, the paragliders (is that what they are?) were circling above
me,

so i pulled over into a layby with a cafe in it, and it turns out they fly
from a field just accross the road from there, watched them coming into
land, one flash git was showing off, coming in low to the fields and
powering up just as he was about to hit a hedge and kicking the hedge with
his feet, looking as if he's going to fly into the side of a barn, but
pulling up and running his feet over the roof almost etc.

i know, i should have gone over and had a chat with them, maybe drop a
cihagm in the convo

anyone do this paragliding thing on here? or know about it,

micro lights are supposed to be the cheapest way to get in the air, would
these things be even cheaper as they arent fixed wing aircraft, not sure if
they are aircraft at all or owt as there's no air frame, unless you count
the human body, one of em had navigation lights, looked like he had the red
beacon stuck out his arse and the white strobe on his head

i'd love to have a go at this, i imagine you can do tandem flights with
these? i know you can with the ones where you just have a chute minus the
engine and jump off a cliff,
as some people are into flying on here, anyone know about these things?

 

<>:

<snip>

They're called microlights and they are piloted by cunts.

Best thing to do is shoot root vegetables and fruit at them from a
suitable device.

 

I sit corrected.

 

I was googling for a surgical corset picture for a cheap gag and I
found this

http://www.rslsteeper.co.uk/NetsiteCMS/pageid/149/Scott Richardson.html

They make prosthetic feet as well and sponser a bike racer.

 

I've paraglided (if that's the right word), winch launched rather than
hill or personal engine launched.

Bloody good fun.

 

Parasailing is where you get dragged behind a speeding boat whilst
having a parachute trying to pull you the other way.

I suspect you want paramotor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramotor

 

Not the same as your powered parachute, but I had a trial microlight
flight yesterday at Popham (Hants) c/o my son, and confirmed that I
loved it. Very easy to fly, although I didn't do the take-off or landing
(obviously) and a superb day for it.

Looking at their website also confirmed that I can't afford to take it
further, even with their aircraft share scheme. YMMV

http://www.microlightflyingschool.co.uk/

 

Its a microlight and you need a pilots licence you ignorant tit.

 

Not true. They only become a microlight if they take off and land on wheels.
They are almost certainly powered hang gliders or paramotors.

 

wots up with you, not had enough hitchhikers to bugger and murder because of
the weather lately or sommat?


a micro light is a hang glider type flex wing with seat and an engine on a
frame with wheels attached,

a paramotor which is what I was on about, is a parafoil attached to a seat
with a small 2 stroke engine and prop that sits against your back, you run
along the strip to take off, and land on your feet.

you need a pilots license for a micro light as it has wheels, but as long as
you take off and land on your feet with a paramotor, no license is needed,

I found that much out thanks to this groups helpful contributions,

Now, when I want to know how to drive a truck like a wanker, where to get
the cheapest carpet off cuts from, the best lay by's to dump bodies in etc,
I'll ask you.

 

I nearly bought a microlight way back in those happy days before
legislation stopped anyone with a sense of adventure from doing
whatever the **** they wanted.

These paramotor things do look like a last refuge for the less faint
hearted(1) and interestingly enough you can fly them from near
Alconbury. Hmm, that's about 30 minutes from home and you can buy the
whole set up for about £5k. I wonder if I could persuade Adie that
it'd be a peaceful way of spending Sunday afternoons and more to the
point - do they have any killjoy rules about drinking and flying?

(1) Others might say foolhardy but I've always looked on things like
this as something to be investigated.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Monkey

Bullshit.

 

Are you sure about that for all designs? I realise most look much like
an unpowered hanglider and therefor should have some potential but some
look rather nose heavy with engine.

Of course there is room for wearing a "proper" parachute!

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Monkey

They have a typical glide ratio of between 10 and 20 to 1.

They do have low inertia, so an engine failure at low level needs prompt
action, but they train for that.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Hog

Yes. They all have to get approval (either from the CAA, or the LAA).
Neither organisation has an interest in certificating anything that
"drops out of the sky".

And next to no chance of successfully deploying it in 90% of situations.
A ballistic recovery system is a different matter, but then there are
weight issues.

 

A Base Jumping rig should work!

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Hog

Not really. The only situation where you'd be better off without the
aircraft would be if it had suffered some catastrophic structural
failure. You've then got to get away from the airframe, which is quite
likely spinning at a rate of knots, then you've got to deploy the chute.

Glider pilots wear chutes because they fly at altitude in close
proximity to other aircraft (in thermals). If they have a mid-air, their
best chance is for the aircraft to be sufficiently destroyed that they
(and their chute) are thrown clear. If they stay conscious they can then
do the ripcord thing and get down softly.

If they're still in the aircraft, or KO'd then they just fill the hole
in and pop a headstone on it,

 

You only found that out AFTER lots of posts. Go back and read your OP in
particular your immediate description (if you can read that is).

How about I come down your way and abduct your wife/daughter/neice? What
kind of carpet would you like the passer-by to find them in? Hessian backed
or foam? How much underwear would you like me to remove/leave on the body?

C.U. Jimmy

 

why dont you read it?? i did mention the word parachute a few times, and
engine strapped to your back,

but i mentioned the word glide, is that what threw you?, i've seen eagles
gliding about on the thermals around mountian tops, do they have a pilots
licence to do that as they are a sort of flex wing,

well if you wouldent mind abducting my bitch of a girlfriend you'd be doing
me a great favour,

a real cheap nasty industrial carpet would suit her please, has to be
hessian backed as foams too soft for a bitch like her,
she's ginger, so i'd really recomend you dont attempt to remove her
underwear at all, but that's upto you,

 

I've seen an advert for the RAC but I still broke down.

Ok, how about your mum too?