SAFETY NOTICE

Issued by Angus Pinkerton – Chairman of the Flying & Safety Committee 9th May 2017. All paramotor and paraglider pilots, Instructors, Coaches and Safety Officers must READ, DIGEST AND TAKE ACTION on the contents of this Notice and keep it for future reference.

If you hold a copy of the BHPA Technical Manual this notice must be inserted into it and retained until it is withdrawn or superseded on instructions from the Chairman FSC.

JOJOWINGS INSTINCT PARAGLIDER

As the result of an investigation into a recent fatal paramotor incident a number of irregularities were discovered regarding the paramotor wing. The Jojowings Instinct S paraglider was found to be displaying an out of date certification placard indicating that the glider was rated to AFNOR “Standard”. However, since certification in 2005, the manufacturer has extended the weight range and added risers fitted with a trimmer system.

Both the extended weight range and the addition of the trimmers render the certification invalid. As part of the investigation, flight testing carried out by an independent EN paraglider test centre showed the glider to exhibit extremely dynamic responses to both symmetric and asymmetric collapses when flown with the trimmers set to ‘fast’. In the opinion of the test centre such responses would receive at least an EN D under the current EN certification system.

The BHPA would like to advise its members that anyone owning and flying a Jojowings Instinct paraglider with trimmers should sign and return a “Pilot’s Declaration: Uncertified Wings” form found on the BHPA web site at the following link;

http://www.bhpa.co.uk/pdf/Pilot_declaration_uncertified_wing_form.pdf

The BHPA recommends that the Jojowings Instinct paraglider should not be flown with the trimmers set in the “fast” position unless the pilot is confident that they have the necessary skills to recover the glider should a collapse occur. The BHPA recommendation for flying EN D class gliders is as follows:

“For pilots who have been flying for many years, fly more than 200 hours a year, often in strong thermic conditions, and are masters of the various SIV skills.”

The full report can be found at the following link;

http://www.bhpa.co.uk/documents/safety/formal_investigations/