Paratour is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
/
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
aircraft manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry.
...
and
flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills.
Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
school based in
Saint-Chrysostome, Quebec
Saint-Chrysostome is a municipality in south-west Quebec, Canada in the regional county municipality of Haut-Saint-Laurent in the Montérégie administrative region. The municipality was created by the amalgamation of Saint-Chrysostome village ...
and founded by husband and wife team Eric Dufour and Elisabeth Guerin in 1992. The company operates in the winter in
Grant-Valkaria, Florida
Grant-Valkaria is a town in Brevard County, Florida. The town's population was 3,850 at the 2010 United States Census.
Grant-Valkaria is located south of Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne, between Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay and Sebastian, Florida, S ...
.
[Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 73. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X]
Dufour placed first in the 2003, 2005 and 2006 US national paramotor competitions. He also placed first in the engine-out spot landing competition at the 2002 fly-in held in
Basse-Ham,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and at the 2003 fly-in held in
Pizzo, Calabria
Pizzo ( scn, label= Calabrian, U Pizzu), also called Pizzo Calabro, is a seaport and in the province of Vibo Valentia (Calabria, southern Italy), situated on a steep cliff overlooking the Gulf of Saint Euphemia.
Fishing is one of the main activi ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. Dufour ceased competition flying in 2006.
Paratour specializes in the design and manufacture of
paramotors
Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor (a paramotor) which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on ...
and
powered parachute
A powered parachute, often abbreviated PPC, and also called a motorized parachute or paraplane, is a type of aircraft that consists of a parafoil with a motor and wheels.
The FAA defines a powered parachute as ''a powered aircraft a flexible o ...
s in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the US
FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles
Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries.
In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not requ ...
rules, the Canadian
Basic Ultralight Aeroplane
The Canadian Aviation Regulations define two types of ultralight aircraft: basic ultra-light aeroplane (BULA), and advanced ultra-light aeroplane (AULA).
Definition
Regulation of ultra-light aircraft in Canada is covered by the Canadian A ...
and the European
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...
microlight
Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...
categories.
The company is known for its 2000-era
Paratour SD series of paramotors, now superseded in production by the
Paratour Titanium series. The company also builds the
Paratour Ultratrike,
Paratour SD MiniMax and the
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...
-powered
Paratour Green Eagle
Paratour is a Canadian/American aircraft manufacturer and flight training school based in Saint-Chrysostome, Quebec and founded by husband and wife team Eric Dufour and Elisabeth Guerin in 1992. The company operates in the winter in Grant-Valkaria ...
powered parachute designs.
The company also acts as a dealer for several brands of
paraglider
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...
s, including APCO, ITV and
Paramania
Paramania LLC is a British aircraft manufacturer based in London. The company was founded by powered paraglider competition pilot Mike Campbell-Jones in Le Chillou, France in about 2002 and later relocated to the UK. It specializes in the des ...
.
Aircraft
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.paratour.com/
Aircraft manufacturers of the United States
Aircraft manufacturers of Canada
Ultralight aircraft
Powered parachutes
Paramotors