At 2:35 when you’re like “i’m exhausted, i have to abort”. i totally get that. I tried to launch like 5 times one day and was so tired i could barely put my stuff away.
765 hours of flight is incredible. I don't know how you manage to achieve so many hours. You are very dedicated to do this, it's quite brilliant! Thanks for posting.
When things aren't going right its always better to stop, step back, analyze and learn. Right decision made Mark in situation 1 even though it was more physical. Flying is not just the condition of the aircraft but also the condition of the pilot. Great info on the icing of the carb this is a consideration I will add to my pre flight planning. Two weeks until I start my training and more lessons learnt. Many thanks for taking the time out to help others.
Yes we have to accept that sometimes things don't go well, even for experienced pilots. I should have quit earlier on Situation 1, and not quit so soon on Situation 2.
Bit of an essay for this comment, but hopefully it's something that others can learn from to. Reminded from the bit about your brakes not being clear. My first "Gotcha" moment came on my first flight after everything had been signed off and I was into my "Mentor phase" (basically I had been deemed I knew enough to fly safely without an instructor watching my every move, but we then do a minimum 10 hours with a mentor present to asses our decision making process and make sure we don't develop bad habits straight away). Checked my lines, everything looked clear. Reversed up the wing, all stable(ish) and looked clear. Perfect take off run, little brake check and in the air for a nice climb out. As I let up the brakes, I start turning right. Left brake corrects this, but I haven't got much left turn ability. Check the lines, everything looks free and clear (WTF?). I extended out my second right turn to give me a bit of line up room, turn back downwind and kill the motor. Decided to butt land because I didn't think I could wash off enough speed for my legs (I was correct). Mentor (who was conducting tow operations for other students) drives over because he saw the butt land, so I give him the thumbs up and give a quick explanation of what's occurred, he agrees I made the right decisions on the information I had, and goes back to towing. I check over the motor and frame, no damage, just dirty (love the Skymax!), lay out the wing and see if I can find what was up. within seconds I notice at some point the tip steer line on the right side had hooked down under some stitching on the riser, equal to about an inch pull, but at a glace, would look like nothing is wrong. Being tip steer, on inflation it had very little effect and would feel like a slight wind shift. On take off, pulling both brakes the effect of the tip steer totally negated by the right brake, but as I let up the brakes for flight...... Corrected, went up again for another 30 mins to watch a glorious but otherwise uneventful sunset. I'm now in the habit of double checking the tip steer before inflation, specifically at the stitching on the riser. On my last flight (first with no instructor or mentor anywhere near me), I spotted it once again hooked under the stitching.
I find that mistakes like mine often happen after failed attempts when you get frustrated and tired, you start to overlook things. Another thing to watch out of with unsheathed lines is line-overs. On my Snowdon video I hadn't noticed that one of the lines was over the wing when laid out. I hadn't kited it because it was nil wind, but when I took off there was a nasty cravat. We need to keep our wits about us at all times, especially after failing a launch or two when tired or under time pressure.
@@markallisonparamotor That's one of the things I love about my "High A/Very Low B" Wing. Had a line over and the only thing I had to worry about was if it was binding up the brake or causing damage to the line through Friction (still a land ASAP issue, but as far as flight safety, I love my Boat :p ). Sky Flexor 25m.
Ah the fear when carb icing sets in is something else. I remember a time on a triangle, first leg, started getting closer to some lakes, carb icing sets in, moved away, cleared up. Wasn't particularly high, 1200ft ish I recon from memory. Bit more height would have helped
Some days everything seems to go wrong. Good to show its not all easy launches and stunning views in this frustrating amazing sport we love. Was it a failed spark plug in the end? I bought 5 from euro car parts, with discount less than £4 a plug! Awesome video as usual, thanks Mark
I forget about carb icing when on my Paramotor because there's no carb heat. In the small Ercoupe I fly, we can apply carb heat to keep this from happening. It's standard procedure to apply carb heat before landing, and every so often while flying to check for carb ice. If you have carb icing and apply carb heat in flight, RPMs will decrease, but then pick back up after the ice is gone then you turn off carb heat to get your full RPMs back.
I've flown hundreds of hours with an MY20 Atom 80 in those conditions and have not experienced carb icing. In my ~450 flights, I have had carb icing only twice - both on high humidity mornings with temperatures close to freezing. On both occasions, I had failed to warm up my engine to 65C before launching and the carb icing occurred right after launch. What you had happen in that last flight sounded like a fuel starvation problem due to a clogged screen or clunk. Just my 2p based on my experience, but hope you work it out soon.
Yeah I've only had it three times now on the Atom, and never on the Moster. It has always been in humid warm conditions, never when it's cold, because the air can hold much more moisture when its warm. I've never had it on launch either. Weird. Atom was recently serviced and when it was there was no debris in the screen and the clunk is clear. I always filter my fuel too so it's defo not that. The engine started up just fine when the ice had melted.
@@markallisonparamotor That's interesting and totally unlike my experiences. (It's reasonably humid here in the US Carolinas, even in Winter.) My fuel starvation issues in flight (about 12 flights of my 450) were always solved with a carb clean/rebuild. Safe flying!
Situation 1 - did you consider a forward launch and just forcing the wing to fly a bit like a trike launch? I often prefer this in light switchy thermals.
I did consider a forward but the winds were quite strong and gusty at times, and then they would drop, only to get strong again moments later. I much prefer a forward over a reverse.
those thermal switching winds can be quite the pain in the arse. Nothing quite frustrating as resetting a wing with a motor on your back. But its getting into the air that makes it all worth it. I still cant believe you take off out of dirt plowed field. :-D What is the name of your quick release for your prop?
It's one of these proppg.co.uk/shop/ols/products/iris-paramotors-quick-release-propellor-hub love it for the Moster, stops the temptation to ground start which often ends in disaster!
Dirt is better than Prickles 😝 Where I fly (not a lot of options), the runway ("grass") is maintained as well as can be in an area with little rain, but you still get small "hitchhikers" snagging lines. Come down outside of the runway and the ground is like velcro! Teaches you to be accurate with your landings 🤣
At 2:35 when you’re like “i’m exhausted, i have to abort”. i totally get that. I tried to launch like 5 times one day and was so tired i could barely put my stuff away.
Some people have a rule, that they will stop after three tries. I probably should do that myself!
@@markallisonparamotoryeah sounds like a good rule!
765 hours of flight is incredible.
I don't know how you manage to achieve so many hours.
You are very dedicated to do this, it's quite brilliant!
Thanks for posting.
Definitely addicted lol
Follow this ‘If there’s doubt, there’s no doubt’
and I thought it was just me who had these bad-air days!!!! Thanks for showing the occasional frustrations of PPG !
It's not always golden sunsets and cloud kicking!
When things aren't going right its always better to stop, step back, analyze and learn. Right decision made Mark in situation 1 even though it was more physical. Flying is not just the condition of the aircraft but also the condition of the pilot. Great info on the icing of the carb this is a consideration I will add to my pre flight planning. Two weeks until I start my training and more lessons learnt. Many thanks for taking the time out to help others.
Yes you're absolutely right. I find that if I fail 2 or 3 launches, the likelihood of a mistake for the next setup is much higher.
The fails make the wins more enjoyable
I like this attitude!
Paramotoring definitely requires patience! Happy flying
Yes we have to accept that sometimes things don't go well, even for experienced pilots. I should have quit earlier on Situation 1, and not quit so soon on Situation 2.
Nicely put together. Thanks for sharing these.
Yep, we've all been there 😅😅
Those days are quite annoying! 🥲
Nice video, Mark! Keep them coming! I should start posting more too 😅
Please do! Your other videos are brilliant! (get your motor fixed too!) :)
Bit of an essay for this comment, but hopefully it's something that others can learn from to. Reminded from the bit about your brakes not being clear.
My first "Gotcha" moment came on my first flight after everything had been signed off and I was into my "Mentor phase" (basically I had been deemed I knew enough to fly safely without an instructor watching my every move, but we then do a minimum 10 hours with a mentor present to asses our decision making process and make sure we don't develop bad habits straight away). Checked my lines, everything looked clear. Reversed up the wing, all stable(ish) and looked clear. Perfect take off run, little brake check and in the air for a nice climb out. As I let up the brakes, I start turning right. Left brake corrects this, but I haven't got much left turn ability. Check the lines, everything looks free and clear (WTF?). I extended out my second right turn to give me a bit of line up room, turn back downwind and kill the motor. Decided to butt land because I didn't think I could wash off enough speed for my legs (I was correct). Mentor (who was conducting tow operations for other students) drives over because he saw the butt land, so I give him the thumbs up and give a quick explanation of what's occurred, he agrees I made the right decisions on the information I had, and goes back to towing.
I check over the motor and frame, no damage, just dirty (love the Skymax!), lay out the wing and see if I can find what was up. within seconds I notice at some point the tip steer line on the right side had hooked down under some stitching on the riser, equal to about an inch pull, but at a glace, would look like nothing is wrong. Being tip steer, on inflation it had very little effect and would feel like a slight wind shift. On take off, pulling both brakes the effect of the tip steer totally negated by the right brake, but as I let up the brakes for flight...... Corrected, went up again for another 30 mins to watch a glorious but otherwise uneventful sunset.
I'm now in the habit of double checking the tip steer before inflation, specifically at the stitching on the riser. On my last flight (first with no instructor or mentor anywhere near me), I spotted it once again hooked under the stitching.
I find that mistakes like mine often happen after failed attempts when you get frustrated and tired, you start to overlook things.
Another thing to watch out of with unsheathed lines is line-overs. On my Snowdon video I hadn't noticed that one of the lines was over the wing when laid out. I hadn't kited it because it was nil wind, but when I took off there was a nasty cravat.
We need to keep our wits about us at all times, especially after failing a launch or two when tired or under time pressure.
@@markallisonparamotor That's one of the things I love about my "High A/Very Low B" Wing. Had a line over and the only thing I had to worry about was if it was binding up the brake or causing damage to the line through Friction (still a land ASAP issue, but as far as flight safety, I love my Boat :p ). Sky Flexor 25m.
Yep my Dudek Universal probably saved my life on Flight number 10. If I was flying the Hadron I probably wouldn't have made it.
no injuries - all good in my book!
And no damage either!
Ah the fear when carb icing sets in is something else. I remember a time on a triangle, first leg, started getting closer to some lakes, carb icing sets in, moved away, cleared up. Wasn't particularly high, 1200ft ish I recon from memory. Bit more height would have helped
Was that on the Atom, Dan? Carb icing for me has only happened when I'm low to the ground, and only on the Atom.
Some days everything seems to go wrong.
Good to show its not all easy launches and stunning views in this frustrating amazing sport we love.
Was it a failed spark plug in the end?
I bought 5 from euro car parts, with discount less than £4 a plug!
Awesome video as usual, thanks Mark
Yes it was a failed plug, it was intermittent to start with and then just completely failed. Yeah I buy them by the box as well...
I forget about carb icing when on my Paramotor because there's no carb heat. In the small Ercoupe I fly, we can apply carb heat to keep this from happening. It's standard procedure to apply carb heat before landing, and every so often while flying to check for carb ice. If you have carb icing and apply carb heat in flight, RPMs will decrease, but then pick back up after the ice is gone then you turn off carb heat to get your full RPMs back.
If only paramotors had some form of carb heat. It has never happened to me on the Moster though, only on the Atom.
Every days a school day, so they say!!
It is in paramotoring!
I've flown hundreds of hours with an MY20 Atom 80 in those conditions and have not experienced carb icing. In my ~450 flights, I have had carb icing only twice - both on high humidity mornings with temperatures close to freezing. On both occasions, I had failed to warm up my engine to 65C before launching and the carb icing occurred right after launch. What you had happen in that last flight sounded like a fuel starvation problem due to a clogged screen or clunk. Just my 2p based on my experience, but hope you work it out soon.
Yeah I've only had it three times now on the Atom, and never on the Moster. It has always been in humid warm conditions, never when it's cold, because the air can hold much more moisture when its warm. I've never had it on launch either. Weird.
Atom was recently serviced and when it was there was no debris in the screen and the clunk is clear. I always filter my fuel too so it's defo not that. The engine started up just fine when the ice had melted.
@@markallisonparamotor That's interesting and totally unlike my experiences. (It's reasonably humid here in the US Carolinas, even in Winter.) My fuel starvation issues in flight (about 12 flights of my 450) were always solved with a carb clean/rebuild. Safe flying!
I used to stop after three failed attempts, at 65 years old, now I stop after two.
That's a good idea, mistakes happen more often when we're tired and frustrated.
Ha apologies for blowing your wing away. Didn't know I'd done that!
Shocking behaviour, I thought only trike pilots did that. 😁
bravoo
I just realised there's no carb heat in a paramotor engine :D
If only...
Situation 1 - did you consider a forward launch and just forcing the wing to fly a bit like a trike launch? I often prefer this in light switchy thermals.
I did consider a forward but the winds were quite strong and gusty at times, and then they would drop, only to get strong again moments later. I much prefer a forward over a reverse.
You have had nothing but problems with that Atom 80. I suggest you bring the Moster back out to play.
Yes I've been flying that since the carb icing incident while I get the throttle kill switch fixed.
those thermal switching winds can be quite the pain in the arse. Nothing quite frustrating as resetting a wing with a motor on your back. But its getting into the air that makes it all worth it. I still cant believe you take off out of dirt plowed field. :-D What is the name of your quick release for your prop?
Yes that quick release is very good and convenient.
It's one of these proppg.co.uk/shop/ols/products/iris-paramotors-quick-release-propellor-hub love it for the Moster, stops the temptation to ground start which often ends in disaster!
Dirt is better than Prickles 😝 Where I fly (not a lot of options), the runway ("grass") is maintained as well as can be in an area with little rain, but you still get small "hitchhikers" snagging lines. Come down outside of the runway and the ground is like velcro! Teaches you to be accurate with your landings 🤣