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About five or six times a month on average, the 27-year-old nurse anesthetist from The Plains finds himself a big, open field – one of his favorites is on the banks of the Hocking, across the street from the Sonic restaurant on Stimson Avenue.

There, he straps onto his back a 55-pound, circular red metal frame with a gas engine and a wooden propeller about three feet long; it looks like something you’d see on the back of an Everglades fan boat.

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This week Jeff Goin and I attempted to interview John Seep from his RV in, I believe, Louisiana. The overall connection was not great but the biggest problem was John’s use of a speaker phone and all the background noise created for the show by his ground crew. Requests to have John “pick up the phone” went unheeded. The result was catastrophic in terms of the radio segment. We just could not hear John at all and the decision was made to pull the segment altogether. Seems to be a pattern forming here…

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It should come as no surprise that Dell Schanze has managed to define yet another low in the business ethics of powered paragliding. Nobody has even come close to being this clueless or classless.

In an effort to dupe the gullible into thinking there is, in fact, paramotor certification he has created a sham powered paragliding “association” that portends to test and certify equipment. Of course the website is registered with Dell’s email and, as of Feb 28, 2011, the phone number was the same as Dell Schanze’s sales number. There are, of course, no officers listed, no committees or names listed, and nothing that would suggest that it’s registered as a corporation of any kind.

Records are claimed that have no bearing on what either the USUA (U.S. organization tasked with overseeing records under the auspices of NAA.aero) or the FAI recognize. They’re just Dell’s own claims. Of course this does a dis-service to the real record holders who have actually earned their titles as measured by someone other than the record claimant.

Paramotor flying is a remarkable undertaking — it’s a shame when someone treads so disrespectfully on its participants and potentials.

This organization has no standing with any other organization or with the FAA and for very good reason: it is nothing more than a sales tool. Hopefully, a discerning public will see through this fellow and refuse to do business with him on ethical grounds.
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The worst aspect is complete disregard for truth, including a willingness to completely fabricate lies that support his sales efforts. Among the worst examples is a fraudulent claim that there is an organization, the WPPGA, in place to “certify” paramotors. But what you find is it lists only one paramotor that meets its requirements: the FlatTop, of course. You would thing such deception would warrant the examination of consumer protection people but alas, our sport is too small.

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