Trust & transparency
Evidence & disclosures
Evidence basis: Mixed evidence. The article combines more than one evidence type; the evidence summary identifies which claims come from which basis.
Colin's first-person FPV experience and original video description, plus Tucker Gott's first Project Turbine build episode and Parajet's official pages. No hands-on turbine testing by Colin.
Sources checked: Sep 5, 2026
Linked references: 9 explicit sources in the article.
AI assistance: Drafting, research organization, and package preparation used AI assistance based on Colin's notes and linked sources.
Synthetic media: Cover, thumbnail, and social preview are original AI-generated concept art with a deterministic text overlay. They do not depict Tucker Gott's actual machine or a completed flight.
Apparently, a motor on your back and a wing over your head still leaves room for somebody to ask, “What if we used a jet?”
Tucker Gott's Project Turbine immediately caught my attention. I enjoy FPV drones, but my interest in flying does not stop at the edge of a set of goggles. Helicopters, airplanes, paramotors, unusual flying devices—if somebody is trying to get it into the air, there is a good chance I want to see it.
This one also brought me back to a flight of my own: chasing my friend David Farmer on his paramotor at Jupiter Beach with my drone. That was already one of my FPV bucket-list experiences. A turbine-powered version of that world was always going to get a click from me.
What Project Turbine actually is
In “I Built A Jet Turbine Paramotor!”, published September 5, 2026, Tucker and fellow Risky Academy instructor Colby put together a custom turbine paramotor. Tucker identifies the donor frame as an old Parajet Zenith, paired with a turbine intended for an RC airplane and custom mounting brackets. Build overview, 4:10.
That is the Parajet connection: a modified existing frame in Tucker's project. Parajet also has a separate commercial partnership with Tucker, which he discloses on his website. This episode is not an announcement of a production Parajet jet paramotor you can order.
This is the build episode. Near the end, Tucker says the first start and a bicycle-based ground test are coming next, before taking it into the sky. The flying, endurance, and performance questions are still open at this point in the series. Next steps, 11:16.
Watch Tucker Gott's Project Turbine build video
A quick translation for the rest of us
A conventional paramotor combines a paraglider wing with a motor and propeller behind the pilot. The wing provides lift as it moves through the air; the power unit supplies the push. The familiar big circular frame surrounds the propeller. Parajet's plain-language introduction to paramotoring is a useful starting point if this is all new to you.
The appeal of a jet-powered version is easy to understand: a very different way of producing that push, in a compact package. It also invites a better question than simply, “How much horsepower does it have?”
What matters is how well the whole thing works with a person, a wing, fuel, controls, and the kind of flying they actually want to do.
That is familiar territory for anyone who has built an FPV drone. One exciting component can get a project started. Getting everything to work together is where the project becomes interesting.
Tiny turbine, big questions
Tucker gives these figures in the episode: 6.4 pounds for the turbine, about 72 pounds of static thrust, and fuel consumption up to one liter per minute. Those are his stated figures, not measurements I have independently verified. His roughly 12-liter-tank example suggests about 12 minutes at that stated maximum consumption; it is arithmetic, not a demonstrated flight time or usable endurance with a reserve. Specs discussion, 1:44–2:43.
A light engine is appealing, but engine weight alone does not tell us what the complete flying setup weighs. And a short burst of excitement is a different proposition from having time to settle into a flight and enjoy the view.
I do not need every unusual aviation project to become the most practical thing in its category. Sometimes the experiment is the attraction. I want to see what the builder learns, which ideas survive testing, and what changes between the first assembly and something they actually want to fly again.
For this one, I will be watching three things:
- How it behaves: Does the complete setup deliver controllable, useful thrust?
- How long it lasts: What does a real flight show about fuel use and time in the air?
- What has to change: Which parts of the first build get revised after testing?
Those answers would tell me much more than a dramatic headline alone.
My version involved a drone and Jupiter Beach
My connection to paramotoring came from the other side of the camera. David was flying his paramotor, and I was following with my FPV drone at Jupiter Beach.
I called the edit “Chill Chase – FPV Paramotor.” The title describes the vibe I wanted from the video. The flying itself came with a little more internal commentary.
In my original video description, I wrote that this was a bucket-list flight and a nerve-racking experience: flying over water while chasing a paramotor at the same time. I still think that is the most honest introduction to it. The finished edit can feel relaxed even when getting the footage asks quite a lot of the person holding the controller.
Watch my video: Chill Chase – FPV Paramotor
David Farmer on his paramotor at Jupiter Beach, filmed from my FPV drone. Video by Captain Colin; uploaded February 17, 2024.
I used a mix of GoPro Hero 9 and Insta360 Ace Pro footage. Matching the colors between the two cameras was a challenge, and I kept more of the footage because there were too many shots I wanted to share. That is another part of flying with a camera: the flight finishes, and then you get to spend more time trying to make the edit feel like the experience.
Watch my clip for the relationship between the wing, the person underneath it, and the moving viewpoint of the drone. That is what connects these interests for me. FPV lets me explore flight through a camera. Paramotoring puts a person directly into that open-air picture.
I am sharing a past experience here. A video edit cannot show all the planning or decisions behind a flight, and it should not be used as a guide for flying a drone near a person or aircraft.
And yes, Parajet is worth a closer look
The name could make a newcomer assume that Parajet normally builds jet-powered machines. Its regular lineup is much more familiar paramotor territory: models such as the Maverick II, Cadet II, and Zenith, with conventional engine and propeller configurations. You can see those on Parajet's current site.
Parajet says its paramotors are built in the UK and sold through a global dealer network. Its company page identifies Gilo Cardozo as the founder and describes its history in the sport. It is an established manufacturer with a broader place in paramotoring than this one unusual project.
If the videos make you curious about trying paramotoring, my first step would be to talk with a qualified instructor. Parajet itself emphasizes proper training in its beginner information. Watching a skilled pilot make it look effortless is a great introduction to the appeal; learning is its own process.
For now, I am happy to follow the turbine experiment and enjoy the connection to a flight I got to film myself.
Final Thought
Project Turbine is the kind of thing I want to make more room for alongside the FPV posts: interesting people building unusual flying machines, with enough explanation that you do not need to be an engineer to enjoy them.
I already know how much fun it was to chase David's paramotor at Jupiter Beach. Seeing somebody approach that same kind of flight with a turbine gives me a whole new set of questions.
Sometimes “that looks really cool, and I want to understand it” is a perfectly good reason to write a blog post. This is one of those times.
Source check: September 5, 2026. Project status refers to the first build episode linked above. Cover art is an original AI-generated concept illustration, not a photograph or an accurate rendering of Tucker's machine.