Natural body attitude during the take-off run and low weight of the backpack		Efficient control by pilot’s weight shifting and the harness – suspension lowering		Streamwise position of the pilot helps to increase prop efficiency bringing an ideal speed/consumption (i.e. range) ratio

Take off

When pilot carries the paramotor, the struts point towards the ground, not limiting the pilot in his movements. Before start, the prop thrust line is pitched slightly downwards, allowing the pilot’s body to tilt naturally when starting to run. At the moment of starting the take-off run the prop thrust line is still slightly pitched downwards, allowing the pilot’s body to keep a natural attitude. After the take-off, the sliding grommets on the struts move forward due to the tension of leg straps – and the pantograph starts to optimise the direction of thrust of the power unit. By changing the position of his legs the pilot changes the position of sliding grommets and thus vectors the thrust of the power unit. The system works automatically, allowing the pilot to devote his attention fully to controlling the flight. The Praying Mantis is equipped with a double bar for controlling both the pilot’s attitude and the flight. After the start, the pilot remains in a vertical position, allowing him to run in case of a bouncy take-off or in a forced landing if a loss of power occurs. Upon reaching a safe altitude, the pilot puts his heel into the bar No.1. By actuating the bar, the pilot’s body tilts back to the low-drag reclining position (this movement, however, does not change the angle of incidence of the paraglider wing). The position gets fixed automatically, as the sliding grommets move on struts until they lock into the end grooves. By moving the heel to bar No. 2 (it offers itself to the pilot once he takes the reclining position), and pushing on it (speed system), it is possible to increase the speed of the MPG by reduction of the paraglider wing angle of incidence. A reverse process is used if pilot needs to return to upright position. Bar No.2 is released and bar No.1 actuated. This action loosens the sliding grommets’ locks, permitting their release and their movement back to the start and landing position. Thus the pilot is ready for the landing manoeuvre.

Note!!!
Due to the tilt of the pilot and transition of the main snap-ring of the suspension there also changes the suspension height and consequently also the position of the control handles. That is why the pilot must pay attention to the changed travel of the control handles during their operation, so as not to stall the wing unwillingly.

Landing

During the landing manoeuvre the pilot’s does the following:

1. If he does not stand in the speed bar No.2 and the sliding grommets on struts are secured in their terminal position:

a) he steps off the bar No.1. (in emergency it is possible to land relatively safely even with sliding grommets’ secured in their terminal position on the struts, but for correct functioning of the harness it is desirable for the above stated manoeuvre to be performed – step off the bar No.1 and continue in compliance with point b).
b) he releases the tension in sliding grommets’ locks, releases them and allows them to return to their position for start and landing
c) he releases and leaves bar No.1, frees his legs from the harness seat and gets ready for the touch-down and final landing run.
2. If the pilot stands in the speed bar No.2, he must leave the bar and proceed in compliance with points a, b, c

 

Pre-flight preparation

Paramotor assembly

• Remove the engine frame from the transport package and put it on the base pegs.
• Take the propeller protector (radial rods with the netting) and, according to the colour coding,
   attach it to the frame.
• Adjust the position of rods and netting and attach the terminal L- bracket to the frame pegs.
• Tauten the protector rods and netting by hooking the tightening tubes into the hooks on the    circumference of the propeller protector frame.
• Attach the harness to the paramotor in the six connection points by:
  • two mini carabiners on shoulder straps.
  • two M6 bolts with self-locking nuts on the anatomic back support
  • two brackets on the struts

click on the picture to zoom in

Propeller

Place the propeller onto the reduction gear flange, matching their holes. Put the front propeller flange in place and secure it with four high-tensile bolts. Tighten the bolts with the enclosed key (tighten the opposing ones, one at a time, to avoid distorting the flange); torque to approximately 10 Nm (1 kgm). Avoid over-tightening the bolts – it may damage the propeller hub. Take care of correct sense of attaching of the prop, i.e. with its leading edge towards the engine. We recommend to turn the propeller by hand at least once before the start so as to check the propeller is correctly “seated”. Engine.

Engine

If necessary, press the manual pump several times so as to flood the fuel system and the electric pump with petrol.

Battery

Insert a charged starting battery to the battery compartment, connect the terminals, observing their polarity, and close the battery compartment.

Harness and its adjustments according to the pilot’s physical size

The harness is equipped with load-carrying straps – see fig. 1, 2 (red, green, yellow). All the straps meet in an eyelet, designed for their connection to the canopy. Red straps LP (left (L) – right (P) side) are interconnected with a belly strap, a buckle and the strap trim. The foot straps are equipped with the same buckles and trim. The shoulder straps with trim are interconnected by a breast strap, a buckle and the tightening trim. In total, the harness contains four Cobra click-lock buckles. The pilot dons the harness and adjusts the shoulder straps carrying the paramotor on the ground. Then he tightens the breast strap so that the anatomic back fits his shoulders and the paramotor weight is thus distributed to the shoulders and back above the pelvis. It is necessary to tighten the foot straps and adjust the fit of the green straps - fig. 1. When lifting the main snap-ring of the suspension to the flight position of the powered paraglider – fig.1, it is necessary to check that the tension of the blue strap is adjusted and if need be, use the trim to equalize it to the red strap. The sliding grommets on the struts have to be at the end stop near the anatomic back.

click on the figure to zoom in

Engine throttle handle

The throttle control handle is positioned in the left hand. The power is increased by depressing the lever and vice versa.

Ignition switch and starter button

The handle is equipped with two buttons. The red “switching off” button (at the thumb of left hand) serves to shut down the engine. The black button “starter” serves to start the engine. It is at the opposite end of the handle.








Fuel indicator and indication of the charging during a flight
The throttle handle is equipped with six LED diodes. Five diodes light when is the tank fuel. Diode lights switch off one by one when the amount of the fuel decreases. When the last diode twinkles, it signalises that there is enough fuel for last 10 minutes of a flight. The six-diode indicates the process of the charging in this way: -continual light: charging -twinkled light: full charged battery -light diode does not light: fault of the charging; in this case, a pilot has last 20-50 minutes for the flight and landing (It depends on how the battery is charged).

The main switch

The rocker-type selector switch is placed on the upper cover of the ignition and battery. The electronic ignition of the engine, fuel indicator and starting relay are started by turning on the rocker-type selector switch. All function mentioned above are shut down by turning off the rocker-type selector switch. By this is possible to shut down the running engine.

Rescue system

The standby parachute is positioned on the breast of the pilot in a container. It is thrown-off by a right hand.

The advantages the Praying Mantis 2 paramotor offers

1) low weight
2) weight distribution into the shoulders and arms of the pilot (the shoulder straps carry approx. 10 kg)
3) excellent weight – performance ratio
4) comfortable and low-drag position of the pilot
5) simple start
6) complete interchangeability of the protective frame spare parts
7) electronic monitoring of the quantity of fuel and cooling fluid
8) a choice of available powerplants
9) ease of transport - the whole paramotor including the parachute fits in one package
10) excellent speed/consumption ratio