A powered parachute is a parachute with a motor and wheels. The aircraft can typically reach speeds of around twenty five to thirty five mph. They can operate safely at heights ranging from just a few feet off of the ground to altitudes as high as eighteen thousand feet. Generally though, their operating heights are somewhere between five hundred and fifteen hundred feet. Powered parachutes can typically be flown around for three hours, if they are equipped with the standard five to ten gallon fuel tank.
The main hazards a person faces when flying powered parachutes include the wake turbulence created by the close passage of other aircraft, especially those that are heavy, aerodynamic and slow pose another significant hazard. Since a motorized parachute is slow moving like a helicopter, it is particularly well-equipped to fly safely near the ground, though special care must be taken to avoid trees, power lines and other low-level obstacles. An extremely dangerous situation for the pilot and passenger is when a forced landing in water is required. It is very easy to become entangled in the parachute lines of a sinking, motorized parachute.
A hydro-copter is an amphibious aircraft-propelled catamaran and is considered to be a type of powered 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 travel in such conditions.
The first patent 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 powered parachute. Their first flight only lasted around twenty five to thirty seconds, mainly because the paraglider they used suffered from torque problems. It took two more years to fix the problems, and in 1983, the first commercial paragliders were produced.
Recent advancements by Don Shaw have further developed powered parachutes. He mounted a standard motor scooter with a propeller and a parafoil and the combination can both fly and drive on the road as a regular ground vehicle. Conversion kits for this prototype vehicle are available, though powered parachute training may be needed.
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