Finally got to fly my SP140 and would like to give a quick update. I am one of the lighter pilots that had trouble balancing the motor. I have the 4kWh battery and with my weight of 135lb it has been a challenge to get a normal lean angle.
I am happy to report that even with the higher than usual angle I was able to fly with no issues, no twist tendency and did try a few sudden throttle changes at altitude. I was flying in chill mode so my top power was already reduced. Being a lighter pilot is not all trouble with the SP140, I did manage to get a 56 minute flight and only used 2.6kWh. Cruise power with trims all in is at about 3.1kW and with trims all out about 4.1kW. Since I usually fly for an hour, it seems I will have plenty of reserve if I need to go over my normal flight duration.
A bit of background information. First of all this is my fourth paramotor and I am an experienced PPG pilot, being light I always had a higher than usual lean angle and have learned to be gentle on the throttle especially at take off. My current ICE motor is a Nitro 200, which is way too overpowered for what I need.
The lean angle with the SP140 was even higher than with the Nitro and that did concern me initially. However, I think the thrust vector related to the hook in points is equally important. With the default setup the thrust is below the hook in points and I was worried that as the thrust increases the lean angle will increase even more. What I ended up doing is moving the motor up on my back by moving the upper harness straps to the square bar below. This brought the thrust vector at about the pivot point and noticed that as I was increasing the thrust my lean angle would even slightly reduce (i.e. will be more upright), which is better than the other way around. The higher placement of the motor on my back also makes ground handling easier.
What I described is what worked on me, would not recommend this for an inexperienced and lighter pilot. Paul is working on a long term solution with the new bar design and this will be the ultimate solution to finding the right balance.
Overall I am very happy with the SP140 so far, the reduced noise and vibration makes the flight so much more enjoyable. The extra weight is manageable but I need to fly some more to see if it impacts my ground handling significantly. Would like to give a big thumbs up to @Pdwhite and team, awesome product and support so far, definitively worth the wait.
