In this video, I wanted to dive into the biggest dangers of paramotoring and how to avoid them. Of course, there are many other aspects to pay attention to, but these are the biggest ones that seem to be occurring in recent history. Stay tuned for some nitrous action and hopefully a new paramotor drive thru run. 😀
You covered the major ones for sure. I'm a Weight shift Trike pilot....(trike mobile thing) I think you called it in a previous video lol. You guys are really hard to spot. My aircraft has transponder, and I will prob add adsb in and out. It would be cool if they make adsb affordable and compact enough for paramotors. Seeing you guys on my ipad would be awesome. For now though, bright strobes on a paramotor help tremendously! If you can afford/add bright strobes, or led lights, that would be an additional level of safety for all of us. Tucker, check out my little youtube channel. Give me a shout sometime. Peace and subbed ;)
Thx Tucker , I’m new to this sport I had 25 flights in training , I’m 6 flights in on my own gear . It keeps getting better and better with every flight. Safety is my number 1 concern , and you always cover what not to do . As a new pilot I greatly appreciate it. Thx and keep it coming
@@pilot3016 - Interesting. How many flights and flight hours did it take to get your sailplane license? In the US, it usually takes a few months to get a glider license. You only need 40 hours for a Private Pilot Certificate and only 10 hours for a Sport Pilot Certificate. Most people average about 50% more time than that. And, you can knock out the written knowledge test before you even start flight training. As far as knowing about aerodynamics and meteorology, you don’t need a pilot certificate for that. The Aeronautical Decision Making will come with time and experience (and, learning from the mistakes of others).
@deanfowlkes Not sure on the hours. It gets complicated with sailplanes. (Different criteria) However, it took me about a year and a half if I remember correctly, and more money than a S.E.L. rating as you are also paying for the tows up. Worth every penny. 21,200 ft. (Legally) & 200 mile out and back X-C. Then bought a Glasflugel Libelle H-301 (flapped ship).
@@pilot3016 - That sounds awesome. The funny thing is that the US regs specifically requires both hours and numbers of flights for the glider certificate. It does make it difficult to track your time (starting when the aircraft is able to move under its own power) since you do not have a tach or engine clock. Did you use a glider club for your license? Tows at my club are fairly inexpensive. And, the instructors are pro bono.
@deanfowlkes I took my lessons from Calistoga, California (wine country) in a Schweizer 2-33 which I called, the pregnant whale. Worked my way up to glass, then my first retractable gear Pilatus B-4. They let me fly the Pegasus with winglets... then I bought a modified H-301 (Scheumanized wings and nose). What an incredible ship. Possibly the best handling sailplane ever built.
Danger #6 : Knowing in your heart that flying is something you must do, and not fulfilling the dream. I thought about it for 30 years before pulling the trigger, but most only dream about it...then life happens, and flying never does. Thx for another great video.👍
Well done Tucker. Your technical skills are so finely tuned in that you make everything look easy. Thanks for the candidness and honesty, in all probability you are saving lives by doing this video, keep up the good work!!!
Great tips. Bottom line. Always try to stack things in your favor. I ride motorcycles, when I do I wear gear. Full helmet, armored jacket, boots gloves bright colors etc. l love to Scube. (Thousands of dives). Dive with buddy, back-up air, surface signal, knife, EPIRB (ELT) etc. I have crossed ocean on my sailboat Too long a list for that! Life is full of risk. But we can’t just crawl under a rock. Gear up properly and get professional training at the least. And enjoy!! Love you vids. Be safe. Also am private pilot and glider pilot. (Not current). I am now in my late seventies. Still here!! But did all of this and am still here because I did my best to stack things in my favor.
For those of us that have kids/family-life to balance with flying, one of the biggest risks is flying too much! ;) The wrath of an angry wife is nothing to take lightly!
This video is one of many reasons why I watch your channel. You're just as conscientious as you are skilled at flying and making videos. For a person who's a potential future pilot this is invaluable.
There is also a complacency quotient to those five things. You're so careful to begin with, but after a year or two, a familiarity with risk begins to erode the safety margins.... and that's not just true for Para motoring, it's true for many activities.
I'm 70 and would have loved to do this at age 65. Have always loved your videos. Keep on Keeping on to all. ( I last month repaired a set of bearing on the idler for a para motor) Got some Elk stakes. thankful Tucker.
I think the one HUGE challenge not listed is flying in bad conditions. I hear from PPG friends all the time, "I probably should not have been up in that wind," after something bad has happened. For all of the risks you listed, there are mitigation strategies that can keep you flying. But with windy or gusty conditions, or heat of the day thermal conditions, the only real mitigation is not to fly.
I'll be doing my training with FlyMiPpg this sunday been watching you for about 6+ years finally pulling the trigger thanks for all you do for the sport man.
Like they say better late then never 👍🏻 if you ever make it up to Alaska hit me up. I’ll show you around a little bit. in the sky and on the ground! There is a glacier up here that’s awesome to fly out out to and land out and have lunch and get pitchers
I can’t wait to get into it. I don’t have much money on hand but have investments enough to barter for a rig,just need to find someone who has a rig they don’t want anymore that’s a good one to start learning on. I live in Vermont so there’s many places to start. I dream of doing This and really want to go from state to state all over the country for a few months which I will do sooner then later. Just need to get set up
#6: DISTRACTIONS. Not gonna lie, I've made serious mistakes by ACCEPTING avoidable distractions: curious folks talking nonsense or asking questions into my preflight, waving back to bystanders on the ground and loosing situational awareness, you name it.
The motto of Risky Biscuits Inc could be _“The man who wishes to keep at the problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.”_ ― Wilbur Wright I think he's done using it.
I've always wanted to fly for as long as I can remember. Never been able to afford it tho. But paramotoring has recently come to my attention and I'm seriously considering trying to book in some tuition this summer and getting started. Hence why I'm here. Watching videos, great videos btw.
Blind routine... Think about your flight prep when you do it, don't just go through the motions- look and think about what you see is going on with your gear... That almost got me once- riser hooked on a carabiner that was not locked (this was a PG flight with no engine)....
I'd like to see...... recently I was viewing a RU-vid video on how much does it cost to own/run an airplane. I'd like YOU to do the same. Of course there are variables in costs due to types of motors, wings, storage, insurance etc... but I'd really like to see some average numbers on the cost to own and operate a paramotor, because no one buys without knowing what its going to cost them to own and maintain a recreational item such as a paramotor without knowing the "how much" costs associated with owning it. PS: I enjoy viewing your sightseeing adventure flying videos. Many thanks...and I look forward to seeing the video with the answers to the above $$ questions.
Love your channel. The wife and I thought about getting in to the sport but honestly where we live it's always windy and we only have a couple of months out of the year that we could fly. I'll just keep watching you fly and enjoy your adventures. Be safe bud and keep em coming! Love the hoodie I bought from you last year.
That's a good couple of months flying to be had then!! Alot if people only fly in warmer weather so have a short season, we paraglide and its an even more weather restricted, kitesurf ...again waiting for the weather gods to play ball. But it worth the wait . Just get the stuff and give it a try, life's too short
Hi tucker I thing you forgot to fly over kites on the beach here where I live in Brazil the kids love have kites on the beach and lately we have had some accidents when the wings encounter the line of kites they could be really sharp sometimes to avoid that we always fly a little bit off from the shore line and fly over the water close to the shore
I really enjoy your authenticity in your videos! These are risky things to do (1, 2, 3, ... ) know the risk... medicate the risk but have fun :) That is someone you want to follow!
I treat a PPG or PPC like a helicopter. Use the same "no flying below XX feet" to avoid lines, bridges, etc. However, there are a few "Tucker Gott - Zen Master" rules I have encoded into my brain. Here are a couple of them: "Do not fly over ANYTHING you don't want to land in. Swamps, Water, Dense Trees, etc" "If the wind is low enough that you can't comfortably fly a kite....that's a good day to fly"
In all seriousness - another risk (besides other paramotors) is other aircraft. Where you fly is super-important - and knowing airspace and where traffic is likely to be is vital. I do most of my flying from a small, rural airport (no tower). It typically sees 1-2 airplanes a day - and most of those are people shooting touch and goes on their way through. Because these folks are also typically fair-weather pilots, they are often in the air at the same times of day we are - and they can show up without warning. Even though this airport is small and quiet, I always look around to make sure nobody is landing in my takeoff/landing path. I once was ready to take off and after I did my engine run-up, it sounded louder than usual. I turned to look behind me - and here's this frickin' national guard blackhawk helicopter landing on the runway, not less than 60ft behind me! My wing was getting tossed all over the ground. The pilot realized he was kinda messing my shit up, so he took off and gave me a big thumbs up as he departed. Needless to say, I had to reset - but it just goes to show you that there IS traffic we have to be aware of!
I've lost two friends to low acro. Both times were cause they got that Kodak courage from people taking videos of them down low. Why even risk it? Most people are just amazed that you're in the air, no need to make an amazing event for them into a life scarring event cause you decided to crater yourself on a botched wingover. I love acro, but I have a personal hard lower-limit of nearly 2000ft, and really don't start throwing anything down till I'm above 4000ft.
tucker pretty much hates me. the more videos i watch (not just his) and the more i study this sport, the more firmly convinced i become that paramotoring is an extremely unsafe and life-risking activity. the videos are and my God it looks like a ton of fun. but my lord, look at all the people dying and the incredible array of things that can and do go wrong. like i said, i’m prepared to be hated. but there’s a whole lot of people in deep denial about truly comprehending how freaking deadly paramotoring really is. .
It's kind of amazing how a handful of years ago, you posted a video going to McDonald's in your paramotor and it went fairly viral. Now you've basically made a lifestyle and living out of it. So cool!
I fly big joes carbon wing and I don’t get bored because my cruise speed at 130 kts keeps the scenery coming and I can actually use it to get to my sons beach property
Flying while intoxicated, flying beyond your training, flying w/Out consulting NOTAMs, flying w out letting people knowing your agenda, flying remote locations w/outs comms or a buddy...
Some other risks are related to the pilot’s state of mind, for instance complacency, high self-confidence, etc which can allow for risks that may contribute to an accident. I would love to hear you on this.
One of the reasons I went PPC instead of PPG is because I have a Rotax engine turning at 50% power in cruise vs the little motors used in PPG that are running 90%+ all the time. The PPG's seem to lose engines a lot more.
I'm curious do you have to have a radio to communicate on the aviation channels to let other fix wing air Craft etc. Informed them of your location attitude etc?
I have questions. How do I obtain a paramotor? How much is a paramotor? How do I learn to fly one? Who do I network with to fly, and do this in a safe setting? I'm really interested in getting a paramotor. Though I don't have much money at all, how can I perhaps build one, or get one used? Thank you
Hi Tucker, have you thought of a distribution centre in another country. We live in the Uk and me and the wife ordered a couple of sweat tops - the import duty tax was more than the tops themselves!
Great video! I love the tshirt I ordered! Super soft material! Anyways, are you planning to fly the next Ickoris (sp) race? If so, I hope you shoot it like you did last time! It was cool following you through the race.
I was thinking about going into this Sport since it is ideal on flat terrain (originally I wanted to fly hang gliders) and more or less cheap. But after informing and watching a couple of videos on RU-vid it seems just do dangerous to me. My two points to add to this list: #1 beeng sucked in by a cloud und pulled up high thousands of meters and #2 - which is my greatest nightmare - the all of sudden collapsing of the wing. And it seems this can be triggered by various reasons: Turbulence in the air (helicopters) strange weather conditions or a by an unfortunate manoeuvre.
hey tucker Gott I lost my RC plane down at the same park that you fly at it would be much appreciated if you would keep a eye out for a white Cessna glider thank you and have a good night
Would it bee impossible to have a strong but thin carbon fibre "safety mesh" covering the prop entirely to mitigate chop ups ? Thanks . Enjoy your films. You are like Peter Pan !! : )
Is there a " sm - light wt - 4 stroke motor " being made for this sport yet ? My friend has a couple PPC , but I do not want to " fly a bus ". Too big - need trailer - need more runway - etc.
I don't have to be flying to a fast food restaurant to choke on my food. I have choked on lots of lousy fast foot without my feet ever leaving the ground. I call that point a wash.
