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Flying With Powered Parachutes

By: Cindee Ross

The desire and urge to fly has been part of the human circumstance for centuries. When parachutes, para-sails, helicopters and airplanes were invented, human beings took to the skies and have barely touched down on the ground since. Powered parachutes were invented as a way for us to take to the skies, getting new heights, while gliding quietly and effortlessly. Motorized parachute gear can fly for approximately three hours at elevations of five hundred to fifteen hundred feet. They allow humans to imagine for a few moments that they are soaring birds.

The chief hazards that may be faced while flying powered parachutes are generally connected with obstacles and wind. You should never attempt a flight in winds more than ten to fifteen mph or in any type of gusty conditions. Some wind dangers you may have never considered before comprise terrain-induced air turbulence called rotors. This is essentially trees, mountains and other natural obstacles that can bother the flow of the wind.

A hydro-copter is an amphibious aircraft-propelled catamaran and is considered to be a kind of motorized parachute equipment. The vehicle has hull similar to a boat, with small wheels and pontoon skids. An aircraft engine with a propeller and rudder pushes the hydro-copter across ice, water, snow and land, where other vehicles or aircraft simply cannot take a trip in such conditions.

The first copyright for a powered parachute prototype was applied for on October 1, 1964, by a man named Jalbert. He described his new vehicle as a multi-cell wing and called it a parafoil. A parafoil is a non-rigid airfoil with an aerodynamic cell structure that is actually inflated by the wind. Air inflation forces the parafoil into a classic wing cross-section, which was a new parachute design. His ideas were finally registered as U.S. patent 3,285,546 in November of 1966. But, a motorized version similar to this design had already flown in 1964. In March of 1981, Steve Snyder, Adrian Vandenberg and Daniel Thompson created the P-1 motorized parachute. Their first air travel only lasted approximately twenty five to thirty seconds, mainly because the paraglider they used suffered from torque troubles. It took two additional years to fix the problems, and in 1983, the first commercial paragliders were produced.

You be able to get very simple versions of the motorized parachute that consists of a backpack-sized mounted motor with a propeller and can be helpful as a alternate for all terrain vehicles on hard terrain. Motorized parachutes are a versatile tool for both recreational and practical uses.

Article Source: http://articledepot.info

Cindee Ross loves parachuting and shares that love with many around her. For a wealth of resources on quality parachutes, parachuting equipment and gears, extreme skydiving sports, and where to go to for that perfect skydiving vacation visit Parachuting Paradise.

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