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What is the legality of jumping a powered paraglider? I have little to no FAA knowledge, and dont really know what classification if falls under.

go for it; it's fun from what I understand it is fine to do I have done it out of a paraglider at a high profile location before and it was all good. But the good thing is that you can fly PPG just about anywhere so just take it where no one else is and have some fun.

Just do it. I posted a similar question on a paragliding forum years ago and I've never seen so much legal confusion.

used to be legal. as of jan 2007 no longer legal since it's an ultralight and the pilot must have a sport license to fly a tandem.

in reality, no one cares

in reality, no one cares
Thats what I really needed to hear. I think this could turn out to be a lot of fun.

H-Jumper, You are incorrect. An ultralight is defined as an aircraft that weighs more than 255 pounds and or carries more than five gallons of fuel.

Flying passengers in an Ultralight is illegal by The FAA's definitions and can only be done by operating under exemption 4721 which requires the tandem pilot to be certified to carry tandem passengers by an existing club such as the United States Hang Gliding Association. Pg's are still governed undr FAR 103 though as Ultra lights. They just do not require the sport pilot license of a 255+ pound ultralight.

Until getting out of teaching PG's I was a 3,600 hour Master Rated Advanced Tandem Paragliding Instructor.
I held every single rating and special skill sign off available to PG pilots. This is an area I know exactly of what I speak

 

It's illegal. PPG's are ultralights, and can only carry 1 person. I own a Powered Paragliding school.

BUT... illegal does not mean not do-able of course.

Man, I hate being incorrect especially when all I did was ask a question. If I do a tandem PPG im going to feel unsafe and want my base rig, so just on the off chance I fall out, ill be ready for action.

find someone you trust and they trust you and go jump somewhere offbeat

and dont tell people at the DZ, somone is bound to be upset...

But that is my non legal advice....

Checked the USPPA site just now. A sport pilots license in NOT required. Therefore I can also assume that an exemption to fly tandem is still available.

They are still covered by part 103. Not sure what school you own or if you are working outside the existing system though..............................

you mean less than 254lb for single passenger, right? and I just realized I was talking about powered parachutes. apparently it's iffy whether or not a specific powered tandem paraglider is considered a powered parachute (and a light sport aircraft) or not. see: http://www.usppa.org/...Ilot/sport_pilot.htm

but once again, no one cares, so have fun.

Not that anyone care but the powered parachute and microlight folks were flying for years pretending to be ultralights.

BTW I do think I said under 255 pounds which would indeed be 254 pounds

That is the weight of the aircraft not the pilot. If a pilot has a USPPA tandem exemption then they are legal regardless of combined passenger and pilot weight.

I was just confused because you said more than 255lb/5 gal of fuel, not less than.

didn't know the first part about them "pretending" to be ultralights until the faa cleared it up.

I learned something today, cool.

i just reported you to the fsdo

well, i just reported you to the old geezer we ran into at wonderland. enjoy.

btw, did they ever manage to change the rules or could i still fly there with my um... P2?

Dammit!! C'mon Calvin... if I could only find someone willing to practice with me... hmmmmm. Any ideas?

Well besides what the paraglider falls under you still have to think about the legality of jumping a base rig. As per the FARs you need to have a TSO researve parachute that has been packed within the last 120 days. So a base rig is out legally. That wouldnt stop me though. But if you go in the pilot is the one responsible to ensure that all jumpers have a in date researve so the pilot could get in a lot of trouble.
Just me 2 cents
Ryan

if it's not an aircraft then the faa has no jurisdiction over you. a powered paraglider is not an aircraft.

a powered parachute is an aircraft though.

also, you could go in and kill a busload of retarded school children, the only thing the faa could do is maybe fine the pilot. seeing as how a pilot doesn't need an faa rating to fly a powered paraglider, the faa can't do much.

Don't ask, don't tell.

Works with pretty much every regulatory question you'll have with the FAA...

Are you sure about that? By your definition then a 747 would be considered an ultralight.

I thought to be considered an ultralight and fall under Part 103 it had to be LESS than 255 lbs. and carry LESS than 5 gallons of fuel.

naw, he had it right. you can totaly legally fly a 747 if there is no one else in it.

I'm not so sure about that.

You may be right about being able to fly a 747 solo, I have no idea, but what he stated was incorrect. A 747 isn't considered an ultralight and fall under Part 103.

Sec. 103.1 Applicability.

This part prescribes rules governing the operation of ultralight vehicles in the United States. For the purposes of this part, an ultralight vehicle is a vehicle that:
(a) Is used or intended to be used for manned operation in the air by a single occupant;
(b) Is used or intended to be used for recreation or sport purposes only;
(c) Does not have any U.S. or foreign airworthiness certificate; and
(d) If unpowered, weighs less than 155 pounds; or
(e) If powered:
(1) Weighs less than 254 pounds empty weight, excluding floats and safety devices which are intended for deployment in a potentially catastrophic situation;
(2) Has a fuel capacity not exceeding 5 U.S. gallons;
(3) Is not capable of more than 55 knots calibrated airspeed at full power in level flight; and
(4) Has a power-off stall speed which does not exceed 24 knots calibrated airspeed.

furthermore,

I fly a trike, it is over the 254 lb limit, and as of jan 2008, all "fat" ultralights must be N numbered, and the pilot must be sport pilot rated...so says the FAA. I had my trike certified last month, and, it says in the operating limitations..."not to be used for intentional parachuting" now the guy that did the cert. brought up a good point, what is "intentional"...like lets says you have an engine out, and you have a bail out rig on....you save your ass by intentionally parachuting from the plane...or your passenger bails due to sevre tubulance, or engine "problems." or, this aricraft may not be used for "intentional" areobatics.... was that low turn intentional? or did the pilot slip into it accidently...get it?

Just a warning if you're going to try this out...

Powered paraglider and ultralight jumps are fun. I've done three (or four?). Two were from a powered paraglider and one from a real ultralight (triangle-shaped canvas-covered wing frame overhead). Altitude is usually pretty cheap, you get a great view of the surrounding world on the ride up, and you can easily reach 500 meters, giving you a chance to track, sit fly for a bit, do whatever you want. They're also a great way to set your DBS without having to stuff your tarp into a skydiving rig. Just take a permanent marker with you and deploy above 300 meters.

That said, paraglider and ultralight jumps scare the shit out of me. You have to sit in and negotiate your way out of a very tight space fraught with snag points. Also, all my rides up in paragliders I've had to sit facing sideways behind the pilot, exposing my PC to a pretty substantial airstream.

If your pilot chute gets out, either in flight or as you're moving to get out of the aircraft, you're pretty much screwed. Your canopy is going to come out, and will most likely turn into a massive ball of tangled shit along with the paraglider.

To make matters worse, unless the paraglider's engine has been cut, you've got a massive spinning propeller right behind you that's going to slice through your BASE canopy's lines like a hot knife through butter (meaning that if your BASE canopy doesn't get caught on the paraglider and just drags you off of it or through it, you'll probably have to land under a partially inflated, partially attached canopy).

As I understand it, most/all (correct me if wrong) paragliders carry a large round reserve canopy. So there is at least some safety built in. However, I consider paraglider jumps as dangerous as, if not more dangerous than, antenna jumps (at least until you've actually left the aircraft and are in free fall).

To reduce this risk, I always do the following:

1) Make sure you have a tight PC in the BOC before boarding the aircraft.
2) Be very careful getting in the aircraft.
3) Maniacally check that your PC isn't working its way out while in flight.
4) Have the pilot cut the engine before you start to climb out.
5) Be very careful climbing out of the aircraft. I usually climb out of the frame and hang below it to minimize the risk of smacking my PC when I leave the aircraft.
6) Don't wear a camera. It makes getting out of the aircraft hell.
7) Realize that you're putting the pilot at serious additional risk if you decide to jump a paraglider or ultralight.

That said, have fun. Don't die.

Well Actually the FAA defines aircraft as a device that is used or intended to be used for a flight in the air.
So therefore all of FAR 105 still applies to Paraglide jumping. Me personally could care less about the letter of the law but the original post was about how to do it legally.

Doh! the "more than" was a typo.............

BTW if you think it is scary dropping from a PG or PPG you should trying being the pilot

Nothing less fun than getting tossed around 100+pounds under the certified weight of the canopy. If a crow flies by to fast one can get a huge frontal collapse.

you know i was kidding right? i hope you did, and you were as well. I am a commercial pilot, and an ultralight pilot. of course its its not legal.

just for fun, I did a few flights on a glider that was 110-135kg all up weight range. (hook in weight, I am 88kg) That was fun man. touch the speed bar and you have a massive frontal. the opposite is almost prefered by me, I fly at 88kg on a glider that has a max weight of 85kg all up. it makes for some fun acro, and its super responsive. but top landings are not as fun and games. I broke myself once on that glider.