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Up to 10 mph the parachute will lay on the ground without being affected by the wind. Above 10 mph the wind will pick the parachute off the ground and inflate the parachute without any one near the powered parachute. Remember that 10 mph is more than enough speed to taxi! Do not leave the parachute unattended. Put the parachute away if you are going to stop flying for any length of time. To fly in winds above 10 mph you may need assistants to hold the parachute down on the ground until you are ready to begin your take off roll. As soon as they release the parachute the parachute will come up and out and climb overhead. The assistants will have to release the parachute and back away quickly. They must release the parachute as soon as you begin to roll forward and must not run along with it. Your take off roll will be very short. Taxi at a very slow speed to inspect the parachute. Remember that you are already taxiing at 10 mph even if you are stopped.
If you attempt to fly in a 15 mph round wind you risk serious injury. When you taxi at 15 mph in no wind and look at the amount of pressure on the parachute you will realize that the parachute will snap off the ground very quickly and you will start to roll backwards unless you apply enough power. The parachute is dangerous when strongly inflated.
Any time you land in wind you risk being pulled along the ground just as the skydivers do. The big difference is that you have up to 500 square feet in the wind and you are sitting on wheels. This can be very embarrassing and dangerous. The best way to avoid being pulled along the ground is to fly in no wind. If you are flying by yourself and the wind is blowing strongly; as soon as the wheels touch down, simultaneously turn the engine off, push both foot bars as far as they will go and grab the steering lines and pull quickly to collapse the parachute. When you pull the lines you pull the rear of the parachute. You must pull far enough so the parachute no longer has a wind shape. When the canopy collapses, wrap the line around the outrigger pulley. Quickly do the same for the other side. As soon as you turn the engine off you will no longer have forward thrust – if you do not quickly collapse the parachute you will be pulled backwards at whatever speed the wind is blowing and risk being pulled over. Even if you only roll a short distance backwards before you collapse the parachute, you might run over the parachute.
Once the parachute is safely tied off you must daisy chain the suspension lines, or use the optional line sleeves to prevent accidental re-inflating. |
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Quaker State Powered Parachutes
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