Paramotor Review: 2005 Paratour SD Radne

The frame is standard SD using the familiar pivoting over-shoulder J-bars and with a single hoop to decrease weight. The unit I tested had a 48" repaired wood prop that the owner said gave up a couple horsepower from his regular prop. With this motor, that's significant. It probably weighed in at about 55 pounds with half of a 2.5 gallon tank.

I'm 140 pounds, 5'9" tall. Other conditions: it was 75°F at an elevation of about 500' with a very strong wind and the turbulence to go along with it. Up high, however, it smoothed out.

Harness & Suspension: High hook-in, pivoting J-bar.

Starting (6): Pull starting was slightly awkward since the T-handle comes out halfway down the frame on the right side (as you're sitting in it). It may be that I'm simply not used to that arrangement although the owner talked of changing it to the other side. Southpaws may really like it. Starting was easy and it idled well.

The machine has a wide enough base to resist tipping over on the ground.

Ground Handling & Kiting (5): Standing and walking around were very comfortable given it's light weight. I only felt the J-bars occasionally and the owner had additional padding installed that minimized even that. It was easy to keep the machine hiked up high enough to prevent feeling pulled backwards. A forward lean of about 10-15° kept me upright without exertion.

Ingress is easy although you are almost sitting on the ground. The thing is so lightweight I remember thinking as I got up "what'd they do with the engine?"

Launch (5): The cage is clean for the risers to come up so forward inflations would be painless. I did a reverse inflation In the strong wind and it was nice having such a lightweight machine on my back.

Torque twist is almost unnoticeable probably due to low power overall. It was less than 10°

The nylon filament line is attached to the hoop and sides of each frame piece in such a way as to present a smooth surface for lines to ride up during inflation.

Climbout (6): Slow and well balanced. There's not much power so you must manage the climb course--don't plan on climbing over too much, it's better to plan on going around it. Flying this was much like flying my direct drive Fly 75 but more power than the Fly 70 (the 75 has a 75cm prop).

It is equipped with a kick in strap but I didn't use it for some reason. It was easy enough to push down the back of the seat board.

Flight (5): Flying the machine is very comfortable. The J-bars were slightly below eye level and impede visibility only slightly.

The harness was well enough padded. I didn't try to play with many of the adjustments but did notice that loosening the ground handling straps in flight made it more comfortable and improved weight shift markedly—something I'd never noticed before on other SD units.

Also loosening the chest strap, initially very tight, improved comfort as well. When I first took off that was tight—a bad thing since it encourages torque twist, plus the J-bars were too close to my ears. Loosening the chest strap solved that.

Weight Shift (5): The J-bars pivot which allows for weight shift. As mentioned above, I found that loosening the ground handling straps makes a big difference. This made me rethink the weight shift of all the other SD machines since I've never tried doing it on other tests. I got nearly 5" of weight shift which is almost as much as my Blackhawk although it takes a bit more effort.

J-bars reduce the "wiggling" in turbulence. This system strikes a balance by transferring some movement of the glider but in a dampened fashion.

Torque (8): This is well handled. The frame/harness is well balanced for higher power so this engine presents no difficulty here. I even took off with the chest strap tight, a big no-no, and it didn't cause a problem.

Screw gate carabiners are standard. They are stronger and eliminate the chance for lines to accidentally enter provided the gates are screwed in. They also take more time to deal with and occasionally require a tool to loosen. Never use a tool to tighten. Notice the markings that indicate KN limits lengthwise, across and with the gate open.

Endurance (6): I was unable to test this but suspect it would fly an average pilot about 3 hours on an average beginner wing from its full 2.5 gal tank. I'd estimate fuel burn at 0.95 gph based on the engine power and technology.

Vibration (6): Nothing unusual noted so it must have been good.

Sound (5): Didn't notice it being particularly quiet or loud.

Safety (4): The netting would fail to stop a human hand near the prop tips in between the radial arms. A large opening above the fuel tank would also allow a hand to go through if the pilot was surprised by full power during start. That opening was probably designed to keep the helmet from hitting while kiting and to allow easy access to the gas tank.

Pros: With the gas tank above there is no chance the prop would hit the tank in a crash.

The frame bottom front has a sharp angle so if you hit something while ground skimming it may catch.

Construction (6): It is very well built using standard welded aluminum tubing. Cage pieces Velcro together in standard fashion.

All SD's employ two sets of screw gate carabiners—one that attaches to the J-bar and one backup that attaches to the harness. I'm not a big fan of screw gates because they just take too long to deal with but some pilots appreciate their extra safety margin.

Reparability (5): Damage resistance is good but it but any significant tweaking will require aluminum welding or ordering replacement parts.

The netting is easy to fix using monofilament line such as that used for tennis rackets and weed wackers.

Transport (6): The cage comes apart in 4 pieces leaving one straight vertical tall piece as the smallest unit.

It's great for transporting in a car since only 3 pieces of Velcro need be removed to break it down nearly in half. Shipping in a box is not bad, either, although I would recommend shipping the cage pieces separately. Having a large bulky and heavy box leaves more room for damage.

Overall: The machine would be a good purchase for lightweight pilots, probably less than 150 pounds who plan on flying mostly within a couple thousand feet of sea level. If lightweight is important, this will fit the bill. For more information visit www.Paratour.com.

The owner has installed padding on the J-bars to improve comfort but, if the ground handling straps are sufficiently tight, you don't feel them too much. The padding still helps.

Being designed for lightness, it has a single hoop system.

Thanks to Alan Rogerson for letting me try his unit.