Is paramotoring safe?
By learning from others’ mistakes we can make this sport safer by not repeating the causes of past tragedies. Its prevention through anticipation–what the airlines have done so incredibly successfully.
These accounts and articles dig beyond the facts by looking at various incidents–distilling what happened into cause and correction. The point is reducing recurrence. Frequently it’s just good to be reminded of what’s at stake and how quickly seemingly innocuous little decisions can so rapidly unravel our perfect plans. I’ll try to include some principles that the airlines have put so effectively into practice.
You say “But I don’t Do Risky things?” Go here.
Other safety related suggestions:
A Better Paramotor for suggestions on Prop Safety, Hardware and other ideas to reduce risk.
Safety System Reviews for reviews of safety systems.
We take risk with every start of the motor and every launch then we add or subtract to it in various ways. The first accident I’ll cover is one that could have easily been my demise. It’s easy to pick on myself and, in some ways, quite revealing because I know what was going through my head.
I’ve had one seller tell me “Safety is Number 1!” Yeah right. Lets face it, this sport is inherently dangerous. Only our attention to survival makes it as safe as it’s proven to be. Flying airliners is dangerous, too, yet they’ve achieved an incredible record by overcoming obvious risk. An airline’s mission is delivering those seated paychecks safely while our mission is fun. We must strike a balance.
Some instructors recommend going to over-the-water maneuvers clinics, and they can indeed be beneficial. But if they induce overconfidence then your safety is decreased. Go here for an article on what to expect in such a clinic, the safety ramifications and the risk involved.
Risk is unavoidable—we trade risk for fun. How much risk depends on what we need to do for fun. Boating around up high in the calm edges of daylight has proven to involve minimal risk. But even then there you’ll eventually encounter surprises. This chapter aims to show were the real risk in paramotoring comes from and helps you cope with the unexpected.
Misunderstandings persist, even among some instructors, as to what is likely to cause grief. For example, training is a particularly dangerous part of a pilots learning curve. Choose an in instructor as directed in Chapter 1— make sure they use a thorough syllabus (USPPA/USUA or equivalent), pay close attention and rehearse with intensity.
This chapter points out the dark corners, how to avoid them and, where possible, how they can be minimized or recovered from. If you haven’t seen Risk and Reward do so, preferably with your instructor
Some things that look crazy really aren’t and some seemingly benign stunts are really asking for it. Hopefully these contents will help sort out the difference. Not all the nuances can be covered in this material or the book and an good instructor can help make the difference.
Emergencies
Chapter 4 covers basic emergencies while this chapter covers situational emergencies—those where you have time to think about it.
Note that a simple wing collapse is hardly an emergency. Most go by barely noticed by the pilot. So although you’ll see articles here, they’re rarely worthy of the term emergency.