Everybody dreams of being able to fly like a bird at some point in life. Can you imagine running across a grassy field and taking off and soaring over houses, streets and the countryside with the wind in your face, leaving all your worries and stresses on the ground?
Well my friends, it is no longer just a dream but a reality with the aid of a paraglider or a paramotor. Things have come a long way since the triangular hang-gliders of the 1970s. The development of the paraglider has made foot launched free flight an extremely popular sport. The paraglider looks like a parachute in the shape of a wing. The paramotor looks like a parachute in the shape of a wing but the person has a motorized fan or propeller attached to their back.
The paraglider was first conceived in the 1970s by parachutists using foot launched Ram Air Parachutes from the mountains in France know as the French Alps. Over the years these parachutes have been improved and modified into a very efficient wing. The performance of the pilot is more like a fixed wing glider. Flights of over 200km are common just using thermals or up drafts and the pilot’s skill to find up drafts or lift and stay aloft for many hours of beautiful and heavenly flight, just like the birds. It’s fun flying with the birds. The world distance on a paraglider (no motor) is 349km. During the evening and early morning hours the air is usually still and there are no thermals or up drafts. This time of day makes for very smooth flying for paramotor pilots. Watching the sunrise or sunset is very popular with some people, while other people enjoy the strong thermals or up drafts or lift of mid-day.
During the late 1980s motorized backpacks started to arrive on the paragliding scene and the name paramotor was soon adopted. These paramotors gave paraglider pilots the opportunity to get in the air from a flat field rather than have to find a hill or mountain to start their flights. Paramotors gave flyers the opportunity to get airborne before the thermals or up drafts of the day started or after the thermals or up drafts have finished.
Training in most countries will see you solo and airborne within a few days and get a basic license within a few weeks. The training time for paramotoring is the same as the training time for paragliding.
There are dangers involved in these sports. They are classified as extreme sports but with a sensible attitude and proper training many pilots enjoy decades of safe flying up to 12,000 feet over some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. There are safety courses available to deal with collapses from flying in extreme turbulence. All pilots carry a reserve parachute. A reserve parachute deployment is extremely rare. If the motor fails, you are still flying a glider. It is easy to enjoy this sport at your own pace.
These paramotors are very popular in Thailand and the rest of the world. The development of paramotoring over the last twenty years has seen paramotors get lighter, more powerful and less expensive. The equipment is relatively cheap. A new paramotor, harness, reserve parachute, boots, helmet and variometer will see you safely in the air for less than $4,000 USD. Second-hand equipment is available for less than $2,000 USD. There is a choice of new and used paramotors. The paramotor can be dismantled to fit in the boot or trunk of a car. Prices range from $10,000 USD for a new full size tandem paramotor including the wing, a reserve parachute, a two-seater trike and instruments to as little as $1,000USD for a used foot launched backpack paramotor.
Go to the flying club where you can watch paragliders, paramotors and ultralight aircraft in flight. Chat with the pilots and their ground crew and learn of the other services available at the flying club. You can even take a test flight on a tandem paramotor. Call Ivan Tel: 01 576-0038 for directions and information.
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