The Paraborne Backplane is an American

paramotor Paramotor is the generic name for the harness and propulsive portion of a powered paraglider ("PPG"). There are two basic types of paramotors: foot launch and wheel launch. Foot launch models consist of a frame with harness, fuel tank, engine, ...

that was designed by Scott Alan and produced by Paraborne Aviation of

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

for

powered paragliding Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor (a paramotor) which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on ...

.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page D-23. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.

Design and development

As production of the

Daiichi Kosho Whisper The Daiichi Kosho Whisper is a Japanese paramotor that was designed and produced by the Daiichi Kosho Company for powered paragliding.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page D-23. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001 ...

, for which Paraborne acted as US distributor, came to a close, the company developed its own derivative design, replacing the Daiichi Kosho DK 472 engine with a

Hirth Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet en ...

powerplant of similar output. The Backplane was designed to comply with the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not req ...

rules. It features a

paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like ' ...

-style

high wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, single-place accommodation and a single

Hirth F-33 The Hirth F-33 is a single cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engine designed for use on ultralight aircraft, including powered paragliders and ultralight trikes. the engine is noted for its extremely light base weight of . It is ma ...

engine in pusher configuration. Original factory canopy options included the Ranger or the Seal designs. As is the case with all paramotors, takeoff and landing is accomplished on foot. The aircraft was not a commercial success, production was halted and the company went out of business in about 2004.

Specifications (Backplane)

References

{{reflist 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Paramotors