Pod Coming Soon!
Finally a proper paragliding pod harness for all the frustrated pilots in the flat lands.
The SCOUT pod harness with optional climb assist allows you to take-off anywhere and climb to the nearest thermal in 5 minutes and continue paragliding as usual.
Less driving…
Do you have to drive 2 hours to reach the nearest mountains like we do or even 4 to reach the really good ones?
Isn’t it unfair wasting the whole day in order to fly for few hours?
…more paragliding
Well, with the SCOUT paragliding pod harness with optional climb assist you can skip the driving part and take off right at the edge of your home town.
Less trying and failing…
Checking the weather forecast since Monday … getting excited for Saturday weather since Wednesday … driving since 5 am … hiking …
Finally you are now on the take-off spot but the wind is from the wrong direction. Or is the inversion blocking the thermals and is the overcast shading the valley? Well, you already drove all that way so you give it a chance maybe it will get better in an hour or two.
Isn’t it unfair to waste the whole day parawaiting in order to not fly at all just because the weather forecasts was too optimistic?
…more paragliding
With the SCOUT paragliding pod harness with optional climb assist there is not need to leave home early based on the weather forecast. Leave home once you see the actual weather being perfect.
No more missed opportunities!
Saturday 5am: The forecast looks so-so. Not bad but not perfect either. You don’t want to waste another full day trying… Shall you go or rather stay? … Nah and let’s take a bike for a ride.
Later on Saturday 1pm: Looking at the sky full of cumulus clouds regretting that you did not go paragliding? Blaming yourself for missing this opportunity?
Isn’t it unfair that the weather forecast was too pesimistic and now it’s too late to start driving to the take-off spot?
…more paragliding
With the SCOUT paragliding pod harness with optional climb assist you can still do it!
You can be in the air in 30 minutes.
Less forecast watching!
Tuesday 1am: Looking out from the office window and there are cumulostradas everywhere. You wish you could go paragliding right now. Oh, what a day would that be.
Isn’t it unfair that you have to miss this opportunity because you did not think of checking the forecast yesterday?
…more paragliding
With the SCOUT paragliding pod harness with optional climb assist it does not take more time to get into the air than getting to the gym.
If it is perfect right now, go for it. Be spontaneous and leave work earlier and fly on Tuesdays.
Turns paragliding from a full-day into a 3-hour activity.
…more paragliding
With half liter of fuel get to the first thermall and enjoy the beeps of your vario and at the end of the day use the remaining fuel to fly back home.
Land in your backyard just in time for the barbeque party.
This is what we call free flying> take-off anywhere and any wind direction anytime and without all the paratraveling, parahiking and parawaiting.
Get more paragliding without sacrificing your family, hobbies and rest. Go with SCOUT paragliding pod harness!
What about those perfect days?
For wednesday the weekend forecast looks great!
Thursday is still good!!
Friday look the forecast is just perfect!!!
Saturday 5 am and you have the gut feeling it will be the perfect paragliding day!!!!
…more paragliding
Remove climb assist and go for regular paragliding in its purest form.
Because you can use the SCOUT paragliding pod harness with or without motor.
Take a regular paragliding pod harness,
add a motor
and nothing more!
From the very beginning we were strict about one thing: no compromises on the true paragliding pod harness feel.
We did not want to fine tune a paramotor to be more thermalling capable so we knew that we have to start with a regular pod harness in a first place and add motor.
The first two versions were unable to take-off.
Third was unable to land.
Fourth and fifth did that right but the reclined position was unstable in the air.
After 3 years, with the version 23 we finally got it right: the SCOUT pod harness with optional climb assist.
Fully reclined
Paramotors are surely cool but the upright position, rigid frame on your back and the metal bars under your arms just don’t feel right for thermalling. There are some paramotors like this one, that have weight-shift authority comparable to regular paragliding pod harness but they still keep the upright position.
There is a reason for this upright position as you need to keep the prop vertical. Some paramotors in order to adapt for thermalling get it half way: they recline the back=prop by 20 degrees which is kind of still acceptable for the propeller and kind of closer to what paragliding pilots seek. Exactly, a kind of solution.
In the SCOUT paragliding pod harness the pilot is fully reclined 40 degrees just like a regular pod harness. No compromises.
Fully automatic
The 40 degree angle between your back and the propeller is great for flying but impossible for take-off. Standing on the flat ground the prop would be pushing downwards.
Thus the only solution is variable geometry. Prop is parallel to your back on take-off and then it changes into 40 degrees angle when seated in.
This transition is fully automatic. Just lean back and the engine with prop will adjust itself. No need to let the toggles off your hands, no need to pull any levers or push any buttons.
Fully mechanic
There are some pretty cool solutions that got it fully reclined and even fully automatic. The transition is done by servos, controlled by gyroscopes and powered from batteries. There is some serious engineering in these electric climb-assisted harnesses. But they are heavier than paramotors, last only 20 minutes of flying or just 10 minutes of climbing and are crazy expensive. (We hope future development will bring us higher capacity at lower cost.)
Scout paragliding pod harness is all fully mechanic: no servos, controllers, no batteries.
It was a complicated task for us: we had to add lots of pulleys, two-axis rotation, sliders, springs and stoppers… but none of it is your business. Just lean back and let the system do its job for you.
True paragliding feel
The SCOUT pod harness is not a paramotor.
It has no metal bars under your arms nor a big metal frame on your back. The harness is made of straps and fabric for uncompromised paragliding feel.
Truth is no single strap is the same as on a regular pod harness. In fact the harness is a combination of a backpack, climbing harness and a paragliding harness. Again, none of it will you notice in flight.
With or without climb assist
Remove the motor and install an aerodynamic tail for paragliding within minutes.
Specs:
- SCOUT pod harness weight: 4.3 kg including foam protector
- optional climb assist weight + 14.7 kg (*)
- Vittorazi Atom 80 engine, 15 HP, two stroke
- 125 cm propeller
- fuel capacity 6 liters
- fuel consumption level flight 2.5 l/hour = more than 2 hours of flight
- time to climb 600 meters: 5 minutes (climb rate 1.8 m/s for 90kg pilot @ Gin Carrera L
(*) weight may be subject to change during further optimization (lighter prop, titanium bolts, aluminum carabiners, weight reduction on the mechanism)
Features:
- front reserve container with flight deck
- certified back foam protector
- hook knife, pocket for radio
- side pockets, under seat pocket, rear pocket
- camel back for water
- optional extra fuel capacity for extreme multi day adventures: +2 x 4 liters