Everything You Need to Know
28 answers covering flight time, cost, safety, batteries, and buying. Can't find what you need? Contact us.
Performance & Flight Time
5The 4.8 kWh standard battery delivers 55 to 80 minutes depending on pilot weight and throttle usage. The lighter 2.6 kWh feather pack gives 20 to 40 minutes, which is plenty for training and short sessions. An hour plus of flight time is typical for real world pilots on a single battery setup with a modern wing.
165 lbs (75 kg) of static thrust. That's roughly 10% more than a Moster 185, one of the most popular gas engines on the market. Max motor power is 21 kW. For pilots up to 300 lbs, that means confident launches, strong climbs, and reserve headroom when you need it, even at altitude.
Yes, two ways. The quick swap design lets you change packs in seconds, so multiple batteries effectively give you unlimited sessions (fly, land, swap, launch again). You can also parallel two packs for about 2 hours of continuous flight, though the extra weight makes that most practical for trike setups rather than foot launches.
The SP140 is rated for pilots under 300 lbs. Tandem flight is possible with the right wing. For heavier pilots, we recommend the larger 4.8 kWh battery since it delivers higher sustained output and more margin on climbs and launches. The 2.6 kWh feather pack is a good option for new pilots during training, when a lighter kit makes ground handling easier.
54 lbs with the 2.6 kWh battery, 78 lbs with the 4.8 kWh. It breaks down in about 5 minutes. It fits in the back of most SUVs, and many pilots haul theirs in a sedan trunk. Because it's electric, there's no gas, oil, or fumes to worry about, so it rides inside the car with you without spilling anything on the seats or stinking up the cabin. Gas paramotors typically have to live on a roof rack or trailer for that reason. No hangar needed, no airport fees. Fly from any open field.
Cost & Value
5About $0.60 per hour in electricity. A typical gas paramotor runs around $11.69 per hour all in (fuel, oil, and maintenance). Over 100 flight hours that's a $1,100+ difference, plus no trips to the gas station, no mixing oil, and no spark plugs to change.
Three structural reasons. (1) We batch manufacture frames in runs of 100 to 200 at a time with robot welding, not one by one like most builders. That drops our per unit frame cost to roughly $1,000 versus $2,000 to $3,000 for competitors. (2) A single frame design works for both gas and electric, spreading tooling cost across both product lines. (3) Direct to consumer, with no dealer markups or importer fees, which typically add $1,000 to $2,000 per unit. Net result: competitive pricing without sacrificing engineering.
Traditional GA (Cessna 172) costs $90,000 to $318,000 for license plus a used airplane, and runs $90 to $120 per hour. A complete SP140 setup (motor, wing, training) lands in $10,000 to $15,000 and flies at $0.60 per hour. That's roughly 10 to 30× lower entry cost and 100 to 200× lower per hour cost. A paramotor pilot flying 100 hours spends about $60 on electricity; the equivalent Cessna pilot spends $4,200 on fuel alone.
We include everything except the wing. The full kit ships ready to fly, with the 21 kW brushless motor, throttle controller (color display, altimeter, haptic feedback, EICAS), your chosen battery with smart Bluetooth BMS, charger, harness, and all the electronics in between. Wings are sized to the pilot, so that's the one thing sold separately. Expect $3,000 to $5,000 depending on model.
We don't offer direct financing ourselves, but there are plenty of third party options that work well. Credit cards are the easiest route, and we're happy to be flexible (including splitting a purchase across multiple cards if that helps). Buy now pay later services like Klarna and Affirm also work, along with many others. Because we're direct to consumer, when you have questions about payment or custom arrangements you're talking to us, the people who actually design and build the product, not a dealer.
Licensing, Training & Safety
5In the US, no. Paramotors qualify as ultralight vehicles under FAR Part 103. No pilot's license, no medical certificate, no FAA registration, no annual inspection, no mandatory insurance. Most other countries have similar rules for powered paragliders. That said, we strongly recommend formal training from a certified instructor. It's the single best investment you can make.
Most USPPA certified schools in the US charge $1,500 to $3,500 for a 7 to 10 day course that takes you from zero to soloing. Compare that to $13,000 to $18,000 and 60 to 75 hours for a private pilot license. You can realistically be flying on your own within a couple of weeks.
A few concrete advantages. (1) No ground starts. The motor doesn't spin during wing setup, which eliminates a common injury risk. (2) No propeller windmilling at idle. (3) Silent operation means your instructor can actually talk to you in the air. (4) Much less vibration reduces pilot fatigue on long flights. (5) No fuel means no spill or fire risk in transport. Flying itself still demands good judgment and training regardless of power source.
Your wing is a parachute. Every paramotor is designed around the principle that motor failure at altitude simply becomes a glide. You steer to an open landing area and set down. The SP140 supports reserve parachute pouches integrated into common harnesses for a true worst case backup, and we strongly recommend flying with one. Electric also has the benefit of no engine seize failure modes, since there are no moving parts subject to oil starvation or combustion overheating.
The electronics are weather resistant, but we don't recommend flying in rain regardless of power source. Wet wings become heavier and behave unpredictably, and visibility drops fast. Check our training and safety pages for weather guidance.
Battery & Charging
4Our V2.5 lithium ion cells are manufacturer rated for 2,000 cycles to 80% capacity. We advertise 1,000+ cycles conservatively. At 50 flights per year that's 20+ years of battery life. The pack architecture is also designed to accept newer cells as they become available, so you can upgrade energy density without replacing the whole system.
2 to 5 hours from empty with the standard 110V charger. About 1 hour with our optional fast charger. Any standard home outlet works. No special installation needed.
Yep, the system is designed to work in freezing temperatures. Electronics generally prefer cooler temps and run more efficiently in the cold. The only caveat: if you leave your battery outside overnight in freezing weather, it'll show reduced capacity at launch. But most pilots store their battery inside or on the charger, so this rarely comes up. And once you're flying, the battery actually generates its own heat under load, so it takes a long time to cool back down mid flight. Bottom line: fly in whatever cold weather you can physically tolerate. The SP140 won't hold you back.
The throttle controller shows state of charge, voltage, temperature, and current draw in real time via the integrated color display. A Bluetooth BMS also exposes per cell voltages and temperatures to the OpenPPG phone app for deeper diagnostics. It's the same info we use to validate every pack that ships.
Product & Company
5Yes, and it's a big reason we can price so aggressively. The same SP140 frame accepts either the electric motor plus battery or our Moster 185 gas engine. You can start with one and switch later, or own both powertrains on one frame. No other paramotor manufacturer offers this.
Yes. Throttle firmware, PCB schematics, and frame CAD files are all on GitHub. Our config tool at config.openppg.com lets you customize throttle curves, power modes, and display settings with no coding required. International customers can CNC and weld replacement parts locally using our open files. If OpenPPG ever disappeared, the designs would still be available for local manufacture.
300 flight hours or 12 months, whichever comes first. That's double the industry standard. We cover manufacturing defects and premature component failure. We stand behind the engineering because we fly these products ourselves.
Essentially none scheduled. No oil changes, no spark plugs, no top end rebuilds, no engine overhauls. Inspect the prop for dings between flights, keep battery contacts clean, and periodically check frame bolts. That's it. Compare to gas: a roughly $300 to $400 rebuild every 100 to 200 hours plus fuel and oil. This is where the long term cost advantage really compounds.
We design, engineer, and assemble in Canfield, Northeast Ohio. OpenPPG is a small team, and every person here shapes the product directly. We're pilots building for pilots.
Buying & Shipping
4Yes, we ship worldwide. International customers can also manufacture replacement frame parts locally using our open source CAD files to save on transport costs. Contact us for a shipping quote to your country.
Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), bank transfer (ACH or wire), check by mail, and Bitcoin. No dealer surcharges, no importer fees.
30 day return policy on unused units in original condition. See our Returns page for full details. If you've flown it and something isn't right, contact support first. We'll work with you directly.
Email support, an active pilot community, and detailed build and tuning videos on our YouTube channel. Our team flies these products personally, so the support you get comes from people who actually use the gear. Not a call center.