This is an updated design on a wing that that’s been around for many years.
I flew this on a mellow morning in FL, about 80 degrees, on a Miniplane Top 80 for a clip in weight of about 205. This is about the right size for me and my flying style although I prefer a slightly smaller wing. The larger a wing is, the more subdued it’s handling tends to be.
Handling:
Flying with just the brakes, no tip toggles, gives subdued response in normal flight. Grabbing the tip toggles and flying with both makes it quite responsive, even more so at higher speed. Being a reflex, though, you generally try to use ONLY tip steering when accelerated. I
kept the tip toggles in hand most of the time and then really liked the way it flew.
On my weight shift machine, I noticed that the seat lifts when you pull brake. I suspect it may be that if you’re not using tip steering it seems more pronounced because of the subdued brake response. This is true of essentially all wings in varying degrees it was just a bit more noticeable here.
Inflation: For a regular fabric (not super lightweight) wing this is one of the easiest inflating wings I’ve tried in no wind. In fact, it tends to overfly, so you have to be ready with an armful of dampening brake once it nears overhead.
Risers: It has a pretty straightforward 4 riser system as you can see from the picture below. The tip steering is possibly the most conveniently placed and well protected that I’ve seen. I really liked that since the ones using magnets on both tip steering and brakes tend to get tangled.
Efficiency: I didn’t do a glide test but it felt very efficient. I didn’t get to see how it was on full bar but, at fast trim.
Small
Wings and the Effect of Weight on Speed & Power Required.
Construction: Well built using fairly
typical 4-riser sliders and modern building techniques.
Certification & Safety: As with
most reflex wings it’s only load tested.
Overall: This is a good choice for
anyone wanting reflex speed and easy inflation.
