CANOPY

When purchasing a wing one should, without hesitation, consult an expert. There are a few major league points that you should consider. Unless you own an extremely small motor unit, we have yet to find a wing that would accommodate a pilot for both straight paragliding off of mountains or Paramotoring. Every wing has a weight range and the pilot is recommended to fall within that range. When you add a motor be sure to make certain you add in the motor plus the weight of a full tank of gasoline, plus the weight of your radio, headphones, safety straps, reserve parachute, etc. to get an actual clip-in weight into your canopy. Ninety-nine percent of the time you will find that you are over the weight for a straight paragliding wing, or, if you are in the right weight zone, you are under the weight for a paragliding wing for straight paragliding. Neither situation is desirab

The second reason most of the Paramotor manufacturers in the United States sell small wings is that fabric cost money. The smaller the wing, the less it cost! Many manufacturers are switching to cheaply made Chinese wings that they are importing for as little as $1,000-$1,200, thereby increasing their bottom line. This satisfies the beginning pilot's need to have a wing in a unit that he has paid for, but more that, it satisfies the increase in the bottom line for the manufacturer. Unfortunately, many of the manufacturers are far more interested in that bottom line than they are in selling a new pilot a complete, usable package with longevity.

If you were to place a "backpack" pilot into a larger wing in his recommended weight range, the inflation would become geometrically more difficult. The larger the wing the more difficult it is to pull off the ground with only the power of your feet and legs and translate that into a successful takeoff. Even on a breezy day of 6-8 mph, a reverse launch that would be required would be dangerous with a larger wing because it causes the pilot to leave his feet and, many times, be drug or thrown over sideways, damaging his unit or injuring himself.

Paratrike DX-4 or "Paratrike Wheels" eliminate the wing dilemma. Paratrike believes in placing the pilots in the proper size wing because weight and ground handling are no longer issues.

BINGO! You can now create a dependable, safe and reliable aircraft by adding important engine gauges, reserve chutes, radios, larger fuel tanks, battery, starter, strobe light, or whatever it takes to make your airplane complete and safe. We believe that engine gauges are an absolute necessity for not only a safe flight, but also to prevent large engine failure costs. Foot launchers are consumed with "lightening" their weight while Paratrike users are not concerned. You merely equip your airplane with the necessary ingredients and then purchase the proper size wing. The thrust from the propeller of the Paratrike, as well as the high precision ball bearing wheels rolling on the ground, allow the Paratrike to achieve lift off speed far quicker and with greater ease than foot launching. Applying the throttle to a Paratrike, inflating the canopy, and taking off is simply "far easier" than any other method.

Another type of wing on the market is a "PPC" or powered parachute wing. This is a large, square ram air parachute with few cells. It is awkward, slow in responding and your flight is limited to a very docile situation. Paraglider wings, or "PPG's" use a much higher cell count, therefore making the wing more aerodynamic and responsive. It is an elliptic shaped wing that all the world champion paragliding pilots use to jump off mountains. They are created to soar, ride thermals, do tricks and are also designed to be extremely safe in the event of a collapse. The wings are tested on all types of collapses in order to achieve certifications and they are simply not certified if they are not able to recover from these types of collapses.

This enables the pilot to use a high performance type of wing that allows incredibly versatile flying. You can become as aggressive as you want. Some of today's paragliding pilots are actually completing "loops" with the paragliding wing. This translates into you being able to be as aggressive or non-aggressive as you wish when you fly. You will never be limited by the ability of your wing as all powered parachute pilots are.

In summary, your clip-in weight determines the size wing you buy. We recommend the type of wing that you buy is a paragliding wing because it allows so much versatility. Since you are not as concerned with clip-in weight, you can make your airplane complete with all the necessary and important items like engine gauges. Our Deluxe Paratrike completes the situation perfectly. We use the largest motor that we know of in the world that is flown with a paragliding wing. It allows for a significantly higher climb out than any motor manufacturer "according to their published statistics as of May, 1998" than any other unit on the market. Additionally, since the paragliding wing is made to "soar" you are able to climb to a safe altitude, turn off your motor, and fly the wing the way it was meant to be flown, re-igniting your motor when you get near the ground, or whenever you decide to. This is a unique feature that adds a third element to flying that most other units just do not possess.

It is all part of a system designed to get you airborne with the least amount of effort.