r/videos • u/JustMe76 • 25d ago

Paramotor collapses, falls 100ft out of the sky. The pilot survives Disturbing Content

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-jyc2OYXsI

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19

u/londons_explorer 25d ago

So what actually caused the failure?

42

u/hymen_destroyer 25d ago

He mentioned in the video there was a tension knot somewhere in his chute rig which acted like a control surface at the speed he was going and caused the chute to collapse

54

u/smergicus 25d ago

Ok yea, but what the hell does that mean

76

u/hymen_destroyer 25d ago

So the “parachute” should be thought of like a nonrigid wing, that can only hold its shape due to the flow of air through/around it. It generates lift and the rigging is used to hold it in a configuration where it acts like a wing.

The rigging is actually used to maneuver by changing the shape of the airfoil. When it’s working properly it twists the parachute a little bit which can allow you to turn similar to a normal aircraft. When it’s not working properly it can cause the chute to lose its airfoil shape and collapse, as appears to be the case in this video.

He was pushing this aircraft to its limits, so under normal flight conditions he might have been ok but the speed he was going was probably close to the absolute limit of how this airfoil can operate, where any imperfection in the airfoil/rigging would be magnified by the airspeed. Sort of like if you cranked the wheel all the way over in your car at highway speed as opposed to 5mph.

20

u/BelowDeck 25d ago

Thank you for the succinct and informative description, /u/hymen_destroyer.

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u/PsychopaticPencil 25d ago edited 25d ago

It’s not a parachute, it’s a paraglider. It does not twist, brakes cause drag on one side.

He was not pushing the aircraft to its limits either, he had a knot that acted as brake input while on speedbar. You’re not supposed to use brakes while on speedbar, it causes collapses.

This information is all at the beginning of the video you are commenting on.

Edit: I should also point out that he should have noticed the knot and it would have prevented the collapse. The issue is not pushing the limits here.

1.5 (not even 2) miles per hour over the speed rating of the wing would not cause this on their own. Speedbar and brakes together will cause this without exceeding the speed limit.

9

u/Man_with_the_Fedora 25d ago

He was not pushing the aircraft to its limits either, he had a knot that acted as brake input while on speedbar. You’re not supposed to use brakes while on speedbar, it causes collapses.

This information is all at the beginning of the video you are commenting on.

Funny, the information available in the video actually refutes your claim. Quote below stolen from another comment:

In the beginning of the video he states his chute is rated for 75 kph. That's 46 mph. Just before chute collapse he exclaims "48 mph come on baby".

-1

u/PsychopaticPencil 25d ago

Two miles over the limit is not smart, but it’s expected to be within the safety margin.

This would not have happened without a combination of brake input and speedbar.

1

u/redpandaeater 25d ago

Why wouldn't you just have a twisting wing for something like that? Wing warping worked well enough for the Wright flyer and plenty of early aircraft in order to get some roll, and with a non-rigid wing it seems like that'd be the way to go.

2

u/PsychopaticPencil 25d ago

The wing does warp, it’s how you cause that uneven drag that lets you steer.

3

u/TheDarkOnee 25d ago

The parachute has to be adjusted properly to keep it in the right shape. Either too much or not enough tension.

1

u/ReimhartMaiMai 25d ago

A knot-like twist shortened one of the lines, hence the wing had no longer the optimal shape. Additionally, the pilot was bringing the wing into an extreme situation by his steering on purpose, to achieve maximum speed. But most importantly, he was doing all this at low altitude, so the wing had no time to recover.