I’m getting USPPA training before I ever touch this or any other paramotor. I’m not planning to modify anything at all.
If you find my curiosity off putting, kindly consider skipping the next post that begins with the intentionally self-deprecating preface, ‘silly beginner question…’.
What about this for stock for the cage:
https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=22428&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1639&top_cat=0
or
https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=22429&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1639&top_cat=0
My rough calculations indicate that each section needs to be about 1160mm long prior to bending, or about 46"
I’m not sure how important the 2mm wall is, or whether 1.5mm wall is enough. Would save cost and weight…
we HAVE removed the kickstand on our ppg and use a modified milk crate to get in and out. Much easier because it is elevated and there is nothing to smack into the back of your legs or bum. it is in an earlier thread.
If you bottom out because a bad approach/landing, your cage with be demolished because its lower section will hit the ground before your butt does, and then too make matter worse, the top of the cage will likely surge forward and hit the back or your helmet. This is typical with PPG butt landings. The OpenPPG hoop is super light and a compromise had to be made. The cage was not really designed to sustain impacts but mostly protect you with the net from prop strikes. The base of the hoop needs to be connected to the bottom half section of the frame to stiffen the complete cage.
Actually they tested this in a University study and build the Scout PPG after this study.
They used wind canal data and in soaring the netting with our 1.2mm net contributes to
over 32% of the drag. If you replace the current net with 0.5mm dyneema netting you would
reduce drag by ca. 20% (60% from 33%). That is huge. I don’t think it is as important to combustion PPG’s, but for electric powered units who also go soaring it would be a big improvement in efficiency
for power consumption and glide ratio.
We should ask GliderPilot, he replaced the cage net with 0.5mm dyneema netting!
Other manufacturer are even more radical…
Yes, I love the net that I made. As for performance improvements there wasn’t a noticeable change. At the speeds we fly the drag is very little so high percentage improvements in drag are actually quite small.
With my new wing I fly an average of 23.6 mph. That speed seems pretty consistent between the few test flights I made with my friends batch 4 (stock net) and my batch 2 (0.5mm dyneema net).
Those drag area calculations do not seem to include the wing and it’s lines, just the motor/pilot/etc. I’m thinking that a 20% reduction in the drag of the motor/pilot unit will not be a large percentage of the TOTAL aircraft drag (incidence, lift, parasitic, … ).
Paul,
Where can I find replacement netting of the same size and shape
