I don’t want to sound like a Preacher, but can I just point out to fellow Paramotorists that even though paramotoring is an unregulated sport there are still certain rules and regs; that have to be "stringently abided by",

The reason I am writing this article is that in the last since 6 months that I've been flying Paramotors, (previously hill flying for 6 years) I have been invited to fly with several pilots that seem to be totally unaware of a few basic CAA rules that apply to us all, even though I am a novice myself, on several occasions I have had to make it clear to them that taking off in public places where members of the public are participating in either there daily walking of the dog, playing with there children, riding there horse, or just generally fooling around, is a "NO, NO," some of these fellow pilots were totally unaware that any such rules exist, but others seemed to relish on the fact that because they had an audience they just had to play the"CINDERELLA BOY".

I do not want to sound to be a killjoy but if any member of the public, or worse, a pet, gets injured it could really knacker our sport badly and maybe push it even closer to being regulated, Paramotoring is probably the closest we'll ever get to "REALLY FREE FLYING" in this country, you don't even have the hassle of having to belong to a club(which I hated) or travel miles to fly like you do when you hill fly, just permission from a local landowner, some good training, an air map, a bit of common sense and respect, and an awareness of the dangers around you, is all that is needed, if we don’t do this we will all end up being the victims of another pile of oppressive rules and regs; layed down by the control freaks that run this country.

My philosophy is to read and reread the rules and regs; that apply to our sport and try to remember them, keep a low profile, i.e.; “don’t attract attention to yourself.” Try to do it quietly”, “don’t take friends and family along, except maybe the wife if it means flying alone” “try to do it in small numbers,” get off the beaten track away from Joe public. Don’t show off!

It is very tempting to go fly a public place as soon as you take purchase of your shiny new flying machine, just as I also went down to my local common to try mine out, but once there, because I had been made aware of certain elements of danger from my hill flying school days, and being aware of danger from my many years of working on building sites, plus the viewing of umpteen health and safety films over the years, I soon realised that with all the people. Dogs. Horses, cattle, etc; around it was a NO, NO.

I call it a sixth sense, (I find a lot of young and old pilots alike don’t seem to have an awareness of there immediate environment, they seem oblivious to the dangers around them, just a mad rush to get up, (An accident waiting to happen) just take it easy, and do your pre-flight checks properly, they don’t take long.

Also! There is the insurance (what insurance? I hear you ask) element to think about, would they pay out a claim if it were found after an investigation your flying was not carried out in accordance with CAA rules? TO BE FLYING IN A PUBLIC PLACE I doubt it, you all know what they are like, any excuse not to pay.

I know it can prove very difficult to source sympathetic farmers that are willing to allow you to use there fields, but most of the ones I’ve met recently have been very nice chaps, you have to keep trying and if you ask around long enough you will eventually be successful, my first farmer said no initially when I approached him on a cold rainy day whilst he was perched wet and muddy on his tractor in the middle of his farm track, but I then visited him again one sunny evening after he had washed and had is dinner, he was much more amiable and said it would be OK, I have since spoken to at least 5 other farmers locally in the last week, plus a light aircraft pilot who has his own airstrip (very unhelpful), only to be told that either there fields were unavailable due to crops/cattle, about to be ploughed, or noise worries, I had one who just kept saying “ no chance mate” “no chance mate”, “no chance mate,” to every question I put to him (miserable barsteward) (you always get one) fortunately, one of them recommend I speak to another farmer friend of his that he rented grazing fields from, this old chap was very nice and helpful about it, he made me tea whilst we sat and chatted in his farmhouse, after tea he even drove me round the fields , he was very happy at the offer of a large bottle of scotch every so often, I now have two more excellent T/O fields very close to home that I can use all year round, my perseverance had paid off in the end, and was worth all the hassle.( I initially telephoned some of these farmers and arranged a meet rather than just walk onto there farm as they can sometimes feel threatened)

You can get a full copy of the rules/Regs; included in the "Foot Launched powered Aircraft (FLPA) Pilot Under Training Pack) from the BHPA. (I think they should be given free along with the manual on all purchases of a Paramotor) PLEASE! Send for, and read thoroughly a copy before you take to the skies, also try to get some good training, I know that because the sport is Unregulated it is very tempting for some people to think that they can just go out and purchase a unit, go to there nearest field and takeoff, yea, sure you could probably get away with it the first time and maybe the second time if your lucky, but sooner or later “you will be up there wishing that you were down there” as the saying goes, another saying I always remember from a manual I purchased from the BHPA in the 70s about Hangliding was, that “flying is very unforgiving of mistakes” and I have found that to be very true, I have also found that it also doesn’t suffer fools gladly either. Unfortunately there are a few people out there with more money than sense, and who have just got to have the latest toys. These are the dangerous ones, as all most all of them want is to be able to say “ done that, got the T shirt” just to impress there mates, fortunately they aren’t around long, and soon get fed up waiting for the British weather, luckily, for any serious wannabe pilots out there looking for a cheap entry into the sport there are bargains to be had, as you often see the “selling up, lost interest ads;” dotted about in different mags and website’s. they usually sell nearly new kit real cheap so as to move on to the next materialistic boosting sport.

I personally in the last six months have met guys that have never flown anything before in there lives and who have just gone out bought all the kit, gone down to the nearest field and tried to fly, Fortunately, for the ones that I knew there just happened to be someone more experienced around to help them on there way, although there was nothing they could do to help when the wind suddenly picked up late one evening and the novice pilot disappeared over the horizon at 40 miles an hour backwards, amazingly he escaped injury, another thing I was totally miffed about recently was to find that a guy that I have been recently introduced too, and whom I had been out flying with, and who supposedly had umpteen flying hours under his belt, and had been flying for years, had purchased a brand new Paramotor for mega bucks a year earlier but could not tell me what make of engine was in the machine, I worry that if these sort of antics continue it’s only a matter of time before someone one gets seriously hurt, and stringent rules and regs; are introduced to make people get trained up properly, so as to acquire a license such as a PPL as all other pilots have to have.

What I am trying to say to anyone serious about the sport is to get decent training before you buy all the kit, maybe have a taster tandem day just to see if it’s for you, I personally trained firstly in hill flying at a very good school in Wiltshire, unfortunately it seems that GOOD Paramotor training schools are very few and far between and I have heard lots of horror stories from pilots about how some would only train them up if they first purchased thousands of pounds worth of gear from them, others that only train abroad so as give the instructors a free holiday, also that some of the schools deliberately stretch out the training with unnecessary rocket science theory so as to get as much money as possible from the poor unsuspecting novice pilot, I have had first hand experience of this and walked out from the course on day two, as I could see where it was heading, this on it’s own is enough to put a lot of people off the sport, when I was doing my hill training I was told by the instructor whom had been a pioneer of the sport in the early 70s not to worry to much about the theory as you can always catch up with it later, which I found to be true, 99% of our time was spent on the hill, to much theory can boggle the mind and you remember nothing, as I was told recently by one instructor most people are only capable of remembering 20% of most things they are told anyway, slow but sure is the best method, Obviously you do need to know basic air law and the basic principle of how a wing flies etc.; dangers of stall etc.; etc.; but you do not need to know how they make a paraglider or the rocket science about the aerodynamics and pitch of propellers, or how long it takes to make one , these are all things that you can pick up as you get more and more involved in the sport , I have found over the years that to learn anything practical you need to get out there and have hands on practice so as to familiarise yourself with whatever machine you will be flying or driving etc.; . I.e.; I never learnt to drive my car being stuck inside a classroom drinking coffee for hours on end. I was fortunate in that I had already had a fair bit of hill flying experience before I started paramotoring and so I found the conversion fairly easy, I also had a good friend who had been paramotoring for several years and who took time-out to help me convert, but If I were starting from scratch, I think I would definitely try to go to a proper training school before I laid out thousands of pounds, trouble is! Which one to pick?

Whenever I get an interest in something, no matter what it is, I always try and read, read, and read upon as many articles and books as possible on the subject, before I eventually make a purchase, that way not only do I get a good insight as to what is available but also as to how basically things work, my advice to anyone half interested in the sport is to do the same, as it could not only save you money but also your life.

One of the best books I have found and is like a bible to me is PARAMOTORING FROM THE GROUND UP By Noel Whittall
Very cheap at the moment from www.paramotorsuk.co.uk (see below)

By Noel Whittall

Paramotoring From The Ground Up List Price: £19.99 Our Price: £15.99 You Save: £4.00 (20%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Click Here to order

Below are a few very important CAA rules that should be made clear, and which should be firmly embedded in the heads of all wannabe pilots.

(If we don't act responsibly the proverbial will hit the fan and we all know how much they cost.)

Taking off-general.

Wherever possible FLPA should take off from a recognised and/or NON- public area, one possibility being an existing Microlite airfield which has
appropriate local authority permission.

If the FLPA takes off from other areas the following procedures should be
taken into account:

1. Permission should be obtained from the owner of the land.

2. The area should be secure from the possibility of and/or
spectators being in an area of danger.

3. Any spectators should be properly marshalled and any dogs should be firmly attached to a lead, (they have been known to chase the FLPA when it starts to move.

4. Any neighbours should be informed of your future activities.

5. It is ILLEGAL to take off within 500 feet of a house without the permission of the owner,

6. (One of my own); even if you have a centrifugal clutch, DON’T start the engine of your Paramotor and then leave it Unattended to go talk to a member of the public or get something from the car etc.; (and, yes! I saw it done recently.) It’s an accident waiting to happen, if someone accidentally stepped on, or a child picked up and blipped the throttle, somebody could lose a limb, (or a tail) OK; it may sound highly unlikely, but MURPHY'S LAW states that “if it can happen it will happen”

AIC 109/2000 (Yellow 31) The CAA has issued Air Information Circular (AIC) 109/2000 for PPG and Hang gliders. All existing and prospective pilots should all have a copy of this document, if not, should obtain a copy to study as soon as possible. If you operate a Foot Launched Powered Paraglider (Paramotor) then the following articles of the Air Navigation Order 2000 also apply: 59,60,61,63,64,65,70,84,85,118,120,121,122,123,127,129 & 131. In addition the following Rules of the Air Regulations 1996 also apply: 1,5(1)d, 17, & 19. Happy Reading! Click Here For AICs (New website access requires registration)

I know to some people (especially me) that all these rules and regs; may seem a load of old tosh and yet another infringement on our freedom to fly, but they are just a few of the common sense rules that we should abide by if we want our sport to stay unregulated, if you want more oppressive ones? just abuse them”.

MOTTO:- 'Act like a pheasant. Keep ya head down'

J.W. Oxford. BHPA Mem: No. 4713. Email: Av8er@lineone.net