The American Built Trike Buggy is being built by American Paragliding. It is based on the Flexifoil frame which gives it great strength and a very low center of gravity (CG). That adds stability.
The unit tested had a Fresh Breeze Simonini but it also mounts a Blackhawk easily. The wheelbase is 42 1/2″, length is 48″ and the seat bottom is 6 1/2″ from the ground. The prop center is 32 1/4″ from the ground and the carabiner bottoms are 31 1/2″ from the seat bottom.
Harrness/Class: High, adjustable, frame hook-in. Classed as a Cart Attachment.
Starting (-): Depends on paramotor used although the one tested was easy to reach.
Ground Handling & Kiting (6): Getting in this thing is as easy as it gets. There’s no harness, just the kite-buggy seat with a 1950’s era seat belt. Sit down, buckle up and keep your feet on the pegs. Your butt is a few inches off the ground so it really does feel like a little go-cart.
Steering was solid and not too sensitive with no adverse reaction to surface bumps.
It’s very stable on the ground but will tip over if sufficiently provoked. I watched one pilot get a bit carried away and he nearly went over but just went up on two wheels.
Launch (5): There was no wind to speak of and launch was easy.
Torque twist was well controlled, nigh negligible, and I discovered an interesting thing about torque, covered below.
Flight(-): The brakes were in a comfortable position. The left-right swing was a bit less than some I’ve felt, probably because mass is not too far spread out. The bars just happened to be right at eye level so they did impede my visibility. Shorter or taller pilots (I’m 5’9″) would not probably notice it.
Torque (7): This was well managed because the motor sits and flies so erect. It would swing about 10 degrees from idle to full power.
Thrust (-): Depends on paramotor. The one tested was more than what I would need.
Endurance (-): Depends on paramotor. The FB would have probably been well over two hours. Since you don’t need lift the fuel, topping off is almost no penalty.
Vibration (-): Depends on paramotor. This one was nothing objectionable.
Sound (-): Depends on paramotor. The Fresh Breeze is the quietest machine I typically hear.
Safety (7): The pilot is well protected and it is resistant to rolling over.
Construction (6): The unit seems well built with no obvious weak points.
Reparability (4): Damage resistance is above average and the steel should be pretty easy to weld.
Transport (7): Flexifoil buggies are made to transport in surfer dude small cars so it should be pretty good although I didn’t see it done.
Overall: This is a fun little hot rod, about as simple as it gets.