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Flyke
Flyke
Flyke
Flyke
With a bit of careful packing it’s usually straight forward to take your bike on the plane these days, but what about taking the plane on your bike? The Flyke is a brand new recumbent trike that can be used either as a trike for powered paragliders, or as a high performance street machine capable of stowing the complete flying rig till you find a suitable take-off point. On private property the motor can be used instead of pedalling.

The one-piece, powder-coated aluminium space frame has a stainless steel rear axle and fork, can carry up to 100kg (220lbs) payload plus rider, and swings into curves more like a conventional bike than a three wheeler. Composite elastomer shocks give 10cm (4”) of travel per wheel – pretty handy when it comes to landing in bumpy fields.

The Flyke converts from trike to flying machine in just two minutes: hang the motor on its carrier, slide a pair of swiveling push rods into the back of the seat, attach the paraglider to the push rods, and you’re off. Elastomer elements in the hinges reduce noise and wear and help to insulate most of the motor’s vibrations. Take off and landing distance is between 3-20 m (10-66ft).

The very quiet 28 bhp, 2-stroke 330cc engine provides an air speed of between 25-50 km/h (15-31 mph) and has a climb rate of 2-3 m/sec (6-10ft/sec) depending on the load – maximum pilot weight is 100kg (220lbs).

Sidebar
In Germany the simple road-going Flyke costs around €2,245, or €2,450 including the necessary adaptations to accommodate the flying kit. A suitable paraglider costs around €2,300, the recovery system about €400, and the motor between €4,000 and €4,500 depending on specification.


Manufacturer
Founded in 1989 by Markus Mueller and Michael Werner, Fresh Breeze originally concentrated on fun sports equipment. Before long, when what had been a bit of a hobby suddenly ‘took off’, they turned the business over to building backpack motor systems for powered paragliders. When these flying machines became legal in Germany the Fresh Breeze engines were among the first to be certified, and by 2000 they had also started to sell paragliding trikes and had moved into a newly built facility to increase their capacity.

Automotive Engineer Dr. Stefan Wode joined the company in 2001 bringing with him over thirteen year’s experience of building motor units and trikes. Nowadays Fresh Breeze has a permanent staff of 10 and is market leader in the field of powered paragliders with a 90% share of the European market. The Flyke is their latest product.

Fresh Breeze
Langer Acker 11
Wedemark-Bissendo
30900
Germany

phone: +49 51303769922
fax: +49 51303769944
email: fresh.breeze@t-online.de
web: www.fresh-breeze.de


Author
Alan Davidson
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