Not Microlights of New Zealand - Mosquitos and Paramotors

I have recently posted about a strange type of microlight in Japan (which was registered there) and followed up with an expose on a Foot Launched Powered Hang Glider called a Mosquito flying at Orewa Beach in New Zealand.

Now Guntram Gross from Whangarei who is a senior weightshift instructor has been in contact with a lot of information on Mosquitos and Paramotors.  Guntram, who owns a Mosquito himself advises that there are about 20 Mosquitos in New Zealand and they do not need to be registered because they are foot launched and come under the Part 149 certificate of the New Zealand Hang Gliding and Parachute Association (NZHGPA).  The NZHGPA also controls foot launched powered parachutes or Paramotors of which Guntram reckons that are between 50 and 70 in New Zealand.  Under the Part 149 of the NZHGPA and because they are foot launched, often from parks, Mosquitos and Paramotors can fly over built up areas above 500 feet. That is not the case for microlights which come under the Part 149 certificate of the Microlight Aircraft Association of New Zealand (MAANZ), which cannot fly over built up areas.  I guess it could be that microlights are heavier and faster too.  There is a class of microlight that is a powered parachute with a trike unit below and these are called Paramotor Trikes and they have to be registered as a microlight.

All clear then?  Below are some examples:

Guntram Gross and his Mosquito.

A couple of Paramotors that I photo'd at Parakai in 2011.

And their intrepid pilots.  On the right is Greg Dawson-Sheehan who now owns the Aeroprakt Vixxen ZK-VXN and who I was talking to only this morning at Kaipara Flats.

And to round off the story, here is the Tidco Powerchute ZK-FET that I photo'd in a hangar at Waihi Beach in 2017 which is a Paramotor Trike and is registered as a microlight.  I would love to see a photo of one of these flying in New Zealand - has anyone out there got such a photo?

I will be offline from the blog for a few weeks cruising up the Yangtze River.