# Anyone here have a powered parachute?



## Dargo

I've thought about it for about 15 years and now think I'm getting serious about buying a nice 2 seat powered parachute.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one, it's just a matter of the particular setup and options.  I'm curious if we have any powered parachute fliers here and what their suggestions would be.

So far what I know I want is a 2 seater, moderate chute and plenty of power.  I've ridden in one but now flown one.  The one I rode in was a 'trainer' of sorts with a full compliment of gauges and radios.  I like to know what's going on, but don't want useless gauges that just increase the cost.  I'm not going in looking for a $1500 machine, but I also don't think I need a lot of the stuff that comes with a 20k machine.  Any thoughts or experiences?


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## joec

Nope but know a few that have them as well as hot air ballons. The only parachute I've ever done is one behind a boat while water skiing and that was when I was in my 20's.


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## Melensdad

My wife wants one but won't push the issue because I am seriously afraid of heights due to a ski-lift accident when I was a kid. _ (no I didn't cause it, but the lift operator had to be airlifted off the mountain with 2 broken legs/compound fractures). _ Consequently I don't go up in the air if I'm only held up there by a piece of fabric.  But we do have a neighbor _(about a mile away) _who has a 'fly in' for these things.  I think he may own 2 or 3 of them himself, they buzz the house from time to time.  When he has his 'fly-ins' it is not uncommon to see a dozen to two dozen of them in the sky over the house.


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## BigAl RIP

Dargo,
 I'll send you a pair of my underwear . They should do the trick for you , but you will need to find a motor . Mine is hot air powered but it has a tendency to leave brown skids marks on take off and landing  Good Luck . I have both Hanes or Fruit of the Looms .


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## NorthernRedneck

http://www.easyflight.com/

A buddy and I used to have an ultralight but never did get the thing put together and up in the air.  We ended up selling it.  At the time, we had a cessna 152 available to use all summer long so the ultralight was sorta sidelined.

Never seen a powered parachute upclose in operation.  Are they difficult to fly?


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## Cowboy

I dont know if this will help or not . But I,ve got a neighbor around here that sometimes flys over & on a couple of ocasions I waved him on down just to visit , the first time he had what I think your talking about & said it wasn,t the safest with the winds we normally get around here . 

 Next time I seen him He had one that looked very similiar to this one & it sure looked like he had much more control but He didn,t stop in & I haven,t seen him this year . Anyway heres an ad real similiar to what he ended up with , More of a kite I guess . 


http://www.airplanetradeonline.com/apdetail12245.htm


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## Av8r3400

Dargo--  Did you ever follow through on this?


I won't fly in anything that the pilot is only a voting member of a control committee.  Too scary for me.

Seriously, $1500 sounds like you are buying somebody's problems.  You get what you pay for.  Like buying a $50 helmet.  A nice machine can be had for $10k.  A radio and some instrumentation really should be mandatory.

A 2-seat PPC is at least a Light Sport aircraft that would require a license to operate, especially if you are considering taking a passenger.

 There are several of them in my EAA Chapter.


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## Dargo

No, not yet.  We've had a string of extremely expensive family emergencies hit in a row.  I still plan to pursue getting one perhaps next year.  A friend has been flying them for almost 20 years and is guiding me on what he says I'd want.

I did get to fly an old twin engine airplane between some Caribbean islands last month though.  It was pretty cool until I got into Miami's airspace.  I let the "real" pilot take over then until we were back further out.


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## fogtender

The have them on Ebay all the time, you could ask questions of the seller, couse they are trying to sell theirs, but it will give you direct lines to some owners.


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## SkyKing

Oh yeah!!!!  I've got a Pegasus Powered Parachute.  I'm not well experienced, but am working on it along with my mentor.  The Pegasus has a 65 hp Rotax engine, with a 550 sq.ft. parachute.  I've made three flights with it thus far...two 10 minute flights to get used to the bird and making a nice smooth landing, then a 40 minute flight just to stretch the legs on the bird.  It is quite awesome, but scarey at the same time.  I've got a problem with heights, so it was not an easy thing to do.  But, I closed my eyes and went for the gusto!!!!  I have to say...there is nothing like it.  To be up off the ground in an aircraft where you have control of where you want to go...it's just pretty sweet.  Ya' just have got to try it, at least one time.



Dargo said:


> I've thought about it for about 15 years and now think I'm getting serious about buying a nice 2 seat powered parachute. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one, it's just a matter of the particular setup and options. I'm curious if we have any powered parachute fliers here and what their suggestions would be.
> 
> So far what I know I want is a 2 seater, moderate chute and plenty of power. I've ridden in one but now flown one. The one I rode in was a 'trainer' of sorts with a full compliment of gauges and radios. I like to know what's going on, but don't want useless gauges that just increase the cost. I'm not going in looking for a $1500 machine, but I also don't think I need a lot of the stuff that comes with a 20k machine. Any thoughts or experiences?


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## Melensdad

Hey Skyking welcome to the ForumsForums!

Its fun to watch my neighbors when they fly around the area.  They probably had 20 of them this summer flying around, I love to watch the take-offs and landings.


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## bczoom

Welcome to the forum SkyKing!



SkyKing said:


> Ya' just have got to try it, at least one time.


One time is easy.  

_You don't need a parachute to skydive.  You need a parachute if you want to skydive twice._


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## mla2ofus

No guts on my part, but I've always considered a 'chute as something you use to exit a plane well before it has a VERY BAD LANDING.
                                Mike


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## SkyKing

Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it, or at least spent some time investigating the sport.  It just might surprise, even you.


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## RedRocker

I've been kicking around getting one for several years myself. If you buy a two place, make sure it has an N number & current air worthiness certificate, if not, it's just parts.
The feds have come in and mucked up the works since you started this thread and now you have to have a sport pilot license to fly a two place. A single place that meets part 103 requirements can still be flown without a license & N number. I have a wife that's not real keen on me doing this, but she'll come around I think. I did a demo ride a few years ago & thought it was pretty cool.


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## Dargo

Av8r3400 said:


> Dargo--  Did you ever follow through on this?
> 
> 
> I won't fly in anything that the pilot is only a voting member of a control committee.  Too scary for me.
> 
> Seriously, $1500 sounds like you are buying somebody's problems.  You get what you pay for.  Like buying a $50 helmet.  A nice machine can be had for $10k.  A radio and some instrumentation really should be mandatory.
> 
> A 2-seat PPC is at least a Light Sport aircraft that would require a license to operate, especially if you are considering taking a passenger.
> 
> There are several of them in my EAA Chapter.



I said I was *not* interested in a $1500 machine.  Due to several complicated matters, I have not purchased a powered parachute yet.  My dad bought an ultralight with an "N" number, full instrumentation, 100 hp Rotax engine, fully enclosed cockpit and all.  He is 2" shorter now and I've had what's left of his ultralight in my barn for 2 years now.  Even with inspections and log books (which apparently can be doctored), not even the FAA can prevent you from buying an aircraft that has been down and rebuilt.  For obvious reasons, I would likely seriously injure someone if they tried to sell me an aircraft that has been rebuilt with telling me.  The pictured ultralight was about 7' tall at the top of the tail previously.


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## RedRocker

OUCH! glad he lived through that.


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## Dargo

RedRocker said:


> OUCH! glad he lived through that.



Thanks. It was not fun getting your own father out of a downed aircraft and to the hospital when it was obvious to me that he at least had a badly broken back. He had 3 'shattered' vertebrae and other internal injuries. The physician said he would have been paralyzed without the good emergency assistance he quickly received. Um, the ambulance said there was no way they could find him 1/3 of a mile into a corn field and, if they found him, they couldn't get him out. It damaged my truck some, but I got to him, removed the leaking fuel tank, removed the battery (that was sparking) and got him into my truck and to the ER.  I arrested for doing so by the FAA and they impounded my truck and trailer for almost a year. Charges against me were quickly dropped with the help of our local Sheriff's department's help. He is actually fine now; just 3" shorter. Apparently it wasn't his time. (He did spend nearly a month in the hospital though and had a skilled surgeon).


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## RedRocker

Arrested for what?


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## Dargo

RedRocker said:


> Arrested for what?



Touching and moving items on a downed aircraft before they first investigated the scene. According to the FAA, I could remove my dad from the crashed aircraft but I broke the law when I removed the fuel and battery. I even told them I would do the same again. IMHO, I'd say there was about a 95% chance we both would have burned to death if I had not removed the fuel source and the ignition sourctri tronics trashbreakere (the battery that was causing sparks every time I started to move my dad because wires were all ripped out and tangled).

I was later told that I must remember that "The FAA is not happy until I'm not happy". Several people seemed surprised that I'd not heard that before.


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## RedRocker

Well, it would have been easier for them to investigate Y'all's burnt bodies if you hadn't moved anything, I can't believe you were so inconsiderate in saving your father's life!
What's wrong with you Man? 
  And people want these fools to handle their medical care.


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## Buckeye Greg

I have a Buckeye 2 seat Powered Parachute and have been flying for around 10 years and love it . Its like therapy for me


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## Doc

How about sharing some pics of it and shots from the air.   Please.   
Welcome to FF.    Are you a Buckeye fan or ...is that just the name of your powered parachute?


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## Buckeye Greg

The brand name of the PPC is Buckeye. They've been out of business for some years now , but built a real nice machine in its day . I think mine would be about 1997 . Lets see if I can figure out how to upload some pics. Let me know if the pictures came thru. The one picture is picture of the skies i put on in the winter and take the tires off


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## tiredretired

Not afraid of heights but I always liked having something under my feet, even if it was just a pair of climbing spikes.  That hobby does not look like it is for me.  I am not a happy flier.  

I shall stick to my model trains.


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## EastTexFrank

Welcome to the club and, by-the-way, you're nuts.  

I'm a bit like Mel'sdad and TR, I like my feet on the ground.  I'm a horrible flyer.  I'm nervous in a 747 and the smaller they get, the worse I am.  No way that you'd get me up in that.


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## Buckeye Greg

Its actually pretty safe , you can go up and shut off the motor and it has a 3 to 1 glide ratio with no power so if you loose power just pick a spot to land and your golden ! They key is not to fly over anything you wouldnt want to land in . Ive been told that oak trees with leaves on are pretty soft to land in . I cant and hopefully will never confirm that . You can fly up to 10,000 feet . But the higher you go the more boring it is . I like to fly about 500 ft and then you can really see everything


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## tiredretired

EastTexFrank said:


> Welcome to the club and, by-the-way, you're nuts.
> 
> I'm a bit like Mel'sdad and TR, I like my feet on the ground. * I'm a horrible flyer. * I'm nervous in a 747 and the smaller they get, the worse I am.  No way that you'd get me up in that.



They don't get much worse then me.  I once called the stewardess over and asked her:  When are we going to land?  She said, Sir, we haven't taken off yet.  I said you mean it gets worse?


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## Doc

Buckeye Greg said:


> Its actually pretty safe , you can go up and shut off the motor and it has a 3 to 1 glide ratio with no power so if you loose power just pick a spot to land and your golden ! They key is not to fly over anything you wouldnt want to land in . Ive been told that oak trees with leaves on are pretty soft to land in . I cant and hopefully will never confirm that . You can fly up to 10,000 feet . But the higher you go the more boring it is . I like to fly about 500 ft and then you can really see everything


Sounds awesome.  
Thanks for the pics.   When younger I think I would have tried this.  Today, no way for me.   Flying low does make sense.  Have you seen eagles while you were in flight?


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## Buckeye Greg

Yup , I see lots of Eagles and RedTailed Hawks


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