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Aerial photography from a powered paraglider
Helpful advice & comments from PPG photographer Charles Chandler
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Charles Chandler flying his PPG (powered paraglider) over open water.
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The powered paraglider (PPG or paramotor) has distinct advantages for an aerial photographer. Before discussing them, though, you face the cost of getting one and operating it.
COST
The cost of ownership will be around $40 per hour (if you don't crash and destroy propellers often). No one is likely to rent you a paramotor, so you will need to make an initial investment of about $10,000 to acquire your own. Since you fly it yourself, you won't need a pilot or even a pilot's license. It meets the FAA Part 103 ultralight requirements. Operating under part 103 means there are restrictions on where you are permitted to fly it. A big advantage a PPG has, though, is that you can take it with you to remote places for aerial photography or just for the pure pleasure of flying where there are no helicopters or fixed wing airplanes for hire.
ADVANTAGES FOR THE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Among its specific advantages for aerial photography is the relatively large, unobstructed shooting "window" in front of you. Usually I shoot at a horizontal angle of plus or minus 45 degrees from straight ahead - i.e. 45 degrees left or right. The vertical angle usually is between horizontal and -45 degrees - i.e. from as high as the horizon down to 45 degrees below the horizon line. Shooting at steeper vertical angles can be problematic since your knees tend to end up in the picture, very noticeable with a wide angle lens, especially when rotating the camera to frame a scene vertically. I often get my knees in shots and have to either reshoot or crop them out later. Shooting to the side is difficult because the paraglider's risers get in the way. By the way, I have taken a few pictures with my legs and feet placed intentionally in the frame for the excitement factor.
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ADVANTAGES FOR THE PILOT
The PPG's pendulum stability gives it another advantage over other aircraft. When flying in a straight line with your hands off the toggles, the wing will level itself after a disturbance and return to the trim speed (after a few oscillations). You can make small turning corrections by shifting your body weight from one butt cheek to the other. Sitting cross-legged is comfortable and works well. If you want to turn to the left, swing your right leg over your left and fly cross-legged. As an important aside, you should know that PPGs are not usually flown in turbulent air.
TIPS FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER/PILOT
When I am taking pictures from a PPG, I almost always have both hands supporting my camera in the normal fashion. I have a hand throttle for the PPG strapped to my left hand (I am right handed) that sometimes gets in the way, but it is not too restrictive. (Often I will accidentally hit the engine kill switch momentarily - not a big problem, but one I like to react to quickly). I am able to twist my zoom lens with my left hand. If you are right handed and you are learning to power paraglide, it is wise to begin with the throttle in your left hand - vice-versa for lefties.
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When flying over populated areas, you must to be sure that nothing can drop from your hands.
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Powered paragliding is popular just about anywhere it is permitted - in the mountains, the desert and on the coast. A "belly bag" is an essential accessory.
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This leaves your most coordinated hand to do such things as holding your camera, punching buttons on your GPS or on your variometer (an instrument that tells you the rate of descent or climb and determines whether level flight is being maintained), removing or returning your camera to or from your belly pack, zipping or unzipping the belly pack, removing or replacing the lens cap, changing settings on your camera, removing the mirror from your side pocket to check the level in the fuel tank behind you, and so on.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO BEAR IN MIND
A camera strap is essential to prevent you from dropping your camera and will also prevent the camera from accidentally going into the propeller. I don't recommend putting the strap around your neck. I have a carabiner (an oblong metal ring with a spring clip used in mountaineering) on which I keep my shoulder strap. I hook the strap onto it before removing the camera from my belly bag.
INSTRUMENTS
My instruments include an electronic variometer/altimeter and two GPS units. The GPS is invaluable; it tells you your ground speed. Knowing your ground speed, you can quickly calculate the wind speed since you already know the trim airspeed of your glider. For example, if your airspeed with hands off the toggles is 25 mph and if the wind speed is 15 mph, your ground speed must be 10 mph. You can determine wind direction by flying in a circle and noting your ground speed.
Knowing what the wind direction and its velocity are is very good information to have when you are preparing to land at a field which has no wind indicator.
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WHAT IS A BELLY BAG?
I have been referring to a "belly bag." Mine is a Sup-Air Cockpit instrument console. Its upper part supports my instruments. It has a lower pouch which is normally used for storing lunch or water, for example. In my case, the lower part of the bag holds my camera - a Nikon D300 with an AF-S Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 G ED lens. It is bulky and heavy. The Cockpit's lunch bag accommodates it easily. When I am not shooting but don't want to store the camera away, I rest it on top of the instruments or on my legs.
LAUNCHING YOUR PPG
I find it quite difficult to launch my powered paraglider in still air, especially from a soft sand beach. In fact, if there is no wind, I don't even bother trying anymore.
Ideally, I would have a steady 7 to 10 mph breeze, and do what is called a reverse launch. I can easily inflate the wing while facing it, a few steps back. When the wing comes up, I fly it overhead to check it visually.
When I am ready to take off, I turn around to run into the wind while gradually bringing the power up.
Alright, you can see that I need a breeze to get going. What that means to me as a photographer is frustration, because we know that the best time of day for beautiful pictures is at the beginning and end of the day. The winds are usually light or dead at the beginning and end of the day and the air is often glassy smooth at these times as well, which is great for flying once you are aloft.
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A 7 to 10 mph wind is ideal for launching a PPG. Once the wing is aloft, perform a visual inspection of it before taking off..
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A quick run into the wind, and up you go. A PPG flies slowly, around 25 mph, a good speed for aerial photography.
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So it is a significant issue with the PPG for those of us who have trouble forward launching in no wind. (In a forward launch, you start your run with the canopy laid out behind you. Visit the USPPA U.S. Powered Paragliding Association website for more detailed information.)
SPEED
A PPG flies slowly, usually with an airspeed around 25 mph. This is a good speed for aerial photography. The slower the better. One disadvantage of slow flying is your inability to go places in a short time. Another is the effect of winds. Here is an example of how they can work together to fluster you: Let's say you want to fly to an island 10 miles upwind and you are flying into a 15 mph wind at 25 mph. Your ground speed will be 10 mph. It will take you an hour to get to the island. The good news is that on the return trip, with the same wind speed (only now it's blowing in the direction you are heading), your ground speed will be 40 mph and it will only take you 15 minutes.
A LITTLE PERSONAL HISTORY
I purchased my first PPG at the age of 50, in 2006, after having had ultralight experience, flying hang gliders and ultralight kites, and also doing some skydiving. I was attracted to powered paragliding mostly by the portability aspect of the PPG. Compared with a powered hang glider, transporting and setting up a PPG is easy.
SELECTING YOUR MOTOR
When selecting my first motor, I went to a PPG event in Connecticut. I talked to individual pilots, not dealers. The concensus was that the Fresh Breeze (FB) was the best motor. So that was my first motor, the Simonini model. I had good experiences with it, although I pretty much wore it out by mid May 2008. So I bought the same product again, except with a titanium cage, which is stronger, lighter and more streamlined. One thing very good about the FB is that it is very quiet. This is an important consideration, since you are almost certain to be flying near people. It helps relations if your motor is not annoyingly noisy.
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