Choosing Large Paragliding Motor

Video Transcript

"Welcome to Expert Village. My name is Hugh Murphy with Surf the Sky Paragliding. In this clip, we're going to talk about how to choose the motor that's right for you, right in size, right in volume. And, we're going to talk about the anatomy of a para motor. In the anatomy of a larger motor, you're going to have more weight to deal with and, as you can see, a larger cage. And, with a larger motor, motors like this, to make it easier to handle they quite often come with electric start as this unit here does. With a simple push of a button, the propeller will start. That gives you more time to get adjusted with your wing and have other, other details taken care of. You'll notice the propeller is going to be larger. This unit also comes with what's called a silencer muffler which is somewhat of a euphemism, but it does make the noise a little bit lighter. And it has one of the state of the art motor units in it called the Black Devil. And then, as I turn this around, we'll see a slightly different configuration in the harness setup. So, just like the other unit, this also has a wrist strap or hand strap that keeps the control in your hand. The throttle here is slightly different but easy access with your finger. Then, the kill switch is also easily accessed on the end. With the electric start, the red button, actually using your other hand for. And then, as you notice the harness on this, we also have quick release buckles for the chest and the leg straps. A nice aspect for this unit, which is a PAP unit, is you can use your weight shift to control in flight, so you can shift your body weight to turn your paramotor either direction in flight which can be a very nice aspect in case your hands are busy doing something else like i.e. a camera. So, a question comes up. How do you know which motor is right for you? And, the best thing to do is I always like to have someone come and actually sit in the harnesses. We have simulators where you can actually feel. You can pick up. You can deal with the weight, the size. And, so, you want to ask your instructor based on your goals with powered paragliding and where you're going to be flying, the altitude you're going to be at. And, you really want to have an opportunity to test fly the units first rather than buying off an online auction. You want to be able to have some hands on and actually feel the weight and watch it start. Notice how difficult it can be to start on a, if it's cold out. There's just some details that really make it relevant for you to talk to your instructor and check them out before you buy them."