How to buy a used paramotor in Canada

Paramotors are BASIC ULTRALIGHTS (BULA) in Canada

This is important to know! In order to fly paramotor legally in Canada you'll have to comply with a several legal requirements. Paramotor registration in the Canadian Civil Aircraft Registry is one of the requirements. To register your machine you'll have to submit:

1. Application for registration (form 26-0521)
2. Minimum Useful Load Calculations for single seat BULA
3. Copy of signed bill of sale with ultralight aircraft details (there are additional requirements for imported aircraft)
4. Registration fee payment confirmation
5. Aircraft ID plate photograph (paramotors sold and used outside of Canada will not have the ID plate. You can produce one and add it to the machine but it's an additional task for you before you can register it)

Keep the above in mind!!!

Step 1: Check/ask for Transport Canada registration.

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Let's start by determining the unit’s location. If the unit is not in Canada it means it's not registered with TC.

You will have to legally import it, pay import taxes, and register it with Transport Canada. If you don’t know how to it, DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT.

If the unit is in Canada, and it is legal to fly, the seller has a Transport Canada Certificate of Registration (this is like a car ownership permit - owner part).

Ask the seller for a copy of the CoR and a picture of their driver's licence.

• If neither of the two documents is provided to you without any hesitation, it’s a scam and you're about to lose your money!
• If the address on the Certificate of Registration does not match the driver’s license, DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT. The owner is required (!!!) to keep their records with Transport Canada up to date. Ask them to fix the issue first.
• If the address on the CoR and DL match, check the registration marks listed on the CoR in the Transport Canada database by going to the Canadian Civil Aircraft Registry and running registration marks there. The search should return proper information matching the paper CoR. In case of any discrepancies between the paper CoR and the online registry, DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT

Step 2: Social engineering

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You could have encountered a genius scammer who Photoshopped all the docs based on some random record they found in the Canadian Civil Aircraft Registry. Lots of Photoshop work, but possible.

Use social engineering to confirm the seller is legit.

FaceTime them, ask them to show you the unit and get them to start it. If they don’t want the call or can’t show you the unit - it’s a scam and you're about to lose your money!

The paramotor community in Canada is SMALL. Everyone knows everyone.

• Ask who they trained with. Call the instructor!!!!
• Ask who they flew with… See if you can track their flying buddies down (or at least confirm they exist - location checks, etc)
• Go to Canadian Facebook groups and see if they have posted anything there. All these groups have active admins. There is a good chance they won't let scammer post their stuff there.
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/ppgCanada - Canada’s largest PPG group (national)
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/paramotoralberta - PPG group in Alberta
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/paramoteur.quebec - PPG group in Quebec
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/paramotor.ontario - PPG group in Ontario
• It’s common for scammers to take over dormant Facebook accounts. Pay attention to that. If the account they use looks weird.. You may be onto something. Check their Facebook friends and the feed. If the account is new or has no aviation content, DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT

Step 3: Educate yourself

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How much do these cost brand-new? Paramotors generally depreciate roughly 20% per year, and then, condition is everything. If the asking price is too low vs the age and condition, ask yourself: WHY would someone be taking such a big financial hit? Too good to be true!

Working as instructor for 10+ years I saw my share of super excited students who bought junk on Kijiji and paid 3 - 4x value. Educate yourself!

Find out as much as you can about the unit, including its serial number, history in Canada, and service history (a unit in good shape should have service history—invoices for parts, etc.).

If no service history is available, it may be a boat anchor instead of an airworthy paramotor. Unless you know how to fix/service 2-stroke engines, you must consider this an additional risk factor!

Things to look at:

• Is the machine in good shape? Do you like what you’re seeing?
• Clean? Clean means taken care of… You want a unit that’s been well taken care of. Right?
• Is cage/frame straight? The best way to assess this is by looking at a photograph taken from the side of the unit. If the cage DOES NOT line up nicely when looking from the side, the unit was most likely crashed or had at least one hard landing. It's not the end of the world, but can you tell if it was fixed properly? The parts needed to fix that can be 2 - 3k… Given the above, is this still a good deal?
• What propeller is installed on the machine? Modern units generally come with carbon fibre propellers. If the unit is fitted with a wooden prop (or a prop that’s not what the manufacturer typically supplies with their machines), this can mean there was a prop strike at some point. Prop strike can be devastating to the engine! Expensive to fix! Given the above, is this still a good deal?

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