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The weather gods were on the paramotors side this year in La Puebla de Los Infantes (Seville, Spain), where over hundred pilots enjoyed a brilliant day of flying on Saturday 2 of February and a more limited window on Sunday. Las Candelas grew bigger this year with a Fair twice the size of previous editions -even with a bar inside, a space for the pilots to leave their paramotors at night (with a night watch), and stands to accommodate practically all the Spanish manufacturer and the main dealers of flying gear. Also remarkable was the security and control at the takeoff and landing zones of Las Candelas 08. There was an important effort put in keeping the air traffic safe and organized, with separated takeoff zones for trikes and foot-launched paramotors and the LZ, a special area to leave the gear before and after flying, and special maps of the area with everything clearly marked, as well as advice given to the pilots of not to fly over the fair. All necessary improvements over previous editions. The invitation from the organizers to fly with disguises was accepted by several pilots and even groups, who showed their good humour and originality. On Saturday many pilots took advantage of the beautiful sunny day for doing cross country flights, including one organized by the Club of Dos Hermanas (Sevilla) –who came flying from their airfield, and also collaborated with the organization. We also saw a number of pilots from the UK (many of the Lemmings Club and national champ Michel Carnet), Portugal, France, Greece, etc. Video-report:
The manufacturers tell and show their latest features or machines
at Las Candelas 2008 - it's in Spanish, but the images will
tell you something...
The success of the event can be specially noticed in the interest from professionals who came from all over Europe to the Fair to see what it is being made in Spain, and to close business deals with Spanish companies. Spain is a reference in the world of powered paragliding, both at a sportive level with three world champions (Ramon Morillas, Daniel Crespo and Nino Muelas) and in manufacture of paramotors – there are at least 4 internationally renowned marks and a few more coming out. This, together with the mild weather of the south of Spain in February, attracts pilots and entrepreneurs from other countries. Not surprisingly, we saw Mateo Vitorazzi from Italy, who visited the manufacturers that use Vitorazzi engines (Fly 100 and Easy 100) in their units (Pap, Airfer, Fly Products); or the guys from Helix propellers (Germany), that work with almost all the Spanish manufacturers providing them with carbon props. Also there was, like other years, Pascal Campbell-Jones from Paramania -the pioneering brand in the use of reflex- with their local dealers Kasana and Dani Martinez, and showing some amazing videos of Paramotoring around the world. From the Czech Republic came Zdenek Andrlik, from Cirus, to introduce and commercialize a self rescue emergency flotation device for use with paramotor, which inflates in just a few seconds thanks to a compressed-air cartridge. They plan to release one specially designed for trikes soon.
As
usual in Las Candelas, the paramotor manufacturers had a number
of new features to show [See VIDEO
above]. The "traditional" manufacturers also had news to show: PAP already have their entire range equipped with the new aluminium arms certified
by the DULV, without shackles, and originally constructed for ‘acro' pilots
thus able to resist the most dynamic manoeuvres. The new sealed fuel tank of
12 litres was also introduced in all Pap models. Pap have a choice of 4 paramotors,
from the light Top 80 to the powerful Fly F200, with the Vitorazzi Fly 100 and
the Ros 125 in between. Of these, the latest additions are the Fly 100 and the
F200, with customized features introduced by the manufacturer leader of the
market. Their
own version of these two engines offer Airfer,
that also keep a strong work on the Paratrike side of the sport
which has given them a world title in the hands of Daniel Crespo.
This year, Airfer introduced their latest project: a 4-stroke
unit called ForT-400 that will power a trike (solo or tandem)
with the advantages in consumption and noise provided by the
4-stroke engine. They also introduced their paramotor VR200 Micro
(Fly 200 engine) aimed at schools or beginners, with a cage of
only 107cm of diameter and four-blade propeller of 94cm, which
make it easy and comfortable to handle on the ground for medium
to large new pilots –to use
foot-launched or on a trike One- keeping a high thrust. H-E
Paramotors presented
their new model of modular chassis totally divisible in many
parts and created to facilitate its transport in a suitcase
or any car trunk, with pieces that can be easily replaced.
This model is available in aluminium and steel, and tentative
name is Samsoflite. They also showed a new integral trike – not
a paramotor mounted on a trike- very easy to disassemble to
fit in a normal car. H-E continue manufacturing their own engines
R80, R120 and the most powerful R200, already in production
and available with manual and electric start. For Clemente the news was their trike Securemax, suitable for solo or tandem flight with no need to reset the hangpoint, which offers low centre of gravity, suspension system in the axes and great stability, powered by a Simonini Victor 1 plus engine of 48 HP. They continue with the Raket range, light and reliable, available in several sizes of propeller-cage and manual or electric start.
Kasana,
dealer of Fly Products in
Spain , brought their range of paramotors with new hangpoint
system (low h-p) to improve piloting and comfort in flight, and
a refreshed look with new choices of colours for the net of the
cage. The engines used are the Vitorazzi Fly 100, their most
popular unit, and the powerful Simonini for large pilots. This
engine also powers the Flash trike, of compact design and suitable
both for solo or tandem flights. Next
to them was Dani Martinez introducing his new company
of flying tourist services and rent of paramotors, Olivair,
and also the new dealership for Spain of the Miniplane (from
Per il Volo, manufacturer of the successful engine Top 80), perhaps
the lightest paramotor in the market with just 18.5 kg empty,
modular chassis of aluminium and glass fibre, and propeller of 115
or 125cm. Dani and Kasana share the distribution of the Fly Products
paratrikes (Flash, Eco 2 and Eco 4) in Spain.. Finally,
outside the official Fair we could see some prototypes like the
one made by Juan Santos of Helices
Juanbur, who has decided to
recover the veteran engine Solo –although in its latest version,
updated to the present times- with a new exhaust pipe that provides
more power, and a propeller of 1,20m. This personal project of
Juan is also applicable to old Solos that might be still running
out there, which can be upgraded to improve their performance. Regarding new paragliders, we tried the new semi-reflex model from Mac Para specifically designed for paramotor: the Velvet. It is a very dynamic glider, almost acrobatic –although the high load we had with the trike probably amplified this-, good fun to fly it fast taking advantage of the immediate response at the brakes. The feeling is perhaps similar to that of a free-flight glider in the turns, but with no tendency to surge. This model is aimed at intermediate pilots with experience and a taste for dynamic piloting. We also flew the new Powerplay Naja, which is a model more intermediate than the Sting. It is an agile glider with quick response, very compact and nothing nervous, and with very direct pressure on the brakes. It is not a reflex wing but the Naja is fast and comes with long trimmers. It seems to be a glider suitable for a wide range of pilots. Other gliders we saw are the ITV Tsampa (Altairsport), the Roadster from Ozone (Alamair), the Speedmax from Nova or the Alpha 4 from Advance (Draco) that Ramon Morillas brought with special competition risers (with much longer trimmers than the original).
*Special
thanks to the organization of the XII Paramotor Meeting of Las Candelas
for their help to produce this article. |
In summary, many new features, many options and solutions, and also more and more trikes in a market that keeps on growing at the same rate of the sport. We hope that there will be many more of them next year, as well as plenty of flying, night bonfires, good atmosphere and lots of fun, don't you miss it! |
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Published:
February 12th, 2008
*Article by © Ojovolador.com
Reproduction strictly forbidden.