Back Bone Shadow

The Back Bone Shadow is a family of French paramotors that was designed by Thierry Simonet and produced by Back Bone of Tallard for powered paragliding. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied complete and ready-to-fly.^[1]

Shadow
Role	Paramotor
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Back Bone
Designer	Thierry Simonet
Status	Production completed

Design and development

The Shadow was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules as well as European regulations. It features a paraglider-style wing, single-place accommodation and a single engine in pusher configuration. The fuel tank capacity is 7 litres (1.5 imp gal; 1.8 US gal). Each model in the line is named for its metric propeller diameter.^[1]

As is the case with all paramotors, take-off and landing is accomplished by foot. Inflight steering is accomplished via handles that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw.^[1]

Variants

Shadow 100

Model with a 14 hp (10 kW) RDM 100 engine in pusher configuration with a 4:1 ratio reduction drive and a 100 cm (39 in) diameter two-bladed wooden propeller. Empty weight is 16 kg (35 lb).^[1]

Shadow 113

Model with a 14 hp (10 kW) RDM 100 engine in pusher configuration with a 4:1 ratio reduction drive and a 113 cm (44 in) diameter two-bladed wooden propeller. Empty weight is 16.5 kg (36 lb).^[1]

Shadow 115

Model with a 14 hp (10 kW) RDM 100 engine in pusher configuration with a 4:1 ratio reduction drive and a 125 cm (49 in) diameter two-bladed wooden propeller. Empty weight is 17 kg (37 lb).^[1]

Shadow 100 specifications

Data from Bertrand^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Empty weight: 16 kg (35 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 7 litres (1.5 imp gal; 1.8 US gal)
• Powerplant: 1 × RDM 100 single cylinder, two-stroke, air-cooled aircraft engine, with a 4:1 reduction drive, 10 kW (14 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed, 1.00 m (3 ft 3 in) diameter