Sun Gliders is a South Korean wing maker that has been imported in the US for the past several years by David Batton of Florida. This is a competition type reflex wing that carries all the caveats that entails. It provides very good performance for less money.
I flew it in light turbulence at about 80 degrees near sea level on a Miniplane Top 80. I was 147 pounds and the motor was half full of fuel or less which would make it about 55 pounds.
Handling (- trim in, – trim out): It felt very much like my Ozone Viper 18 including the tip steering. With trim in it was nicely responsive with just the brakes and with trim out it needed the tip steering which made it very response.
Inflation: Average inflation for a modern glider which is to say very good. It had nylon rod leading edge reinforcements which should make no winders a bit easier.
Risers: 4 riser system with long trimmers, typical speedbar hookups, magnetic brake and tip toggle keepers and split A’s. I felt right at home although I didn’t get to try out the speedbar since my motor didn’t have one hooked up.
The magnet setup is like the viper and tends to stick to the wrong things when you’re getting the wing out. It makes me wonder if, when tip steering magnets are used, it wouldn’t be better to have snaps on the brakes.
Efficiency (- slow/ – fast): It seemed very efficient with great energy on the landing flare, about the same as my Viper (which is, admittedly, now about 4 years old.
Speed: Without doing a GPS speed test I’ll have to defer to the manufacturer numbers but it sped up nicely with fast trimmers..
Small Wings and the Effect of Weight on Speed & Power Required.
Construction: It seems built as well as any with standard thickness lines which is great for ground handling but extracts some penalty on efficiency. I really dislike dealing with really thin unsheathed lines since they tangle so easily.
The risers are pretty standard 4-line type with sheathed lines. Good for ground handling, a bit more durable probably, but not as efficient as the thin unsheathed lines that sometimes get used on this class.
Certification & Safety: On the wing it shows EN C certification but I suspect that’s a mistake, possibly the placard is from one of their certified models. Looking at the certification organization website and Para2000.org I can find nothing that shows it’s certified. It would be extremely surprising if a wing like this was certified so assume that it’s like all other competition type reflex wings and is not certified.
I didn’t get to even kite it in turbulent conditions so have no idea. Given how much it feels like an Ozone Viper, though, I’d say it requires the same respect and would only be appropriate for experienced pilots willing to mind the limitations of this class.
Overall: It felt like a great competition type wing for experienced pilots wanting this kind of performance.