Splish splash, I was take'n a bath...

His reaction: "Not again!" Really? WTF would you fly over water in something powered by a two stroke engine?
 
Hey... At least he was already in a chute. :D

Gotta be a world record for a response time and water rescue. Lol
 
I've been paramotor swimming myself... I was a lot closer to shore, though I didn't have a self inflating flotation device like he did. Fortunately I splashed down right next to a boat.

My engine failure had nothing to do with the fact that it was a 2-stroke; it was an ignition failure.
 
I saw a guy last year paramotoring around Half Moon Bay just north of the harbor. He never did get much past gliding distance to land, but all the while I was thinking, 'If his motor quit, he would have quite an annoyance.'

I'm guessing once you put one of these rigs in the drink, especially salt water, it's toast.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I saw a guy last year paramotoring around Half Moon Bay just north of the harbor. He never did get much past gliding distance to land, but all the while I was thinking, 'If his motor quit, he would have quite an annoyance.'

I'm guessing once you put one of these rigs in the drink, especially salt water, it's toast.
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Sac, just north of the harbor at Half Moon Bay puts him on the mountain side of the airport. Different harbor perhaps?
 
I don't think that radio is going to work anymore.
 
MAKG1 said:
Sac, just north of the harbor at Half Moon Bay puts him on the mountain side of the airport. Different harbor perhaps?
Click to expand...

Ah, I'm dyslexic. I meant just South, going up and down the harbor by Pillar Point.
 
What!!? No loud cussing before ditching? What's wrong with pilots now days? o_O
 
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Sac Arrow said:
Ah, I'm dyslexic. I meant just South, going up and down the harbor by Pillar Point.
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Yeah, that would be a really unpleasant place for an unscheduled dunk in the ocean. I did my water evac training not too far from there. It was nasty with a dunk suit and life jacket. Would be much worse without.

And that's even if there aren't any sharks.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I'm guessing once you put one of these rigs in the drink, especially salt water, it's toast.
Click to expand...

In my case, after getting it out of the water (it was salt water) I rinsed it with fresh water and sprayed a crapload of WD-40 into the engine while pulling the start cord over and over. Didn't start, of course, but the next day I got it started. Without even disassembling the engine, it continued to run fine for several more years (after replacing the flaky ignition module).

I wasn't (initially) even flying over the water; I was cruising along the beach at about 20' altitude. Some people in a boat in the channel waved at me, so I decided to circle them... and naturally the engine chose that moment to quit. First thing the guy in the boat asked after I got myself untangled was "did you do that on purpose?". Then he didn't want me to get in his boat because he "didn't want to get it wet." Jeez. Fortunately another boat came by and helped me drag my stuff out of the water and took me to the shore, right around the time the fire department boat arrived... and started sinking because they forgot to put in the drain plug before setting out...
 
Gotta respect anyone that tries to send a text while a rescue swimmer is trying to help him.

Oh wait, no you don't.
 
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