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Safer Starting

Passive starting safety for paramotor pilots, by Randy Bridge

It's inspiring to see pilots making this sport safer while realizing that choices will be made. Such was the case of Randy Bridge who implemented an idea that will work with essentially any paramotor.

Obviously it still takes an alert, responsible pilot minding his own safety—nothing is foolproof. You must be standing on the platform and insure the paramotor is securely hooked in place. And be prepared to bear the full weight of thrust in the event something goes awry.

Randy writes:

With prop injuries being a major problem in this sport I have tried to come up with a tool that might make it a lot safer to start a motor, do a run up or work on it while running. It is a very simple platform that the unit sits on and hooks over the back frame structure. I have three different motors and it works well on all three units.

I am able to go to full throttle on the Black Devil 172 and still maintain solid control, even with hands off as demonstrated in photo safetybridge7. I have always feared tuning the carburetor on the high end without some kind of stability.

It is made of 1/4 aluminum making it lightweight and easy to carry around. Until someone comes up with an RPM shut down, this might help our sports safety. Even with an RPM cut-off, one will have to have an override to allow for adjusting the carburetor, I would think.

If my idea saves one finger it will be well worth the time, money and effort that I have put into the project. Being a proto type I am hoping someone smarter than I can come up with improvements and welcome the input.

My only concern is that one must have a body weight, plus the unit, that is greater than the thrust produced by the motor or you could go for an unwelcome ride at full throttle.

Starting Platform idea that keeps the paramotor from thrusting foward provided it is hooked and the the pilot is standing on it with both feet.


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