members,
Maybe we could sneak across the ice, then fly over the open water, and get
inside the planet like that.
Just dreaming.
DD
-> Anomalous Images Mailing List
Backpack Paraglider
Has your million-dollar stock portfolio shrunk to a few thousand? Well,
sell
low, baby, and fly high! It takes just $13,000* to snag the million-dollar
experience of individual flight. And it comes in a backpack, and you don't
need a license.Hammacher-Schlemmer is selling a powered paraglider developed by
Florida's Paraborne Aviation Company. Hammacher-Schlemmer promises
the ultra-light vehicle will deliver the thrills of hang gliding, sky
diving, and
flying all at once. Sir Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently
advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic." For adults weighing less than
253 pounds, the 2001 BackPlane may come close enough.The 51-pound machine isn't bone crushing, and it takes just a few steps to
launch in a 10 knot breeze, or you'll have to jog 10 or 20 steps to get
airborne on a still day. Once you're up, the two-cycle, one-cylinder
engine
will keep you aloft for a few hours on a tank holding less than five
gallons of
gas. The billowing 35' wide nylon canopy above ensures that you don't
need more power than the 22 horsepower and 6,500 rotations per minute
from your three-blade propeller. Start up with a push button or lawnmower-
style pull string. Steering is as easy as tilting the canopy right or left
with a
single hand-control and there are several settings for cruise control. You
can reach 35 miles per hours, but when landing bring your speed to a
walking pace by braking, Paraborne says.Now the big question: High how can this machine fly? In truth, 18,000
feet,
but don't, Paraborne begs. That might put you in the flight path of jumbo
jets, and you'll need an oxygen mask. A typical flight might be best
enjoyed
at between 500 and 2,000 feet. But if you do go a little nuts and your
engine
dies, don't panic: a power loss limits how much you can climb or hold
level,
but the glider will gently lower you to the point that you'll lose only
1,000 feet
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Subject: IMAGES: Backpack Paraglider
in altitude per 7,000 feet of ground crossed. That's more than enough time
to call all of your friends by cell phone to say, "Guess where I am?"*Price includes one at-home training session, but you'll probably need
three days of lessons before flying solo.-- Erik Baard, Technology Correspondent