Building powerchutes for working Americans

1. Does Airframes Unlimited give "demo flights"?

  No. We are a small manufacturing facility with a very tight build schedule that leaves no time for "demo flights".

Also, our weather here locally ranges from "bad" to "very bad". There is little to no weather that would be considered suitable for "demo flights."

2. Does Airframes Unlimited offer flight instruction to it's customers?

No. Once again, we are a small manufacturing facility with a very tight build schedule that leaves no time for anything except building planes.

We do provide our customers with a nationwide listing of flight instructors that are more than happy to train them.

3. Are powerchutes safe to fly?

Yes, but they are no safer than the person at the controls. If you have a trained, levelheaded person flying the powerchute he is safer than a person driving a vehicle down the road.

If you have a blithering idiot at the controls, well... you know the rest of the story :)

4. How much training is needed to safely fly a powerchute ?

Having trained hundreds of students to fly powerchutes I can tell you that I have never seen anyone that required more than one afternoon of training. Many instructors now days prefer to give two or more afternoons of training. 

With that said, flying any type of aircraft is a lifelong commitment to learning and  proficiency. In other words, you will learn from every flight for your entire flying career.

5. How fast do powerchutes fly?

26-30 mph

6. What happens if the engine quits?

You can no longer maintain altitude, so you will be descending. Simply pilot the aircraft to a suitable landing spot and about 20' above the ground push both rudder bars out. This action raises the nose of the aircraft and prevents you from damaging the front end. The rest of the landing will be normal.

After you've landed, call home :)

7. How much wind can I fly my powerchute in? 

Most folks consider 12-15 mph winds to be about the limit for "fun" flying. Powerchutes can be safely flown in much higher winds by very experienced pilots BUT, it is not fun and the whole point of flying a powerchute is to have fun.

8. I'm 6'9" tall and weigh over 325 pounds. Can I fly a powerchute?

Of course. I recommend our USA1-b with the Rotax 503 engine upgrade for larger pilots. This powerchute will lift you well under any circumstance. Large pilots wishing to take a large passenger up will require our Outlaw Extreme powerchute. It will safely lift 600 pounds.

Also note that we custom build EVERY one of our aircraft for the BUYER. When you buy a powerchute from AFU it will fit you regardless of your size.

9. How much room do you need to take off and land a powerchute?

I recommend that beginners have an area of at least 700' x 200'  for their first flights after being soloed.

Why?  Because all pilots need options and a large field provides the new, inexperienced pilot with those options. Small fields offer no options and EVERYTHING has to go perfectly EVERY time.

10. Do I have to have a "pilots license" to fly a powerchute?

True "part 103" 1 seat powerchutes require no license to fly. 

We offer several part 103 powerchute variations to our customers. None of them require a license to fly.

After 1-31-08, anyone piloting a 2 seat powerchute MUST have a pilots license. 

Since the new Sport Pilot rule was adopted and began phasing in, almost no one buys 2 seat powerchutes anymore. There seems to be little to no interest in Sport Pilot among the powerchute buying community and instead of becoming easier to get a license it has become more difficult as full implementation of the new rule gets closer. Locating a Sport Pilot instructor close to you is not impossible but can be difficult and is expensive in every case. The 2 seat powerchute must also have an "n" number and an "airworthiness certificate".

Now days, most of the couples (husbands and wives, fathers and sons, etc) that used to buy 2 seat powerchutes buy a pair of 1 seat powerchutes instead. Why? 

 Because a pair of our 1 seaters actually costs less than our Outlaw Extreme 2 seater and couples have discovered over the years that it really isn't any fun to sit like a dummy in the back seat of a powerchute.

 The real fun is piloting the powerchute and most couples owning a 2 seat powerchute eventually wind up fighting over who is going to be actually flying the plane that day. Owning a pair of 1 seaters cures all those problems. No license needed to fly, no fighting over who actually gets to fly the powerchute and less overall expense.

11. Why do most AFU powerchutes have rigid suspension instead of shock suspension?

Because shock suspension is simply not needed. Landing a powerchute is easy. Very easy.

Simply watch my videos and you will see a normal powerchute landing. During a normal powerchute landing you cannot tell when you touch the ground. During a rough powerchute landing you can tell when you touch the ground. Rough powerchute landings do not bend or break parts.

Beginner powerchute pilots sometimes make rough landings. AFU powerchutes are built to take rough landings with no problems at all.

Shock suspension on a powerchute can accurately be described as "a cure for a problem that does not exist." Sadly, you will find a lot of these "cures" within the powerchute marketplace.

12. Does AFU offer a 4 cycle engine on their powerchutes.

No. 

AFU has done extensive testing of every available 4 cycle engine and has found all of them to be far too heavy and unable to produce sufficient horsepower and thrust for what we consider to be safe flight.

We sincerely hope that one day there will be a reliable, lightweight, high horsepower 4 cycle engine suitable for powerchute use but right now there isn't.

We are located in Athens Texas (that's 65 miles southeast of Dallas)