Paramotor Review: 2005 Blackhawk 172

The Blackhawk series is based on Sky Cruiser with a number of improvements. Most enjoyable is a curved back that adds significant comfort along with additional padding. Plus, a return to straight radial arms simplifies building and repairs.

Measurements: I tested my own 62 pound machine under a Spice 22 wing. It has high, soft, hang points, Underarm pivoting comfort bars for weight shift, ground handling straps and approx 138 lbs of thrust with 47" prop. The normal prop is a 46" version so I may have a bit more thrust than stock. Note that without the geared weight shift the unit weighs about 59 pounds.

I was 140 pounds, 5'9" tall. Other conditions: 75°F, sea level.

Starting (4): Pull starting is easy using a standard stance and hold on the frame's top cross piece and foot on the frame leg. The T handle is positioned for in-flight starting although I can't reliably start the Black Devil motor in flight. Stronger arms or a foot starter would help. The Black Devil can be finicky to start without having everything just right, especially the automatic decompressor. I've learned of a manual version that may solve this problem and will put an update here after trying it.

The machine tends to be a bit "tippy" in sand or other soft surfaces, especially with a reserve parachute attached to an underarm bar. It tends to tip over forward easily.

Ground Handling & Kiting (6): Standing and walking around were comfortable. Ground handling straps kept the machine hiked up high enough to prevent feeling pulled backwards. A forward lean of about 20° kept me upright without exertion.

Ingress is easy and the geared weight shift keeps your butt off the ground. Without weight shift, the underarm bars keep you even further off the ground.

1) Kenny Carlock starts his machine using a typical hold. The manufacturer recommends bracing one foot on the frame. 2) Yours truly launching.

Launch (5): Launch is easy. Running is easy and, although my legs do feel the cage bottom, it does not impede or affect the launch. 

With the harness setup to be leaned back, launch will be more difficult since it will want to kick your legs forward as soon as the wing lifts. But that adjustment is entirely up to you.

Torque twist is very well controlled. 

The netting attaches via a tightly woven sleeve that velcros around the hoop. Even though it's a tight weave, the lines still catch slightly during forward inflations. This is easily cured by either holding your arms wide and high without stepping back towards the wing or wiggling the A's as the wing comes up. Also, it tends to bunch up where the radial arms attach. That will definitely catch but can be eliminated by periodically stretching the sleeve down and tightening the netting. 

Mine came with a crossbar to better support the cage in trike operations. The cage seems plenty strong, even without the bar, to support a power forward by all but the largest pilots and wings. Watch the prop clearance on the cross bar—if it is less than about 2 inches, it can hit the cross bar.

Phil Russman maneuvering for the camera. Aerial photography needs skilled pilots that can carefully follow sometimes demanding instructions.

Climbout (7): This is a very well balanced machine, even at full power, regarding torque twist. If you're adjusted to lean back a lot, expect more twisting.

It is easy to get into the seat and I can usually just wiggle in without letting go of a brake handle. If I do need a push, I just use my right hand (the throttle is on the left) to push down on the seatboard back.

Flight (7): Flying is very comfortable with nothing to impede visibility for photography or sightseeing. The curved back helps as does an extra inch of padding. That padding adds a fair amount of drag though since it extends below where it's needed and into the airflow. Some pilots remove the extra padding piece to improve climb rate.

Doing foot drags and other low-level antics is easy depending on whether you've set the harness to lean back a lot. More lean, more difficulty. More lean-back also means more comfort in flight.

The harness has speedbar loops and nice big pockets.

Weight Shift (8): The geared weight shift is wonderful, absolutely wonderful for those who like weight shift (which I do). This is one of my favorite aspects of the machine and part of the reason why I own one.

A drawback is that it's gearing is fully enclosed in a welded-shut box so lubrication is impossible and there is no way to replace worn-out gears or other parts. You just have to get a new one although the supplier (Leon Whacker) has made improvements and support has been wonderful. Mine has gotten a bit stiff but still works better than most.

Torque (7): This is extremely well handled. The weight shift allows the frame to twist so it looks terrible to the observer but the thrust line stays put. The pilot feels minimal twist. I had about 10 degrees during climbout and nothing noticed in cruise. I was easily able to weight-shift turn against the torque turn direction.

Of course if the harness is setup wrong then  it can riser twist like any other, especially if the pilot is tilted too far back.

Thrust (7): The Black Devil gives great thrust. That's why I own this machine in the first place: for high altitude flying and competition where push is precious. Plus I'm always thrilled with the smooth throttle response.

Endurance (4): The Black Devil is thirsty and, with my 1.8 gallon tank I only get about 1.6 hours even flying the efficient Spice 22 wing. At cruise power it probably burns about 1.2. gallons per hour.

The cage netting and support adds a lot of drag which doesn't help matters. The Velcro area that holds the netting to the hoop probably adds about 100 square inches of drag. So even at 20 mph, holding out a 10 x 10" plate will push with about 5 pounds of pressure, all of which must be overcome by thrust.

Vibration (6): This machine has 8 motor mounts which makes it quite smooth. Other Black Devil implementations that I've flown, without the extra mounts, have more vibration, about a 4 on this scale.

Sound (5): About average here and an even combination of motor and prop.

Safety (4): The netting would not stop a human hand at many points and prop clearance from the fuel tank is too small. However, on later machines the tank clearance was improved to exceeds 4" which I consider the minimum.

The curved frame bottom is wonderful for sliding in grass because it won't catch on sharp ground protrusions.

Being tippy adds somewhat to the risk of the machine falling forward if a pilot doesn't hold on to it well.

Construction (4): It is built to be lightweight. It uses chrome molly welded steel tubing for the frame and aluminum for the radial arms. Steel works great as long as you either disassemble it frequently or keep the attach points lubed. Otherwise they rust together. My poor machine has lived too long together with too little attention to this detail.

Reparability (7): Damage resistance is average but it should be among the easiest to repair in the field and be very cheap. Having lots of straight parts helps. The cage netting is replaced by merely velcroing on another one. 

Since the frame is steel, it's much easier to find shops that can weld it. Many hobbyists could weld it, too.

Transport (6): My machine has been together for too long but I've watched others go through the process several times. It fits snugly in the airline suitcase (not that you'd want to try taking it on an airline!) which is great for shipping. Expect to take about an hour from start to finish. Just taking the off cage is much faster, probably about 5 minutes.

Overall: The machine would be a good purchase for anyone looking for an all-around fun flyer. It's affordable to boot. For more information visit www.Paratoys.com.