Hello, I'm Terry Blount, BFI powerchute flight instructor and designer
of the Perfect Flyer Powerchute:   http://perfectflyer.com.

Comments and feedback are welcome: tblount7@yahoo.com

IMPORTANT random stuff you may want to know about building and/or
flying a powered parachute:

The cost of the machine I built was about $5,000. 2 for a rebuild Rotax
503 engine with gearbox, 2 for a new chute and about a thousand for
materials.  It took almost a month to build. I had access to thousands
of dollars worth of metal working tools.  I would strongly recommend to
anyone wanting to start out flying that they find a good used machine
and buy it and learn how to fly before building and flying their own
machine. There are good used machines available for $7 to $10 thousand.

Airframe measurements.  I get questions all the time about my plans for
the airframe that I built. Sorry, I didn't make any plans or drawings
but I can tell you this from my memory...

a. A 20 ft long pipe makes a prop guard a little over 6 ft in diameter
and that's what you need for a 68 inch prop.  20 ft /pie 3.14 = about 76
inches.  Use ALUMINUM pipe or aircraft aluminum tubing for the airframe
- because steel will exceed weight restrictions if enough is used to
build a safe aircraft. 

b. The bottom rails that run the entire length of the machine are 10 ft.
I cut a 20 ft piece of 1.25 inch aluminum pipe in half and inserted 1
inch square aluminum into it to increase the strength by a factor of
about 4. In my test a 2 ft section with the square aluminum inside would
not snap/break with about 1,000 lbs suspended from the middle.

c. The frontal bars were 12 ft each. I used the 8 ft sections left over
from the 20 ft sections to build other supports.

d. The vertical bars (behind the seat) were 55 inches. (I think?)

e. The horizontal bar at top was 4 ft and 2 ft at the bottom.

f. The middle horizontal bar that served as a base to attach the plate
on which the engine was mounted was simply cut to match the necessary
length.

g. I think the engine mount has to be positioned 7 inches BELOW center
so the center of the prop would be in the center of the prop guard. The
distance to the engine shaft (Rotax 503) plus the offset of the gear box
(c-box) adds up to 7 inches... if I remember correctly. 

h. IT IS VERY CRITICAL that the 3 bars going to the prop guard (1 on
each side that the engine plate would attach to... and the single one on
top) are long enough and bent enough to allow the prop clearance when
it's "DEEP" inside the prop guard. When a propeller "spools up"  the
tips will warp inward over a foot and I found out the hard and expensive
way ($450) that they WILL strike these prop guard supports if they don't
allow clearance. NOTHING should be SMALLER than the diameter of the prop
guard for at least 2 ft behind the tip of the prop.

i. The best and least expensive wheels that can withstand the tough
landings and bouncing over cow piles and ant beds and holes, etc. that I
found were on those on dollies that are made to move boats and utility
trailers around with.  You'll need 2 of them to get 3 wheels and they do
not have bearings but they hold up much much better than wheels with
bearings. Cost about $79 for two... and you get 4 tires with wheels and
you can use the axels to build the ppc landing gear.

j. Speaking of wheels... weld the axels from the dollies onto a 1.25
inch steel pipe about 6 inches long. Then use 1.25 inch schedule 80 (NOT
40) pvc as a bushing to take up the slack between the inside of the
steel pipe and the outside of 1 inch fiberglass rods (that will work as
shock absorbers.)  The fiberglass rods need to be 2 ft long.

k. If you have a bad nick or damage to the end of a 3 blade prop, bolt
ALL three blades together tightly, on top of each other then cut the
end(s) all at once with a band saw. This will keep them more perfectly
balanced because any variation in the cut will be made the same on all
blades. I recommend using a prop balance also since they only cost $50
and they will significantly reduce the stress and wear on the engine
bearings, making an expensive engine last much longer.

l. It is CRITICAL that you do NOT forget to use a VENTED cap on your
fuel tank. Otherwise can you start up and fly off and before you can
reach a safe flying altitude the vacuum in your fuel tank will overpower
your fuel pump and your engine will quit.  Believe me, you do NOT want
to try to land when you are just over the trees, between 50 and 75 ft
high at the end of your runway. That is the worse possible place to try
to land from because when you try to turn around you'll lose that
altitude in seconds.

m. A $20 boat seat is light and works well. The cushioned ones are
better because they allow air to circulate and prevent sweat buildup.

n. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try to build your own chute or you WILL DIE. They
are very complicated to build. If you take a test to be an instructor
they will ask you if you can tie a broken line back together and fly.
The answer is NO, NEVER ! Because the technical requirements for the
setting up the chute and the length of the lines (so that it stays
inflated and flies properly) are UNFORGIVING.

o. BE VERY CAUTIOUS about buying a used chute. There is a reason someone
replaces their chute and it's usually because the old one is worn out.
The sun (UV rays etc.) makes the material very weak. I lost $800 on a
used chute because a guy didn't care if he killed someone and sold me
his old chute.  I couldn't get off the ground until I was going over 40
mph (you should fly about 25 mph) and I had a very long field and only
got to about 50 ft. hight. When I reduced power just slightly I dropped
like a rock. The old chute could have killed me if I had tested it on a
shorter runway or had cut power any faster.

Use the right SIZE chute.  I put a 500 sq ft chute on my single seater
and it flew so slow that the outer edges would begin to collapse on
turns. A single seater with a 200 lb passenger will weight about 500 lbs
and requires a 400 sq ft chute.  A double seater with pilot and
passenger will weigh about 1,000 lbs and requires a 500 sq ft chute.

p.  Test your engine throughly BEFORE you fly. You'll need to set the
pitch of the prop anyway. So reave it up, wide open with the front wheel
against a tree or something solid. Don't try to hold it by hand (you can
even hold a jet airplane when it is reaved up - but if it moves only a
few feet almost northing can stop it.)  Make sure the engine is running
perfectly. It may need some adjustments to the carburetor, depending on
air temperature and the altitude you are flying from. Get professional
help to tune up the engine if you need it. If you enjoy flying low -
which is a lot of fun and I love it - you'll find yourself in situations
where you absolutely need full power to pull out of fields or compensate
for hot air. Hot air has very little lift. The air molecules spread out
and the engine has to run almost wide open to just fly level. 

q.  Adjust your prop pitch using a tachometer so that full throttle is
at 6,400 rpms.  If your engine can't get to 6,400 rpms the pitch is too
steep and the prop is biting off too much air.  If the rpms are higher
at full throttle, the pitch is to lean and the prop isn't biting off
enough air.  The IVO props are easy to set with one adjustment bolt in
the center.

r. REMEMBER, when you set up your chute you NEED a chain link or two
ADDED to (I think it's the right side of ???  you need to find out) the
risers to counter the torque of the rotating propeller. If the chute is
not set up with this correction, you won't fly straight and you'll be
compensating by constantly flaring one side of the chute.  It's like
driving a car that is badly out of alignment. On a ppc this results in
lesser control when turning.  You will turn quickly in one direction and
not have much turning radius in the other.

A good way to know if you have it set up right is to test it with some
slack in the steering lines. If it doesn't fly straight you need to add
or take slack out of the length of one of the risers. NOTE: you probably
have to use your hands and pull on the steering lines, (even when the
steering bars are pushed out all the way) to get the machine to turn in
a tighter radius when you are testing the chute setup with slack in the
lines. While that may sound risky, note that Australians use their hands
to control the chute, not their feet as we do in North America.

s. Remember the acronym E A G L E S and always make a pre flight check.
See the "how to fly" document from perfectflyer.com

t.  Never fly over anything you don't want to land on...  this means
that altitude is your friend. Fly high enough to glide to a place you
can safely land. Pay special attention to water (lakes and rivers) and
don't get caught where you can't glide to shore if your engine goes out.
If you MUST land a PPC on water, unbuckle your seat belt so you can
escape quickly...because the machine does not "land" until it gets to
the bottom of the lake ...and you don't want to go down with the ship. 

Think about what will happen when you hit the water at 25 to 30 mph...
water is almost always colder and the impact as well as temperature will
give you a surprising shock. Your helmet and shoes and clothing makes
swimming extremely difficult.The chute may come down on top of you and
drag you under.

u. Don't get distracted by people on the ground. MOST ppc accidents
involve power lines when the pilot is flying low, waving at spectators.
When flying over power lines always cross over the poles. The larger
power lines have a higher line that lightening will strike first and
that line is smaller and much harder to see. In mountains that ground
line will often be 100 ft or more ABOVE the power lines that you can
see... but it is attached to the poles.

v. Do your friends and loved ones a favor and make them WAIT till you
have logged at least 30 hours. NOTHING makes flying a ppc more difficult
than extra weight. It's harder to take off and won't clear trees and
other obstacles that you can easily clear alone. Landing is much
different with extra weight. More important than flying time is
PRACTICING take off and then CONSISTENTLY flying 2 ft over the first
half of your runway without touching.

w. Power = safety, (Ask the pilot who tried to fly across America with a
ppc that had less than 45 hp. engine. He was almost killed. You need 45+
hp for a single seater and 65+ hp for a dual seater.  The worse thing
you can waste is the runway behind you... so don't OVERSHOOT your runway
or you can easily fall into ditches or strike obstacles that will damage
you and/or your machine. Remember you have the option to circle around
and line up and descend to the proper height to land on the first part
of your runway.

x. Cover your air filters and carb and plug your muffler when you store
your machine for a longer time. Air inside the engine (especially two
stroke engines) causes corrosion. And drain the fuel out of the carbs
because when fuel sits it makes a lacquer or shellac that causes the
carbs to stick open or closed and malfunction - resulting in the engine
running wild or not providing power when needed.

y. Stay away from crowds of people, tall objects, and congested airspace
or you could be grounded and fined by law enforcement and even have your
machine confiscated. You'll never outrun anyone in a ppc.

z. Even if you have a 99% success rate when you fly that's not good
enough. Like skydiving, you had better be 100% successful.