Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines

Fancy making the most of Norrland’s endless days and getting airborne to have a bird’s eye view of the gorgeous landscapes? Paramotoring could be for you. Gerald Laffey’s guide will take you through the basics of getting up in to the sky, while two local Swedes will tell you what it’s really like.

Imagine flying over a lush pasture leading down to a vast, pristine lake. You’re climbing higher, exploring an unseen piece of the world you wouldn’t have otherwise experienced without the aid of your powered paraglider (paramotor). The sky is a dome of baby blue, and the lake is laid out like a soft, velvet blanket – you’re (almost) in heaven.

’Up into the heavens’

With a paramotor the pilot wears an aluminium-framed backpack fitted with a two-stroke piston engine. This drives a propeller to produce thrust. A banana-shaped “wing” is fashioned from ripstop fabric and lines connect the wing to a body harness worn by the pilot. To take off, the pilot revs the engine while running; the forward motion forces air into vents along the wing’s leading edge, filling hollow chambers, called cells, sewn into the canopy. Eventually, the wing “inflates,” forming itself into a conventional airfoil that generates lift.

Paramotoring evolved from paragliding, which emerged in the 1970s when a group of French daredevil climbers in the Alps decided to use parachutes to speed up their descents from peaks they’d climbed. Paragliding became popular and then, in 1980, Mike Byrne, an Englishman from Essex, constructed what is thought to be the first paramotor and coined the term. Soon after, aerospace companies began manufacturing and selling paramotors, and the sport swiftly gained momentum. Pilots could take off and land just about anywhere; no longer did they have to lug gear long distances to reach elevated launch points or use complicated tow systems. Today, paramotoring is a small but established sport in Norrland. To give you a flavour of the fun to be had we spoke to two relatively new Skellefteå-based flyers, Rickard Jonsson and Daniel Carlsson.

Gerald Laffey – When did you start paramotoring and why?

RJ – The summer of 2020; I’d always dreamt of flying. Not in a plane but like a bird and this is the closest I could get to that. I really wish I started sooner.

DC – A friend and I went for a course in Piteå in spring last year.

GL – How did you hear about paramotoring? 

RJ – As with many other flyers, I found it on YouTube – search for Tucker Gott if you want to see more.

DC – My friend told me about it and convinced me to go.

GL – How do you feel when you are flying?

RJ – When you first start out it’s a bit scary, but once you’ve flown more times and become more confident that fear goes away and you can truly relax and just take it in. At that point it’s totally amazing.

GL – Can you do it in any kind of weather?

RJ – No, you need calm weather, so we usually fly in the evenings. I won’t fly if the wind speed is over 4 metres/second but it also depends on the terrain.

DC – No, it needs to be calm weather or it becomes too unstable. There is no point in doing it in windy weather.

GL – Have you ever had a scary moment? What happened?

RJ – No, not once

DC – No, actually, never. During the training, they let us know everything that could go wrong. And for a flight to get really scary, a lot of things would have to go wrong. It is a really safe sport. Before every flight we have a thorough checklist and preflight routine so it all feels safe. 

GL – How much does it cost to start this activity?

RJ – The training costs around 15,000kr and is usually done in 2-3 weekends or 7 days straight; used gear is from 30,000kr and up. New gear is around 70,000kr and up.

GL – Where do you buy the equipment?

RJ – There are several companies in Sweden that sell the equipment. Other than that, there’s always used gear on Blocket.se.

GL – Do you need a licence?

RJ – Yes.

GL – What has been your best experience in the sky?

RJ – There have been many but one of the best was a warm summer evening when we were flying from the town over to a beach by the ocean and following the shore up north, just cruising a few metres above the ground.

DC – When I am standing ready to launch and all the flight checks are done and I take a deep breath, as I take the thrust forward and run, run, run until my feet get light and I see the trees sinking beneath me and I take a seat and I’m airborne. Wow.

GL – Is there something you think new flyers should know?

RJ – The weather needs to be right.

DC – It’s cheaper than snowmobiling and is a perfect year-round activity. All you need is nice weather. 

If you’re interested in paramotoring in the Skellefteå area, please email Rickard on rickard.jonsson@epiroc.com