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I fly mostly Ultra / Microlights (Eurofox), which I believe have roughly a fatality rate of 1 per 100,000 flying hours. Meaning, on average, if you fly 5,000 hours in your lifetime (very high), you have a 5% chance of dying (of course, this is where statistics become meaningless because your behaviours can wildly change that probability!)

So with that in mind, what are the equivalent statistics for paramotor flying? (deaths per 100,000 hours or similar)?

It's a hobby I'm interested in getting into, but, I don't want to kill myself or seriously injure myself. Most incidents I know of in Ultralights result in a damaged aircraft, whereas the safety buffer is obviously lower in paramotors.

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  • $\begingroup$ I know you want statistics, but more than any other type of aircraft I'd say, it's going to depend hugely on whether or not you are willing to limit your flying to near-ideal weather conditions... so that makes statistics almost meaningless $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 5 at 11:47
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    $\begingroup$ @DarthPseudonym -- such as flying directly into the ground when your parawing (chute) collapses in turbulence -- $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 5 at 14:58
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    $\begingroup$ The risks from paramotors are primarily when close to the ground. Remember that your legs are the landing gear, and the wing has a very low loading with a slight amount of ram pressure keeping it inflated. They are very susceptible to turbulence and a turbulence encounter near the surface that collapses the wing can mean broken legs or a broken back. Thus most paramotor operators fly in evening or early morning when the air is smooth. It's definitely the riskiest form of aviation. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 6 at 1:56
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    $\begingroup$ An EN-A level wing is collapse resistant and will recover with no input. But that still needs altitude. The problem is any kind of significant turbulence close to the ground can get you in trouble even with an EN-A wing. A basic problem with extremely low wing loadings. The other big problem is flying with a meat cleaver 16 inches behind you, protected by a little net. Propeller injuries are very common. Think about how dangerous the prop on the ultralight you were flying is and the need to respect and fear it. Now go flying with the thing less than 2 ft away. Yikes. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 12 at 2:05
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    $\begingroup$ It's still a propeller spinning within reach of your arms, protected by some fishnet. Assuming I took paramotoring up, in principle I like electric paramotors but you only have 1/3 the endurance pound for pound and have that potential roman candle L-ion battery right on your back. In gliders L-ion for running radios/varios/FLARM etc are considered too dangerous and everybody uses lithium iron batteries, which fall about mid way between L-ion and lead acid in energy density, without the fire risk. No good for a motor tho. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 20 at 4:26

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