Flying Over the River in the Electric Trike 

I heard it was about ready to ship. Give me a ring if there is anything I can help you with when it arrives.

Thank you for your comments. It sounds like you and I are on the same page about electric self-launch. Have you looked into the OpenPPG SP140 electric paramotor?

@@mikedillonhaswings Yes, I have. I never thought that using a PPG was very great for soaring. Always felt that things were not that comfortable in any real soaring conditions. Maybe with the electric it would be different without that engine idling. It is pretty heavy at around 70 lbs. for the "1 hour battery" so wouldn't want to walk too much before launching. My previous PPG's were 42 lbs. dry and only filled it with about a gallon so still quite a bit lighter. I really love the quiet soaring with a paraglider but sometimes, it's just a sit and wait affair and a sled ride to the bottom if the thermals don't work out. My original intent many years ago was to learn hang gliding but everyone had switched to teaching paragliding in my area so maybe it's a bit of coming back full circle. To me, WSC with an electric would seem to be a very transportable and relatively inexpensive way to do some soaring (or just winter cruising) with the benefits of self launch. I also have solar in my home (and have an EV) so basically it's "refueling" for free. Anyway, that's been my way of thinking about the whole project and hopefully I'm not deluding myself! By the way, do you fly under Part 103 (ultralights)? Thanks again.

Yes, It is FAR Part-103.

Hi Tom. Theoretically the best "speed" in level flight should be the RPM which keeps the variometer reading on the ADI display at neutral (neither up or down), and then let the bar float at hands off trim. Next you can give a little push-out or pull-in on the bar to see if the climb rate increases a bit. If so, the RPM can be reduced further. However, air conditions impact that quite a bit. You can be going up with the motor off, and down at full throttle. I have examined and graphed the CSV files many, many times and not been able to find a "best" throttle setting. I can tell you the Geiger "Auto-pilot", when set for "maintain altitude", does a better job than my heavy foot on the pedal (or leaving the ADI throttle knob at a fixed setting). Sometimes I think I am maintaining altitude at a certain RPM and when I check the altimeter after a couple minutes, discover a substantial change in altitude. In rising air, sometimes I add a little push-out and see if it increases the climb rate. As I reduce the throttle setting in rising air, below 45-50% is the point for me where there is no productive thrust and I can cut the throttle completely.

Si el aeropuerto tiene una torre de control con radar, sería mejor no volar cerca porque hay demasiados aviones grandes y rápidos.

@@mikedillonhaswings En realidad pensaba cruzar la frontera en uno 🙈 ok no. Gracias , saludos.

Estoy seguro de que la Patrulla Fronteriza podría detectar una pequeña paloma en su radar, incluso si no pudieran escucharte.