Paramotor Product

Overview

A paramotor is a propulsion backpack for a paraglider: a small two-stroke engine, a belt reduction drive and a propeller inside a netted cage, all hung on a frame the pilot wears. With one strapped on, a paraglider pilot no longer needs a hill or a winch — a 10–20 m run on flat ground gets the wing flying, and roughly 75 kg of static thrust then climbs the aircraft at 1.5–2.5 m/s. The complete unit weighs about 26 kg dry and burns 3.5–4.5 litres of premixed gasoline per hour in cruise, giving three hours or more endurance from the 14 L Fuel Tank.

The aircraft as a whole is the combination of this unit and a conventional paraglider wing connected at two Riser Carabiner points. The wing provides all lift and control; the paramotor provides only thrust, which is why most national regulations treat the combination as an ultralight with minimal certification burden.

Engine and drive

The Two-Stroke Engine is the lightest practical way to make 19 kW: a single-cylinder air-cooled two-stroke of about 185 cc. Induction runs through a Reed Valve into the Crankcase, which acts as the scavenge pump; a diaphragm Carburetor meters fuel correctly in any attitude, which matters on an aircraft that launches tilted forward and lands tilted back. The Nikasil-plated Cylinder and single-ring Piston Kit are consumables on a roughly 300-hour replacement cycle, and lubrication comes entirely from oil mixed into the fuel at about 2%.

Two-strokes only make their rated power in a narrow rpm band, and the Tuned Exhaust is what puts the band where it is needed: the cone geometry of the Expansion Chamber reflects exhaust pressure waves back to the port timed to stuff escaping mixture back into the cylinder near 7800 rpm. Steel Exhaust Spring joints let the pipe shake with the engine without cracking.

A propeller spun at crankshaft speed would have supersonic tips, so the Reduction Drive gears it down by about 1:2.68 with a poly-V Drive Belt between the Drive Pulley and the large Propeller Pulley. A centrifugal Centrifugal Clutch disengages below roughly 2500 rpm so the engine idles with the propeller stopped — a significant safety feature during ground handling. The Propeller itself is a two-blade carbon unit of about 130 cm diameter, bolted through a Propeller Hub with torque-checked bolts.

Frame, cage and harness

The Frame and Cage does three jobs. The Chassis carries the engine on rubber Anti-Vibration Mount isolators and provides the structural path from propeller thrust to pilot. Four socketed Cage Section hoop quarters assemble into a ring just outside the propeller arc, and the Cage Netting stretched over it keeps brake lines, fingers and bystanders out of the disc — line-in-prop incidents are the most common paramotor accident class, and the cage is the primary defence.

Thrust reaches the pilot through pivoting Swing Arm bars. Their geometry matters: the thrust line passes well above the pilot's hang point, so the arms are angled to keep the torque from pitching the pilot face-down under full power, while still letting the pilot rotate from the running position to seated flight on the Seat Board and back upright for landing. The Harness also carries a Reserve Container for a hand-deployed emergency parachute.

Controls

Engine control is a hand-held Hand Throttle: a sprung Throttle Grip trigger strapped into one palm, leaving the fingers free to fly the wing's brake toggles. A Bowden Throttle Cable runs to the carburetor, a thumb Kill Switch grounds the ignition, and a friction Cruise Lock holds power on long transits. Releasing the trigger always returns the engine to idle.

Ignition needs no battery — the Flywheel Magneto generates spark energy directly and the CDI Ignition Coil fires the Spark Plug at fixed advance. Most current machines add an Electric Starter fed by a small three-cell pack of LiPo Cell batteries through a starter Relay, because in-flight restarts by pull cord, reaching backwards over the shoulder, are awkward enough that pilots otherwise avoid shutting down to thermal.

Operation

Launch is the critical phase. The pilot lays the wing out behind, inflates it overhead with a forward or reverse pull, checks it visually, then commits to full throttle and runs until flying speed, around 25 km/h relative wind. Propeller torque tries to yaw and roll the aircraft, so power is fed in progressively. Once climbing, the pilot settles onto the seat board and cruises at whatever speed the wing trims to, typically 35–60 km/h.

Landing is normally done with the engine at idle or stopped, flying the wing like an ordinary paraglider to a flare touchdown. Fuel state is managed visually — the translucent tank sits low on the frame where the pilot can see it — and the weighted clunk on the Fuel Line keeps the pickup submerged in any attitude. Routine maintenance is two-stroke routine: plug checks, belt tension, prop bolt torque, and decarbonising the exhaust.