Parapinions

I’ve seen the good, the biased and the BS around this sport, and life in general, for many years now. Thankfully, what I sell is information with an intent to be as unbiased as humanly possible.

Bias

We’re all biased to some degree. I prefer paramotors with weight shift and, given my propensity to prance about while wing handling, like them to be well balanced on the ground. But I know about these biases which makes them easier to avoid. Another easily avoided bias is the profit motive—I make no money from selling equipment and even a perceived bias hurts credibility.

The hardest bias is personalities. There are people whose obnoxious behavior makes it hard to recommend anything they’re involved with. That’s not fair, of course, and I try hard to look past it or make it clear why the bias is there. The opposite is true when it may be a good friend who’s selling something that I’m not so fond of. Gotta take the good with the bad if you’re gonna be credible. I’ll try my darndest.


My Risk is OK, but THAT’S Stupid

Paramotor pilots talk about doing barrel rolls at low altitude as being stupid. Airplane pilots talk about how strapping a spinning prop to your back with 2 gallons of gasoline below a hot exhaust is nuts. Desk jocks talk about flying single-engine, single-pilot...

On Education

My brother asked this question, “If you could do anything you want regarding education, what would you do?” This is a subject on which I’m passionate about given how I spend copious amounts of time trying to make really effective training products....

Free Paramotor (PPG) Training?

Click here for the reality of “Free” Powered Paraglider Training & Kurt Fister (or Pfister) Think about it for a moment. How much value will an instructor put on something they’re giving away? More likely you’ll be treated like...

About Forming the USPPA

On founding the US Powered Paragliding Association Be leery of any instructor railing against the USPPA. There’s a good chance they’re objecting to its training standards which were established to improve training safety and thoroughness. They require more...

Innovation vs Duplication

The effect of copying designs in niche markets When a company expends great effort and expense to create something new, especially something we personally benefit from, it’s nice to see them profit from it. Partly because the developer deserves it, and selfishly...