THE PILOT

The paramotor with a feet take off  is a paragliding device which is provided with an auxiliary propulsion, that is to say, with an explosion motor which functions in twice and air- cooled, consuming over 4 litres of fuel par hour and it is installed at the back side of the pilot seat.

Nowadays, as an aerial sport, the paramotor is the most autonomous, the lightest and most recent, since it just counts on 20 years history. The aircraft, when it is empty , weights 30 Kg., and allows to take off and land in a space less than 30 metres.

There have been some pilots who have deepened during their travels in paramotor. As just one flight as in several stages there have been very relevant routes. The first FAI distance record is hold by Pierre Allet over 307’41 km, taken place in 1996. Ramón Morillas surpassed that record over 644 km  in 1997, flying over the Mainland. In 2005, the Russian pilot Vladimir Makurin came to get it over 710’4 km. In straight line in Siberia, where they enjoy during Summer time more than 19 hours of sunny times.

In 2006, Ramón Morillas, after several months on preparation and choosing the days of greatest winds, he came again to brake the record placing this time the record over 951 km., from the towns of Lepe (Huelva) and Arue (Roquefort  - France). The pilot took that unforgettable flight in just 12 hours. That was possible because of the strength on height of the Southern winds. During many hours he could flight getting more than 110 km./h. He took off carrying 50 litres of fuel, and proving that way that the bar of 1000 km is reachable.

The most important matter to get that flight is the support of the trade winds. Those winds are the ones that the ships use to make those classical journeys which date from 1492 by the famous sailor Cristóbal Colón. The trade winds are air streams which go South or Southeast  direction through the Atlantic coastlines from the Mainland till the Canary Islands and they continue their route to the West towards the Caribbean sea.

As a first security measure, the Aerial Army will take two SAR helicopters, which will follow visually the pilot in different shift. Besides a 235 plane of the Aerial Army on the support mission and the press coverage.

The pilot, besides the flight equipment itself, the navigation tools and the record validation, will bring two search satellite systems which will work in a double function, one on the security to know where he is going all the time and the other on the media search, since those data will be taken through Internet by the people.
The first of those systems will transmit each five minutes and the other each 30 minutes as the back – up line to the main one. He will also bring a radio buoy which functions when falling down into water and 2 satellite mobile phone to do emergency calls or to contact directly with the mass media. One individual boat will be the optional medium if he falls down into water while waiting for the helicopter rescue.
As quick visual measures if he falls down into the sea, he will carry some flares, a marine colorant which works into contact with water, besides the lamps and the stroboscopic lights at night. The motor device is also ready to float.

In the case of the motor stop, the pilot  will do an alert call taking the opposite route. From that moment till landing, he will take over 15 minutes (3 coincidental positions). Those data will be seen, by Internet, in the control centre of the organisation setting. At the moment he touches water the radio buoy will inform any nearby craft in that area and the international rescue media.
In case there are bad weather conditions or  because of any problem during the flight, Ramón has to take another different route to Los Realejos, there have been arranged support and search mechanisms in Lanzarote and Morocco.

The visual search of the journey on live broadcast, thanks to the localisation tools the pilot will carry, will be done through the following web sites: