Minimalist activities: eBikes and Paragliders

Joined
Oct 15, 2008
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251
Location
Southern California, USA
I'm finding a few paragliding buddies on this forum:
patrickza
pwbset

And I'm thinking that these 2 activities (can you really call them a sport?) have something in common: They are minimalist with respect to their mode of transportation and low effort level.
Bicycles are the most common light form of transport on ground and adding an electric motor makes them low effort (maximizing the pleasure/effort ratio).
Paragliding is the lightest aircraft that can keep you flying for hours and do some distance, without significant effort (you can even add an electric motor if you like motors).
Both provide the pleasure of simplicity for their supporting media (ground or air).
Both are nearly silent, inherently fun, and don't rely on a score to be happy. Although one can always instrument an ebike with a Cycle Analyst to report figures and distance flown with a paraglider.

Most people already know how to ride a bike and riding one with an electric motor isn't too much of a stretch, while paragliding requires at least a few days of training before a solo flight. I don't think many on this forum will need my help with enjoying their ebikes, but as an enthusiast of both disciplines it would be my pleasure to guide the interest of this forum's members into the simplest form of aviation if they think it could be enjoyable for them also. I'm in Southern California, a good place for both activities year-round.

In the spirit of cross-exposure, I let a few paragliding buddies get a taste of my ebikes. Today I heard one of them say he is considering purchasing one for his RV.

Reverse discussion on the Paragliding Forum: What's completely different yet similar to paragliding?
 
Interestingly while searching about e-bikes in South Africa I came across another pilot who is trying to bring ebiking into South Africa, lobbying for cycle lanes etc. Now we only have +-500 pilots and far less ebikers so it is quite a co-incidence.

What I like about both is the silence, the minimal impact on the environment and the mental challenge of getting things right. Also the fact that both can be carried in or on a car is also a big bonus.
 
Unfortunatley my balloons are far from a minimalist activity. Not flying lately is not an eco decision for me, but just an economic one. The cloudhopper is pretty minimal though, it uses 8 gallons of propane per flight, and consists only of a bosuns chair attached to a fuel tank and burner. Pretty fun, flying with a view of the ground with nothing but the boots in the way of the view. The really fun thing is moon jumping with it. You can hop along taking 500 foot steps.

Having experienced some strong thermals in a balloon, the paragliders would worry the hell out of me. Maybe they behave very different than balloons, but I'd worry about a thermal folding the thing in half in flight. At a balloon fiesta in Chihuahua city, the mexican paragliders were allowed to fly amongst the balloons. It sure looked fun, they were swooping all over the launch field a few feet over the heads of the crowd in a way they'd be arrested for here in the US. 8) Flying in Mexico was kinda cool in a way, no rules at all whatsoever except one, stay clear of the military airport.
 
This reminds me of Tiberius's (WINNER OF THE TOUR DE PRESTEIGNE!) thread here:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7106&start=0&hilit=flying
He suggested combining an ebike with power-flying.
Perhaps we could pioneer paragliding with ebiking although I think the trailer would be too long :D
 
One of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzE2WTEkHeg
with LiFePO4 perhaps, but the trailer would still be too big and you'll have to carry helium bottles (or could you have a string of helium pumps at gas station!)
Flip-city! :D :roll:
 
dogman said:
Having experienced some strong thermals in a balloon, the paragliders would worry the hell out of me. I'd worry about a thermal folding the thing in half in flight.

That's actually pretty common.. they are called asymmetrics and you can counter them and correct them in flight. In fact it could almost be viewed as a safety mechanism because with a rigid wing like a hang glider you risk being "tumbled" in violent air, which is very bad news, but with a paraglider if half your wing goes you lean against it and it re-inflates pretty much on it's own or with a little brake input "pumping". They are standard practice during "maneuvers clinics over water".

Strongest lift I've ever been in was around 8m/s and it felt like the hand of god yanking me into the sky by my shoulders straps. Very powerful feeling. Stayed in it only because transitioning out of it would likely have been very, very violent.. higher you go the more it cools and mellows and then you can get out clean. Climbed about 5,500ft in that particular thermal over Washington state that day... never forget it and will never fly in air that strong again. It's an incredible feeling that's for sure, but if you don't respect it you will die. As they say there are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots. :mrgreen:
 
That shows my ignorance of how the paraglider works. I just had this picture of a death streamer, just like when an old balloon that should be grounded rips a 40 foot hole. It's just like a parachute opening failure and people can definitely pound a hole. As long as you do it to yourself alone, fine, as the FAA says.

The thermal I rode was really exciting too, and the remedy in balloons is to burn and climb till it spits you out the top. When you leave all that lift, you need some altitude because when it spits you out, you will start to drop like a rock. Most infamous balloon accidents, like the smokey bear balloon in the radio tower at Albuquerque are caused by thermals taking controll of the balloon away from the pilot. The less strong ones are the ones that get you in balloons, since you may not know it was there till you are behind the curve, and pilot skill can't save you anymore. You have to fly like you may be in a thermal when landing to stay out of the power lines.
 
pwbset didn't mention the potential altitude lost while correcting the asymmetric. Should one occur while you're at low altitude, the ground is coming up real fast, and there may not be room to recover. This is one of the biggest reasons I've not become biwingwal in paragliders. Overall, I feel rigid and flexwings are more safe in that respect.
 
Jerome Daoust said:
I'm finding a few paragliding buddies on this forum:
And I'm thinking that these 2 activities (can you really call them a sport?) have something in common: They are minimalist with respect to their mode of transportation and low effort level.

Another minimalist activity: Sailing! No, not million dollar yacht sailing, but small boat or cat sailing. Got a sailing dingy from my dad, and learned to sail it well before starting school, then sailed everything from Hobie cats to small keelboats.

Put 200sqft of sail on a lightweight catamaran hull, and hike out on the trapeeze for some serious thrill! Best of all, a used Hobie or similar cat can be had for very little.
h14-faq.jpg
 
Thermals can be wicked AND wicked fun.
Back in my flying days I was out building hours in an old, tired Cessna 150 just loping along and went through a thermal so strong it felt like another plane had run up underneath me.
I circled back and found the thermal again and started circling inside it. I throttled down to idle and was still climbing around 1,500 ft./min. I finally shut the engine off and climbed to around 17,000 and decided I'd better end the climb since I'd already busted the rental agreement and was coming close to busting faa regs.
I was 35 miles from the airport and didn't start the engine till I was just outside the pattern.
Now that's cheap flying :wink:
 
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