The Flycocoon electric propulsion system for paragliders, a prototype of which was seen in the sky at the last Coupe Icare festival, has recently gone into production.
It uses Flytec‘s electric motor, and a bullet-shaped fibreglass cockpit. The battery sits at the front of the cocoon, near the pilot’s feet, to counterbalance the weight of the motor and propeller at the back. The whole thing weighs around 35kg, and is foot-launch and landable.
Its Swiss designer, André Lecoultre, describes it as an ‘ascent aid’, rather than a paramotor as such. It offers climb rates of 1.5m/s, but only for 20 – 40 minutes, after which it needs recharging.
When the Flycocoon is switched off, your wing will have the same glide performance as if you were flying it with a normal cocoon harness, as long as you are flying within your glider’s weight range. This makes it well-adapted for its intended use, which is to boost the duration of a paraglider flight, rather than to buzz around for hours under power, as a paramotor might.
Despite its fairly bulky appearance, the Flycocoon can be carried on the roof of “even a small car”.
The price tag is in the region of €10,000, and it comes in yellow, red, blue or white.
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