Paramotor

MuseWiki, wiki for the band Muse

Matthew Bellamy bought a paramotor during the Showbiz tour,^[1] apparently by impulse purchase and costing £6,000,^[2] though he recalled in 2008 that it cost around £10,000.^[3] He was inspired to buy it from an opponent flying into a boxing match with Mike Tyson.^[3] The paramotor was one of Matthew Bellamy's first high-priced purchases using the band's royalty payments.^[4] The engine is apparently 50cc.^[3]

Though he claimed to be learning how to use it^[5] and that he'd nearly obtained his licence in the former half of 2000^[4] in his 2008 recollection he said he had used it only once, but keeps meaning to learn.^[3] It seems that he did arrange some lessons,^[6] so the time he did fly it was probably one of those.

Before it was apparent Muse were going to have commercial success as a band, Bellamy planned to use the paramotor to fly over sports matches with advertisement banners. He was apparently approached with an offer of £500 for filming aerial shots of a football match, but by that time Muse were doing well enough financially and so he didn't take it up.^[7]

Although the device is a powered paraglider, it was dubbed a jet pack. This is a source of confusion, some people are lead to believe it is a jet or rocket propelled backpack.

References

1. ↑
   Reference needed!
2. ↑

   Muse forum post - 2005-11-16 - ~screenager~ (board.muse.mu) fetched 2008-04-07

3. ↑ ^a b c d

   Live Inspiration - 2008-04-04 - The Irish News (verify)

4. ↑ ^a b

   In a Chickenshit World, A Band You Can Trust - 2000-05 - Select (verify)

5. ↑

   Interview with Matthew Bellamy - 2000-06 - Juice Magazine (verify)

6. ↑

   'Maybe I'm Borderline Schizophrenic.' - 2006-09 - Ben Mitchell (verify)

7. ↑

   Interview - 2006-10-05 - Colin Murray (verify)