This morning, with low tide in Newport Coast, we hit the beach with friends to discover creepy crawlies not visible or accessible most of the time.
As we were eating hot dogs on the beach, a gang of slow and low flying aliens popped up in the air northbound. I grabbed my wife's iPhone and took the film below.
It turned out this was a PPC group. PPC stands for powered parachute - see picture below. These are motorized parachutes with wheels. In the U.S., the single seat PPCs require no license or flight instruction by the FAA to fly. Airspeed is 25-35 mph (40-60 km/h), and altitude is anywhere from a few feet off the ground up to 18,000+ feet (5.5 km). Typical flight altitude is between 500 and 1,500 feet (150 - 500 meters) and can last up to 3 hours. A new single seat PPC is typically $10,000.
The video I shot appeared to be from a simpler version of PPCs with backpack sized motors with no wheels more like this one:
These aerial vehicles are loads of fun. I remember one landed in the boxing ring many years ago during a match between Riddick Bowe and someone. The flyer got tangled up mid fight and received a few blows from Bowe's manager.
Here's a better video than mine from YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4papFKYztk
As we were eating hot dogs on the beach, a gang of slow and low flying aliens popped up in the air northbound. I grabbed my wife's iPhone and took the film below.
It turned out this was a PPC group. PPC stands for powered parachute - see picture below. These are motorized parachutes with wheels. In the U.S., the single seat PPCs require no license or flight instruction by the FAA to fly. Airspeed is 25-35 mph (40-60 km/h), and altitude is anywhere from a few feet off the ground up to 18,000+ feet (5.5 km). Typical flight altitude is between 500 and 1,500 feet (150 - 500 meters) and can last up to 3 hours. A new single seat PPC is typically $10,000.
The video I shot appeared to be from a simpler version of PPCs with backpack sized motors with no wheels more like this one:
These aerial vehicles are loads of fun. I remember one landed in the boxing ring many years ago during a match between Riddick Bowe and someone. The flyer got tangled up mid fight and received a few blows from Bowe's manager.
Here's a better video than mine from YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4papFKYztk
I saw one of these in action down in Baja, Mexico. It looked very fun and very dangerous. I wasn't sure if it was legal to use these things in California.
ReplyDelete-SLP
Well it is legal in California. Should we do our next team building with PPCs? We can pick up any trash floating in the air. That way we can combine it with a social responsibility activity.
ReplyDelete