I weigh about 225. If all my gear ends up being 60 lbs that gives me an all-up weight of 285.
My instructor basically keeps telling me that I will need an 80 lb paramotor setup and I should probably trike launch. He is 60+ and safety obsessed.
I have talked to other instructors who say a Moster 185 or nitro 200 would be fine for me.
What’s the truth?
I know people that with a moster 185 have foot launched launched 600lb tandems at 5000’ altitude or 130lb thrust with altitude loss. I think you would do just fine with 165lb thrust.
As for safety it mostly comes down to the wing you fly and your skill level, but the crumple zone that a trike gives you will never hurt.
Thanks for taking the time to respond Bob27. I really don’t have much interest in trike launch as my storage space for such a gadget is limited. And runway space might be too.
I’m 230 and Open PPG works great for me! Same gear and wing and I can gain altitude must faster on the Moster 185 though.
Hey, Jrsimple, What size wing do you fly, if you don’t mind?
XL Mojo 4 (31m2)
I weight 215 and with a 60lb machine and a couple of gallons ( 7.6 liters) of fuel I’m
~ 285 all up.
I have a Moster 185 Plus, which produces 75 kg (165 lb.) of thrust with my 130 cm prop.
I’m a new.pilot with a Mojo PWR Large (EN A) wing and my climb rate is very good. I haven’t yet documented exactly what it is but I have zero trouble flying and climbing at a good rate.
A classmate was 225 and flew the exact motor/wing configuration and also with zero trouble climbing.
You have to remember the forces act differently when you have a large wing for extra lift rather than a rocket.
A rocket would need thrust to weight ratio grater than 1.
this is why airplanes are so fuel efficient.
Your TWR is 0.58 (165 / 255 = 0.5789)
another example is a A F35-C Fighter jet has a TWR of 0.77 (39,900 lbf / 52,155 lbf = 0.765 or 0.77)
Boeing 747 TWR = 0.27
Boeing 737 TWR = 0.30
SpaceX Falcon-9 TWR = ~1.4
–You have more TWR than Boing Airplanes.–
with planes a lower TWR means you fly slower. as long as you have enough lift and speed your fine. i have no idea what the minimum would be. I beleive that would depend on stall speed of the design.
It’s pretty easy to calculate: thrust required for level flight is your all up weight multiplied by the inverse of your L/D (glide) ratio.
285 lbs x (1/5.3) = 53.7 lbs thrust required for level flight, at trim speed. Keep in mind that your thrust at trim speed will be less than your static thrust. That 5.3:1 L/D ratio seems to work out for performance calculations based on numbers that have been published on this forum. Doubling that thrust number (108 lbs of thrust) should give you a climb rate that is roughly the same as your power off sink rate (~200-300 FPM).
… it is not an airplane with wings …
here in this video you can see me with a takoff weight of 330 lbs. the standing thrust is around 50 kg (110 lbs) the standing thrust has been measured, therefore no imagination like many others. With the thrust of 110 lbs, with the same setup of 330 lbs, I also achieved my own height record of 6500 feet above the launch site. with the correct wing loading, 110 lbs are sufficient. total mass 330 lbs. wing 31 m2 (size XL)
many beginners in e-ppg think they have to be proud that they write 15 kilowatts and such nonsense. who really understands e-ppg is proud to use as little energy as possible …
it is the same with thrust. who writes he has 150 lbs thrust but then shows in videos that there are a maximum of 100 lbs to 120 lbs makes himself unbelievable. 150 lbs thrust leads to a rise of over 2.5 meters / sec. I have never seen such a video from e-ppg to date. there are videos where you can a maximum of 1.5 to 1.8 meters / sec. sees constantly.