I began building and developing super light gas PPG in the mid 90’s and actually flew the lightest ever made machine to date - it weighed 12lbs complete but without the harness. I then migrated to 19/20lbs machines and realized then what I am going to do again with Paul’s machine, I am that close to re-do what I did before on the same terrain. My goal is only catch ridge lift on the coast in a 1 minute or less powered flight from the beach. After that, cruising a couple of hours free-flying. We knew at the time that assisted PG takeoffs were the key to do what we wanted to achieve, and that’s how the BUG came about. The idea was already there and I successfully made it work. I bypassed the standard PPG metal frame and plugged the Boxer motor onto the harness. The engine was attached to the seat via four 2" wide industrial velcros strips. I could remove the motor from the harness in 30 seconds if needed. There were no “SwanNeck” bars or whatever you want to call them, because we could get away with the motor and connecting arrangement’s lightweight. We knew that 23/24lbs were the numbers not to exceed before the Roman balance effect was taking over and tilt us backwards - remember that we were using a real PG harness from SUPAIR with the standard riser hooking points.
Just to give you ideas… I was “Bugging” my students at the time The BUG - YouTube
Nice work and video. What motor, etc…? Your idea is bugging me for simplicity.
At the time I was getting serious about promoting this type of machine but it did not catch because people were focusing on thrust/power/long duration flight etc… and all of that equates to heavier machines while still having the disadvantage of not being able to weight-shift the way paragliders do. The motor was a small gas Boxer engine around 200cc.
4 years ago they did this solely for thermal flying purposes, see
Electric paramotor with foldable props
Yes, I knew about it but not my cup of tea. Too heavy and too many part too far away from the harness and pilot - inertia, and the shaft is too long and could catch the lines if a malfunction was to happen. Expensive machine too. That why it never caught up wit the public. Razeebuss in France ( I met the developer once at the Coupe Icare), nice guy,…
Their machine’s angle of thrust could be adjusted by releasing a compression system on the right side of the frame. The reason why they had to do it was because they were not using side canes (Weight-shift arms) and the PPG was directly attached to the harness. The Roman Balance effect was compensated via the compressed side piston, (a system similar to what car trunks use to open the door) which once released, pushed the bottom section of the cage/motor, straightening everything for a thrust more parallel to the ground. I like Paul’s design best because it is lighter and closer to the pilot’s body and simpler to setup in general. A reserve parachute deployed could have its lines/riser snagged on the shaft with the pancake Swiss motor - anything that protrudes in PG or PPG becomes a hazard, reason why I always tell my students not to even get boots with hooks or helmets with anything protruding from them. Anything sticking out is a potential line catcher. I saw one PG pilot at our local site doing a reverse inflation, lost his footage for a second, his body tilted to one side for a split second and his GoPro camera fastened to the top of his helmet, snagged a line as he was turning around to face the slope. He ended up in the bushes before he could takeoff, everyone laughed but it could have been really bad.
Watch this video and the insane torque effect at the minute 1:37 this is one more reason why Paul’s system beats the other contraptions out there FTE E-MEDIAPROD J3.wmv - YouTube
Thanks for sharing, the torque effect is cancelled with counter-rotation…
Hey @Voltair was that PG pilot who snagged the line on his helmet at Blue Mtn. around about this time last year? I think I was there for that, or maybe it was another incident. I wonder if we shared the same air at Blue as I know you are in NY.
Hey Maxem, it was someone else. Blue Mountain is too far from home. I am sticking more and more to Long Island (my turf) and the New Jersey fields where I have bee teaching since 1995 and we tow ( I am a PG towing specialist with over 25 years experience between the Alps and here ) and PPG on the sod fields in Allentown (NJ). Long Island a few days ago A NICE DAY AT THE BEACH WITH PHIL - YouTube Just sold my last gas PPG I had in stock and will never buy another for myself, however I will keep on selling them to my customers for now, until Paul’s machine is really up to speed in all details to go to mass production - then he will go nuts, hahaha… .