There aren’t many airborne hobbies you can get into for under 10 grand, in fact there’s only one that I can think of apart from bridge-based suicide attempts. It’s called Powered Paragliding and as the name suggests, it involves paragliding with power.
All you need is a small engine and a paraglider, it’s remarkably safe due to the fact that if you have an engine failure, you already have a parachute deployed above you and it’s cheaper than getting the oil changed in your Ferrari. Most people launch from beaches and hillsides, the run-up for lift off is usually less than 20 feet and it’s remarkably easy to get a license.
This kit from ParaToys.com includes everything an aspiring para-pilot needs to get airborne, it costs just $6295 USD and it’s available from their online store here.
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
