Return to the incident list: Incident List Wing Malfunction or Deflation PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 39 Weight: 150 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Pegas SHV 1-2 Size: Paramotor Frame: Sky Cruiser with

Incident Details

January 1, 2006 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

I wanted to try a wing that was reportedly very difficult to inflate in no-wind. After doing some test inflations holding the risers by hand I determined it was certainly doable. Using a cross-armed reverse it came up ok, and I turned and launched uneventfully. During the initial climb I noticed the brake tension was quite high. After getting into the seat (let go of a brake to do that), I looked up to see why. The brake lines were shortened enough to be applying almost quarter brake when the handles were full up. Right after that the wing stalled and I landed in the soft plowed field. Fortunately I was completely unhurt.

Shortly afterward I wanted to check out the wing. So I clipped in with a kiting harness, inflated and ran down the the pasture with the wing’s owner beside me. You could see the brake lines pulling the trailing edge of the wing down slightly (I wasn’t holding them). This presented no problems for the owner who is 45 lbs heavier than me and has flown the wing successfully for many hours.

Except for the last second, the entire thing, including the stall was captured on video. It’s eerie in that the entire (very short) flight you can see that the trailing edge is only slightly pulled down from the shortened line tension. That, combined with my light weight and full power was enough to stall it.

My common practice is to ease off the power shortly after liftoff, get in the seat (I let go of a brake to get in the seat) then come in with the power again. Looking at the video it appears that right after that second throttle up is when the wing actually fell back…hands up all the while.

Under these nearly calm conditions it was the last thing I expected even under a too-big wing. But I never thought about the brake lines being shortened until just after getting into the seat and looking up. When I saw that, it dawned on me this could be bad and I figured I’d stay low or land. Of course I never got the chance to act on that.

I will now be far more aware, when flying different equipment how it’s flying before I commit to more than a few feet.

Flight Window: Wind Speed: Type: Phase of Flight: Type of Injury: Collateral Damage: Analysis of the incident (additional input by the incident investigation team): Photos (if available):

Video (if available):
Other Files (if available):

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