Return to the incident list: Incident List Start-up at Half Throttle PPG Type: Type of Injury:

Pilot Details

Age: 57 Weight: 180 Gender: Highest rating held at the time of the incident: Pilot experience level:

Gear Details

Wing Brand: Model: Sting 140 Size: Paramotor Frame: SD RDM-100 with

Incident Details

July 13, 2008 Location of the incident: , Type of Incident:

I was coming in to land after an uneventful 1.4 hour flight and pressed the kill switch while setting up for the approach. Nothing happened: and for the first time in my motor’s 30-hour life. No big deal as it has a clutch, so the prop doesn’t spin at engine idling speed. My throttle has a “cruise control” (friction screw) that I usually tighten just enough to minimize finger pressure after reaching a desired altitude, and then loosen it when the LZ is in sight. This time I forgot, and being mildly startled by the still running engine just flicked the throttle closed with a backsweep of my fingers. I landed without incident, punched the button a few more times to no avail, and stopped the engine with the choke. Before continuing, allow me to say that a previous experience has made me very careful about checking the throttle movement at both the handle and carburetor, in addition to the kill switch. This pre-flight was no exception; in fact I had warmed-up and stopped the engine twice before the flight with no problems. BUT THIS TIME when I landed, I forgot to release the cruise control. My two flying friends landed a few minutes later and I called them over to show them the problem. I was holding the motor frame and throttle in the prescribed manner before pulling the starting cord (one of my friends was also holding the frame – NOT the cage, I hasten to add). The motor fired up with the first tug and immediately went to half-throttle. It wasn’t an unmanageable amount of thrust, but given the element of surprise, things might have turned very nasty if there hadn’t been two of us holding on. Again, the choke was used to shut it down. I must have applied some pressure on the throttle just before start-up, and because the friction screw was still set, the throttle stayed half-cocked even though I immediately released it. REAL DUMB MOVE. How many times have I read and heard: do your checks EVERY time before start-up? It only takes one lapse to ruin your whole day – and maybe a lifetime of days to follow. As a corollary, I’m wondering if the opposite to my problem could occur in flight: the kill switch might get annoyed with all that engine noise and decide to get some peace and quiet by doing its own thing? Another reason to always have a viable landing option. . . I’m not a mechanic, so I’ll have to recruit some help to get this fixed before the next flight, and will forward the information.

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):

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