|
I've flown the Velvet before but never this
size and boy what a difference size makes. in this case, great things
come in small packages, I loved the handling. For anyone that likes
carving about in 3-D, the Velvet is a good choice.
Conditions were: Miniplane Top 80 55 Lbs,
me at 150 lbs for a clip-in of about 205
Lbs. Flown at Delphi, IN.
The Velvet is advertised as a semi-reflex
wing but I can't really tell much difference from a standard glider. At
least it feels and flies more like a standard glider than what I think
of as a reflex.
It has typical lightweight MacPara
Construction and comes up easily like their others. I
frequently grouse about the magnetic clips that get clogged with metalic
sand but this wing also had velcro clips. At least until the velcro gets
gunky, this is a great solution. As with the rest of their gliders I've
flown, it has split A's.
Handling (7 trim in, 7 trim out):
Handling is conventional and crisp with trimmers in or out. There is no tip
steering nor is any needed. It takes more pressure than the Spice but
probably less than an Eden. My favorite characteristic was how well it
would yaw into a dive if you wanted. Again, it's easy to turn flat just
by applying appropriate outside brake, but it's nice to dive when you
want it to.
Inflation (8): Comes up quite easily,
more than you would expect of a glider with much reflex. Being small
made it that much easier.
Efficiency (7): My brief test did not
get to include GPS data with speeds and sink rates so I don't have any
hard data here. It felt very efficient, though, judging from the power
required and energy on landing. Quite unlike the Muse (one of MacPdara's
beginner wings), which leaves very little energy for flaring, this had a
LOT.
Speed: There's not a long trimmer
range so speed will probably be like a conventional paraglider of
similar size. I'll defer to the maker's numbers here.
Construction: Lightweight and
standard.
Certification & Safety: It is
certified as EN-D meaning that it's appropriate for high-end PPG2 or
PPG3 pilots. It won't have the passive collapse resistance of a reflex
glider so you should be comfortable with active flying before taking it
out on the dance floor of thermally air.
Overall: Loved flying the Velvet,
especially this size. For good handling with decent speed but without
the complication of a full reflex, this seems like a great choice.
|
