SP140, good choice for newbie pilot?

I"m wondering if the SP140 is a good first paramotor for a “fresh out of school” pilot. I’m scheduled to go to school June 2022. Is the frame strong enough for newbie mistakes, like butt landings. Also, is the hoop strong enough for trike launching if I decide to connect it to a light trike frame.

I purchased the X4 as a first paramotor fresh-out-of-school pilot. I had 10 flights on a Blackhawk and the instructor started it every time. I’ve not ‘butt landed’ but I did slid one and drag the cage pretty good on wet grass. Broke a couple of 3Dprinted parts tubing connectors and Paul sent me new bits for shipping.
Electric power makes it a very easy machine to operate. I did not have to become an amateur 2 stroke mechanic to keep flying. I would recommend it as a first machine. A disadvantage for new pilots is that if you need to go around to fix a bad approach at the end of a flight you’ll be down on power. Whereas with a 2 stroke full power is there as long as there’s fuel in the tank and you’re lighter.

Good to know. Thanks for stating the “pros” and “cons” of SP140 to a newbie. That is exactly the info I’m looking for. Only a owner of the SP140 would know this info. Hopefully, more newbie pilots operating the SP140 will chime in. The school I’m going to in June offers a $500 discount on training if I purchase a ICE paramotor and wing, but they only sell ICE paramotors. So I am in a dilemma.

Note that I have the X4 not the SP140. They are both electric of course so I only commented on that aspect. The X4 has the added advantages of no torque and slightly more convenient packing up (just fold it rather than take it apart) but suffers efficiency and therefore flight time. The SP140 is also a much better ready to fly out-of-the-box machine. Had the SP140 been available at the time, I’d probably have bought it instead of the X4.

I have both and fly both…and love both of them for different reasons.:+1: But…because I like my X4 so much, I’m looking forward to the day when battery tech allows me to have longer flight times with no additional weight. The X4 is so light and Easy to fly…I even enjoy my swarm of “angry bees” that follow me! :rofl::rofl:
Bill

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6 posts were split to a new topic: Emulate ICE with controller mode