Latest Paramotoring News What's happening at Parajet International

Posted on March 01, 2012

Hard Blow for Jennings-Bates

For Mark Jennings-Bates the dream of achieving a new world record for the longest continuous paramotor journey is over. Having already flown close to 4,000 kilometres, the 48-year-old adventurer suffered a broken propeller after a bad launch in Queensland and has been grounded until replacements can be flown in from the UK. Jennings-Bates is expected to rejoin fellow pilot Glenn Derouin in the air again this week but with only one pilot eligible for the potential Guinness World Record it has been a hard pill to swallow.

“We all knew it was going to take precious time to get the props here,” explains Jennings-Bates. “We had two choices, wait for a few weeks so that we could carry on as a team, or continue giving the team as a whole the best chance of success. Having spent more than two years planning this I am of course gutted, it was probably the most difficult decision I have made in my life. At the end of the day, the whole project is to raise awareness and funds for charity, so the show must go on, it is not about me personally getting a world record, although I have to admit, that would have been cool.”

The team is hoping that the challenging weather which has made progress difficult for Derouin will settle down as they get into New South Wales and South Australia, although flying through the Nullarbor desert could still present some very serious issues. Add to that the fact that this is the second wettest year on record for Australia and that New South Wales is bracing itself for its second largest rainfall event ever and it is easy to understand how the trip has been challenging!

“We have great tools at our disposal, like PredictWind.com to help us look at weather, but we did not expect to find so many micro climates in what is really a fairly flat country.” explains Derouin, “As we fly, we can be in smooth warm air one minute and then knocked around in the air by a cold dense flow that we could not predict, it is challenging flying for sure.”

Donations are being accepted for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Rally4Life, details on the two charities and how to donate can be found at http://www.theflight4life.com.

Posted on February 13, 2012

Flight4Life Takes to the Skies with Parajet!

Parajet are currently supporting two intrepid pilots as they take to the Australian skies in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest continuous flight by paramotor.

After more than two years in the planning 48-year-old adventurer Mark Jennings-Bates and fellow Canadian Glenn Derouin have embarked on the first leg of this epic expedition, covering almost 1000kms towards a new world record, but with a long way still to go.

“Due to various regulatory issues, we started in a bit of a rush and therefore missed a couple of weeks of training and tuning.” Explains Jennings-Bates. “The first week has been interesting. Tough weather conditions with zero wind in the mornings for launch, headwinds within an hour of flying and strong thermals by 10am. With early evening flights we are struggling with strong thermals, but ending up with a nice calm flight to our destination.”

The Flight4Life Expedition aims to raise 4 million dollars for charities to help in areas such as Africa and Central America, especially addressing issues surrounding clean drinking water, through the Rally4Life umbrella, the charity founded by Mark and his wife Jackie. Over the years, Parajet have been involved with and supported a number of charitable expeditions and we are proud that we can lend our support to these types of fundraising initiatives.

The expedition team are using the Parajet Volution 2 Macro paramotor and early indications are that the motors have been performing well in the tough conditions.

“The biggest concern for us was to watch out for over-heating the engines by running a lean mixture.” Continues Mark. “With close consultation with Parajet and some cautious tuning, we have ended up by seriously increasing the range of the motors by an extra two hours. This is a big deal for us on a few fronts. Of course, environmentally it means we are burning a limited resource more efficiently, the costs of fuel over the intended length of the journey are significantly reduced and we can cover more ground per tank of gas meaning there are less logistics and more time in the air.”

The pair have allotted three months in which to complete this audacious 9,000 kilometre journey and enter into the record books. Please visit the expedition website at http://www.theflight4life.com and pledge your support, it is an awesome cause!

Posted on January 27, 2012

Pushing the limits!

Parajet is proud to announce its support to Andy Campbell as he sets off from London to travel 30,000 miles around the world in a wheelchair. By completing this journey, Andy plans to raise £1,000,000 to fund mobility equipment for people affected by spinal cord injury around the world. The route, distance and methods of travel make it a truly monumentally and unique expedition never before attempted that will hold many challenges along the way. Parajet will be supporting Andy with the design and build of a specially adapted paramotor trike which will allow Andy to fly various stages of the route.

Posted on December 21, 2011

Parajet Becomes Official Top80 Service Centre

Parajet are pleased to announce that it has become an Official Top80 Service Centre. Starting early next year we will be offering Top80 owners the opportunity to have their engine maintained and serviced by our trained engineers at a cost of £75 inc VAT plus any parts at our Parajet workshop in Dorset.

One of our trained professionals will give your Top80 engine a full health check. We will also ensure the essential safety and performance checks are carried out. Top80 owners will also be able to purchase official high-quality Top80 parts on the Parajet Store.

Posted on December 21, 2011

Volution Custom now with Bailey V5, Moster & Top80

Parajet are excited to announce that customers can now purchase the Volution Custom, our highly responsive weight-shift paramotor chassis, with a choice of paramotor engines pre-installed.

You can now buy your Parajet Volution Custom with a choice of either the Bailey V5 4-stroke, Top80, Polini Thor 100 or Vittorazi Moster 185 fitted into our chassis, fuel tank and the new lightweight Parajet harness to give superb handling characteristics matched with practicality and style. For more information visit the Volution Custom page or buy your Volution Custom through our Parajet Store

Posted on November 25, 2011

Volution Custom paramotors ready for Team pilots

Today we have unveiled our new Parajet Volution Custom team paramotors. The specially commissioned paramotors will be flown by Team Parajet pilots Dean Eldridge, Phil Jennings and Glenn Tupper.

The Parajet Volution Custom offers customers the chance to take their existing engine or engine of choice and combine it with our chassis to give superb handling weight-shift characteristics matched with practicality and style to deliver their perfect paramotor. The Parajet Volution Custom comes with a choice of engine mounting plates, fuel tank and fitted with the new lightweight Parajet harness.

Deano has opted for the new Polini Thor 200 to be fitted to his striking silver Volution Custom which also has a custom fuel tank, while fellow British pilot Phil has opted for the Top80. Glenn, our new American team pilot, has also chosen the Polini but has gone for the Thor 100.

Dean Eldridge will be flying his Volution Custom in the coming weeks as he heads to Brazil to compete in the Paramotor World Fly Games. Dean will face some of the world’s best pilots at the beach of Santos (Sao Paulo) for this inaugural competition for agility and precision flying.

To see photos of the new Volution Custom team paramotors, visit our Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/parajet

Posted on October 20, 2011

Introducing the Volution Custom!

Imagine if you could have our highly responsive weight-shift paramotor chassis coupled with your existing engine or engine of choice? Well now you can! The Parajet Volution Custom offers customers the chance to take their existing engine and combine it with our chassis to give superb handling characteristics matched with practicality and style. The Parajet Volution Custom comes with a choice of engine mounting plates, fuel tank and fitted with the new lightweight Parajet harness. For more information visit the Volution Custom page or buy your Volution Custom through our Parajet Store

Posted on October 19, 2011

New Lightweight Harness Launched

We have now launched our new Lightweight Paramotor Harness. The Parajet Lightweight Paramotor Harness is strong, lightweight and durable with enough adjustment to fit all pilots. The use of lightweight material, coupled with slender buckles makes the harness simple and uncluttered, yet with great attention to detail with no compromise in comfort or safety. The newly designed shoulder straps connect lower down the rear of the harness. This new rucksack-style configuration means the straps are tighter to the body pulling the load is closer to your back. Coupled with generous, breathable padding the straps make carrying your paramotor more comfortable and less likely to slip while on your back. The higher leg strap configuration has greater tolerances for wrongful adjustment and guarantees that you will get in and out of the seat every time. The Parajet Lightweight Paramotor Harness will fit all Volution and Cyclone paramotors, so why not upgrade now? Simply buy online via the Parajet Store