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This is a great overall wing for intermediate
pilots. It was my favorite for several years, a wonderful compromise of safety and
great handling. I bought this wing in about 2002 after a test flight when
I fell in love with its handling. I bought another new, identical
iteration
in early 2004 and have amassed more time under it than any other, probably
over 200 hours.
Tested in-flight weight was 230 lbs using a Blackhawk Rhino 172.
It's flat area is 24.6 and the projected area is 20.8 m² for a projected wing loading
11.05 lbs / m².
Caution: I recommend this wing only to
intermediate pilots (experienced PPG2) or higher. Handling is much
quicker than most gliders and it is easy to dive if the pilot horses
abruptly into a turn with just one brake.
Handling (8): Excellent. It's the
reason I fell in love with the glider to begin with. Yes, it will dive in
a turn if the pilot just pulls on one brake. Using appropriate opposite
brake, however, allows turns as flat as any other wing. Anybody who says the wing
dives in a turn is simply not controlling it.
Inflation (7): Fairly easy and
corrects easily. Its relatively small
size helps the pilot keep moving forward and it tends to come up straight. It's
recovers easily from an off-center inflation. It does hang back a bit so
the pilot must stay on the A's a bit longer during no-wind inflations.
Kiting is easy. It's predictable and easy to
gather it back overhead if it starts getting off-center.
Efficiency (4): This is not its strong
point. It's got a somewhat
higher sink rate than others so it wouldn't make a good soaring wing. It
does have enough that you can do "slider" landings meaning that,
power off, the wing carries energy well enough to slide maybe 5 feet
without swooping.
Speed (7): It's faster than average.
It has trimmers and speedbar and is relatively solid even with both
engaged. It does have some reflex to the wing which helps in this regard.
Construction (5): Built soundly and
the new ones come with a longer lasting than average fabric. Older models
had issues with porosity getting bad early on but the new ones have
improved on that dramatically. I could tell the fabric was different on
the 2004 model.
Certification & Safety (6): It's
DULV certified as a 2, probably because the designer loads it heavily. In
almost every category it was a 1-2 and feels like a beginner glider except
for the sporty handling. It seems very collapse resistant and
predictable on the recoveries. It was the glider used most for all the
collapses performed in the video Risk & Reward.
Overall: This was my favorite
glider until the Spice came along. It's got advantages on the spice,
especially in strong, bumpy conditions.
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