PowerPod
Freedom without limits!
The first pod harness
in the world with a built-in paramotor
ideally optimized for free flight.
It is a revolutionary concept of a paragliding pod harness, featuring a very compact and light-weight engine behind your back which does not interfere with free flight. Finally, there is a way for free-flying paraglider pilots to become absolutely independent in where they choose to fly!
It offers the comfort and streamlining of a traditional pod harness, but with the freedom to take off and ascend to the clouds from virtually anywhere, as with a paramotor. Do you like soaring under the clouds? Do you dream of cross country flights? Do you get antsy sitting on the ground, just watching cumulus clouds grow?
Do you look up to the sky frustrated because there is no slope nearby for takeoff?
Or perhaps there is a slope, but the wind is from the wrong direction? Or the slope is too small to find a thermal and not bomb out? Or maybe your paragliding club with a winch is not operating today?
There are usually a million reasons that prevent you from making it to the clouds.
Yet there is good news for you now: with the PowerPod you can leave all those reasons behind! Now you can really find a lift and get to that cloud base (of course, only if there is proper weather)!
The PowerPod
paramotoris intended for the pilots who love and cherish thermal flying and cross-country flights.
It provides an uncompromising opportunity to take off and fly where and when it is convenient for you and not only where there is a proper slope or a towing-winch. The amount of “para-waiting” in your life will be considerably reduced. In the sky however, if the weather gets worse or if you simply fail to find another thermal, you can simply start the engine to gain altitude again and continue flying. XC round trip tasks will become a lot easier!
Ducted Fan
Our system features an innovative solution – a ducted fan only 0.5 m in diameter, instead of a traditional paramotor propeller with a diameter of 1.1 – 1.3 m. The entire power unit is thus concealed behind the pilot’s back and does not create the unwanted drag of a traditional frame and propeller. It won’t interfere with flight, and your wing performance will not suffer when you reach the thermals and switch the motor off.
What’s the deal with the propeller size?
Why do traditional paramotors have propellers 2 – 2.5 times larger? Propeller efficiency directly depends on the size of the propeller. The smaller the propeller diameter the less thrust it creates, making takeoff more difficult and climb rate slower. So, if you simply downsize the diameter of a normal propeller to 50 cm, it becomes impossible to get airborne. Fortunately, efficiency and thrust can be significantly increased by introducing a duct and a propeller specifically modified for this application. We have spent much time calculating, modeling, designing, experimenting, verifying, and fine-tuning this propeller. We have finally achieved excellent results! A 50 kg thrust is sufficient for an easy takeoff and confident climb rate of 1.7 – 1.8 m/s (for an 82-kg pilot flying the Sky Exos paraglider).
Of course, such results were not easy to obtain. The propeller is made of carbon fiber so that it is able to provide enough strength to survive excessive force. The clearance between the propeller and the duct is only a couple of millimeters in order to maintain the desired propeller efficiency. The duct bracket is also made of carbon fiber, making it both durable, light, and preventing contact of the propeller with the duct surface. Naturally, the duct itself is also made of a modern, light composite material.
The introduction of a ducted fan also produced a beneficial side effect – significantly enhanced safety!
The propeller is completely encased inside the duct making it better protected from accidental contact with paraglider lines (unlike traditional paramotor units).
The Engine
The heart of our unit is a two-stroke 25 h.p. modified engine. Its special compact design minimizes protrusion from behind the pilot’s back. At the same time, this engine maintains an outstanding power-weight ratio.
Thrust Vector Control
Another innovation introduced in our paramotor is the capability of thrust vectoring at takeoff and in flight.
When flying a traditional paramotor, the engine is located directly behind the pilot’s back and the pilot sits in the harness virtually upright. This is not the most comfortable posture for a free-flyer and it creates significant drag in flight. The axis of propeller rotation should be horizontal in order to eliminate the danger of a twist caused by propeller torque reaction.
We have applied the concept of thrust vectoring, or to put it in other words, changing the position of the pilot’s back at takeoff and in flight. During takeoff, when the pilot runs with his back upright, the engine is pressed to the pilot’s back. However after takeoff, when the pilot is seated in the harness, the engine changes its thrust vector. The backrest of the harness gets reclined to allow the pilot to fly in a comfortable reclined position as in a traditional pod. The propeller axis of rotation remains horizontal thus eliminating the risk of getting a twist invoked by the propeller torque reaction.
The entire process of changing the pilot’s back position and adjusting the thrust vector takes place automatically with no additional actions by the pilot. He just gets in the harness after takeoff and immediately feels comfortable in it. The engine with the propeller positions itself in a safe, reclined orientation.
Pod Harness
Enclosed pod harnesses have actually become a must-have for XC pilots. Naturally, when creating the PowerPod concept we used a cocoon leg fairing. The pilot flies in a reclined position in his pod, which is in no way different from other conventional pod harnesses. Takeoff and landing also remain unchanged. In flight, the pilot is comfortable in a well-streamlined fairing suitable for long flights. The pod features a flight deck for the instruments and a built-in compartment for a rescue chute.
PowerPod Design:
Composites, Carbon Fiber, and Kevlar
A paramotor’s weight must be minimized to ensure maximum comfort and easy handling during takeoff. Our design features a wide range of light-weight composite materials, carbon fiber, and Kevlar.
We’ve achieved our goal of a 20 kg weight limit for the entire paramotor unit. In the future, we are determined to reach 15 kg.
Aesthetics
Last but not least, our PowerPod paramotor has an excellent aesthetic design.
There are no tubes, straps, or bulky welded frame.
The pod is elegant, streamlined, compact, and modern.
PowerPod Flight Performance
The weight
Less than 20 kg
Engine power
25 h.p
Propeller diameter
0.5 m
Static thrust
50 kgf
The Present and the Future
We have spent a great deal of time and effort creating the PowerPod paramotor harness concept. There was a lot of research, trials, designs, and tests of the materials and technologies. Everything throughout this process was carefully calculated, checked, tested, and fine-tuned many times in order to reach our stringent goals. The R&D phase was challenging, but the result was worth it! And of course, our paramotor pod harness has been test-flown many, many times!
The PowerPod prototype is currently undergoing flight trials and fine-tuning.
With this prototype we have faced and overcome the main key issues that allowed us to create a new class of paramotor pods:
Soon, we plan to arrange for mass production and complete fine-tuning of the unit to further improve performance and reduce weight. Setting-up production and running a cost estimate will help us determine a final price of the product.
We believe that the PowerPod concept will open new horizons and opportunities for every paragliding pilot.
The PowerPod introduces a new degree of freedom for every pilot: to choose the place and the time to fly, to quickly prepare for flight, and to take off in a modern lightweight, high-tech paramotor pod. This is the future of paragliding: freedom, simplicity, comfort, and convenience.
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