Along with various electric-powered aircraft that were on display at AirVenture Oshkosh this week, down on the Ultralight flight line, Yuneec was displaying a sporty “electric paramotor” called the E-Pac, for the first time in the U.S. The motor/propeller system is designed to be worn like a backpack by a pilot — or just about any brave soul, since no pilot certificate is required — who flies beneath a powered-parachute-type canopy. The pack weighs about 65 pounds, about the same as a similar gas-powered unit, said Eric Dufour, an experienced paraglider (and winner of the U.S. national paramotor competitions in 2003 through 2006), who helped Yuneec to develop the product. “It’s very quiet and smooth to fly,” Dufour said, “so if you fly for only 30 or 40 minutes, it is worth the same as flying for two hours with noise and vibration.”
It takes about an hour and a half to recharge the batteries. Then, according to the Yuneec Web site, “Operation is simplicity itself. …. Press the power switch, inflate your wing, squeeze the throttle and the sky is yours.” The paraglider system comprises the engine, battery pack, and a canopy, which would total somewhere around $11,000. The entire system is very compact and easily fits in the trunk of a car, or it can be transported by train or airplane.
