{"id":28719,"date":"2016-03-18T08:39:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T12:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/?p=28719"},"modified":"2016-04-27T11:07:04","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T15:07:04","slug":"mission-everest-solidworks-helped-bear-grylls-achieve-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/2016\/03\/mission-everest-solidworks-helped-bear-grylls-achieve-impossible.html","title":{"rendered":"Mission Everest: How SOLIDWORKS Helped Bear Grylls Achieve the Impossible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revolutionary. Pioneering. Innovative. Lots of companies think they are, but few live up to the billing. That\u2019s certainly not the case with Gilo Industries. On a sunny day in May 2007, they propelled ultralight aviation to new heights \u2013 29,494 feet, to be precise \u2013 when Bear Grylls strapped on Gilo\u2019s paramotor (think: powered paraglider<\/a>) and flew over the summit of Everest.<\/p>\n

This is the story of how SOLIDWORKS helped turn an impossible dream into reality.<\/p>\n

\"Bear<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meet Gilo Cardozo. In 2001 he took an unassuming workshop in Semley, Dorset and began manufacturing world-beating paramotors (Imagine a cross between a jetpack and a paraglider and you\u2019re close). Gilo called his company Parajet<\/a>.<\/strong> Six years later they would hit the world stage.<\/p>\n

Flash forward to 2007 and British adventurer Bear Grylls came to Gilo for assistance on a lofty project: to become the first person to fly a paramotor over the summit of Everest \u2013 with every twist and turn and peak and trough to be documented by the Discovery Channel in a programme called Mission Everest.<\/p>\n

Gilo accepted and the challenge was on.<\/p>\n


\nMission Everest or mission impossible?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating an engine capable of flying over Everest presents one or two challenges. It must be robust enough to fly at nine kilometres above the earth in temperatures below -50o<\/sup>C and equivalent wind speeds of 200mph, yet light enough to be carried on a paramotor. The technology simply didn\u2019t exist. Parajet would have to build it,and many thought it impossible.<\/p>\n


\nHow did SOLIDWORKS help?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parajet conquered the engineering challenge emphatically, developing a revolutionary rotary engine capable of delivering 95hp and fitted with a unique dual-fuel injector system that compensated for the changes in atmospheric pressure. But without SOLIDWORKS, it may not have happened at all.<\/p>\n

Parajet needed to create an extreme propulsion system, with a high power-to-weight ratio. The concept started as a 3D design in SOLIDWORKS and evolved quickly. Of course, modelling engines is incredibly difficult, but SOLIDWORK\u2019s simulation modules<\/a><\/strong> allowed Parajet to perform FEA (Finite Element Analysis) with ease \u2013 testing dynamics, heat tolerances and stresses to see how the design would function in the real world. This significantly reduced the risk of error and dramatically reduced test costs. It also allowed Parajet to continually pare back the design to make sure the engine was as light as possible.<\/p>\n

What was the outcome?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The engine was a success. On the 14th<\/sup> May 2007 Bear Grylls took off from the foothills of the high Himalayas, before flying above Everest at an altitude of 29,494 feet \u2013 as high as many commercial jetliners. Watch this video to see how a variety of SOLIDWORKS solutions were used to bring this amazing product to life. It was a remarkable accomplishment, and it was just the start for Gilo\u2019s boundary-smashing engine.<\/p>\n

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