Gilo cardozo wikipedia
Wiltshire
The team's World record attempt was launched in Monaco |
A Wiltshire family have achieved the World's first record for the longest solar-powered electric flight using a paramotor.
The paramotor is roughly the size of a backpack with propellers and a parachute attached.
The Cardozo family from Mere, and five friends flew 2,000 kilmotres from Monaco to Morroco.
They set off on Friday 24 July, and touched down 13 days later on Thursday 5 August.
The flight was the first to use the power of the sun and new rechargeable and biofuel technologies.
The team covered over 150km a day and money raised from the flight will go to Ataxia UK, a charity which helps support people with the condition, their families and carers, and fund research into causes and potential treatments.
It's been an epic trip. The last little bit over the Straits of Gibraltar was the most glorious flight |
Ataxia is a neurological condition which gradually sees people with the condition lose control of their body and have problems with balance, speech, and co-ordination.
This happens because the disease affects the parts of the nervous system that normally control coordination and balance.
Damian Cardozo and his wife Madeleine have helped to organise several fundraising events for the charity after discovering that three of their six children had Ataxia in December 2007.
Damian Cardozo described the flight as a mixture of nerves and happiness |
This led to Damian, his son Gilo and daughter Tilly, along with five fellow pilots deciding to attempt the paramotor flight challenge to raise more money and awareness for Ataxia UK.
Speaking shortly after the team landed in Morocco, Damian said: "It's been an epic trip. The last little bit over the Straits of Gibraltar was the most glorious flight.
"Whilst you're up there you feel a mixture of nerves looking down at the sea and thinking what would happen if your engine failed, and then a s Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Two explorers have set off from Knightsbridge, London Wednesday morning (0900 GMT) in a propeller-powered dune buggy heading for the Sahara. Giles Cardozo, age 29, from Dorset, with chief pilot and expedition leader Neil Laughton, age 45, an ex-SAS officer, will fly and drive the amazing two-seater vehicle more than 6,000-km (3,750-miles) to fabled Timbuktu on February 20. "I just can't wait to see their faces when we fly in and start playing football with them. I don't think they will be able to believe somebody in a flying car has just visited them," 'extreme golfer' Mr Laughton said before the departure. Timbuktu (Timbuctoo; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; French: Tombouctou) is an isolated city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali. They will traverse Europe and Africa about 42 days to arrive at the city in Mali, West Africa before returning home via Senegal. The home-made 450-kilogram Skycar has been designed by Cardozo in just 18 months. It is the world's first road legal bio fuelled flying car. It is a four cylinders modified Rage Motorsport off-road racing buggy which was approved by the government last month. It runs on bioethanol and is powered by a modified 140bhp Yamaha R1 superbike engine with a lightweight automatic continuously variable transmission from a snowmobile. The team invested about £250,000 ($380,000) to make the 1000cc engine Skycar desert-proof. In its maiden voyage, the flying car will be escorted by up to 13 people convoy including an eight-wheel truck, two Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4s and several motorbikes. It has left London's Sheraton Park Tower hotel, heading through the capital to Dunsfold airfield in Surrey. The team had initially planned to take the air route across the English Channel, but the 35km flight was vetoed by aviation authorities. Skycar is required by law to obtain a license from Britain's Civil Aviat Form of ultralight aviation Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor (a paramotor) which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on level ground, by the pilot alone—no assistance is required. In many countries, including the United States, powered paragliding is minimally regulated and requires no license. The ability to fly both low and slow safely, the "open" feel, the minimal equipment and maintenance costs, and the portability are claimed to be this type of flying's greatest merits. Powered paragliders usually fly between 15 and 50 mph (24 and 80 km/h) at altitudes from 'foot-dragging' up about to 18,000 ft (5,500 m) or more with certain permission. Due to the paramotor's slow forward speed and nature of a soft wing, it is risky to operate in high winds, turbulence, or intense thermal activity, especially for inexperienced pilots. The paramotor, weighing from 45 to 90 lb (20 to 41 kg) is supported by the pilot during takeoff. After a brief run (typically 10 ft (3.0 m)) the wing lifts the motor and its harnessed pilot off the ground. After takeoff, the pilot gets into the seat and sits suspended beneath the inflated paraglider wing like a pendulum. Control is available using right and left brake toggles and a hand-held throttle control for the motor and propeller speed. Some rigs are equipped with trimmers and speed bar to adjust angle of incidence, which also changes the angle of attack for increased or reduced speed. Brake toggles and weight shift is the general method for controlling yaw and roll (turning). Tip brakes and stabilo steering (if equipped) will also affect yaw and roll, and they may be used for more efficient flying or when required by the wing manufacturer in certain wing configurations s Rotron Power Limited is a British aircraft engine manufacturer based in Semley, Wiltshire. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of Wankel engines for unmanned aerial vehicles, light aircraft and helicopters. The company was founded in 2008 by Gilo Cardozo, who designed the company's first Wankel engine to power a paramotor flight over Mount Everest on 14 May 2007. The company's RT300 is a Wankel single-rotor design that produces 31 to 50 hp (23 to 37 kW), while the twin-rotor RT600 produces 53 to 100 hp (40 to 75 kW). Summary of aircraft engines built by Rotron Power: Parajet Skycar expedition takes off from London to Timbuktu
Powered paragliding
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