Motorcycle vs. Paramator – Tunisian Duel

The ability to fly is a life-long dream for most earth-bound denizens. It’s apparent from our mythology and our culture: whether its cape-clad superheroes surveying the landscape from above, or Howard Hughes’ jumbo jets that were the progenitors of contemporary commercial flight, humans have always been obsessed with flying in popular culture and as a business endeavor. Since biologically speaking, we aren’t outfitted with wings, we’ve turned to technological advances to mimic the covetous ability to fly, which only birds and some insects possess. Since the Wright brothers, man has experimented and refined their ability to fly. Increasingly, we’ve turned to more audacious attempts to fly on a more niche, individual basis, and never is this more apparent than with the practice of paramotoring.

Cross-Country Paramotoring

We’ve touched on paramotoring a couple times already at the Adrenalist. Once, as part of space age extreme sports, and another time to introduce you to paramotor racing. Paramotoring combines a turbine engine on the back of a harness and seat with two attachments from the seats leading to risers connecting a paragliding wing. Break toggles control the roll, and a hand-held throttle to control pitch, so whether you’re going 15 mph or 45, whether you’re 10 feet in the air or upwards of 17,000, you’re in control and high in the air without the interference of a plane’s cockpit.

Paramotoring Acrobatics

Paramotoring isn’t just about advances in technology, it’s our continued infatuation with flight opening up new venues to do so. Never is this more apparent then when you watch views of paramotoring and marvel at the beauty of it all; like being on the wing of a small Cessna, with the wind and the chill hitting you as you look at the vistas below and discern the curve of the earth’s surface from the clouds. It’s as close and as maneuverable as we’ve gotten to mimicking true, solo flight. And it’s not a hobby or sport relegated to just one region of the world. As you can see from the stunning videos, people are paramotoring from the clouds of Spain, to the deserts of Tunisia and the plains of Turkey.
Have your own paramotoring video? Share with us in the comments below or @DegreeMen on Twitter.