Our team pilots inspire in China

Team buddies Phil Jennings (left) and Ric Womersley have been out having fun in China. Ric wrote back to Parajet central with the following words…

One of the great things about being part of the Parajet team is some of the opportunities we get to travel! Added into the fact that these opportunities are often seriously last minute can make life interesting.

When waking up last Monday to rain and low cloud meaning another flightless day in Yorkshire it was great to get a call from Parajet asking if I was available for a trip to China – that Wednesday!

I joined up with fellow Parajet team dude Phil Jennings to pack two Zenith’s and we set off to Heathrow on Wednesday afternoon to catch a flight to Hong Kong. The amazing Zenith is what makes these trips possible and after getting rid of any trace of fuel we were able to pack our gear into a few extra hold bags and the adventure began.

After meeting the team we will be working with on Thursday night we were picked up in the morning to head to the base we’d be flying from. In this incredible 50m high inflatable hanger we assembled our machines and located fuel. Harder than it sounds in China where it’s currently forbidden to store fuel outside of your vehicle.

Unfortunately heavy rain would put a halt to the demonstration and the pressure was on with so many officials around to see the action – hints of flying inside the hanger were made but luckily the rain lightened which gave us the opportunity to really show what is possible with our Parajet’s. We managed 15 minutes of formation flying for the officials and film crew before rain and a strengthening side wind stopped the fun.

For Phil and I it was then onward to explore this amazing city and check out the food!

The next day started leisurely with some very tasty Dim Sum before traveling to Guangdong with a mission to scope out the area for a future trip. After traveling around the whole town, the prefect area was found very near where we started which was funny. Plans were then hatched over some more local cuisine!

Sunday morning and the weather was still wet so we used this opportunity to take time packing our Zenith’s, it is very important to get rid of the smell of fuel when traveling with Paramotors so it pays to take your time. We started by draining the fuel and running the motors dry. We then cleaned the whole paramotors with brake cleaner and washed out the fuel tanks. Then we taped up the intake and exhaust and sealed the motors and fuel tanks in black bags. Finally packing the ‘water’ (fuel) tanks in with the wings.

Arriving back at Heathrow we had no issues so it was worth the effort!