Author: Ziad Bassil

As all pilots in the world are staying home, I thought that I could ask designers a few questions about their products in order to keep the pilots home give them hope and to inform them about Skywalk product expectations. 1- Ziad: How’s Skywalk managing this crisis? Is the team working from home? Will this situation affect the production of the development and construction of the new gliders? Hi as nearly the world market is shut down, it is clear that it is a very difficult situation for all in our market. We have a lot of people working…

Hello, Aljaz, Urban ! I hope you are all doing well with your family. The world is facing a serious pandemic and I just wanted to give some hope and information to the pilots that are quarantined at home. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. 1- I’m totally convinced that 777 will never release a product if both brothers are not completely satisfied with it! And that leads to superb flying machines. Knight, Rook, Queen, Q-light, King…Every glider has IMHO, a secret ingredient called (efficiency) What can you say about the Rook 3 in that matter?…

Hi, I knew about Michael Nesler’s designs since I began to learn paragliding. He is from the “golden era” https://profly.org/Nesler/?fbclid=IwAR2BWVXaBxlExeTXrozwoC Dear Michael, Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Ziad: I have flown your designs recently. Let’s take for example the Nyos RS EN-B. It doesn’t have a shark nose, or the back positioning A’s, the lines are not that thin as some high B competitors, but it seems to glide as good as the best! In your opinion for the moment, is positioning the A’s far back, for a high B is a must for selling?…

For all the pilots quarantined at home, I made a small interview just to cheer you up in the meantime. Ziad: Sometimes it is really difficult to produce a new glider in specific 2 years intervals, as the technology don’t work on a fixed date rather than a quality time for good research and development. How is OZONE managing this, knowing that each glider until now has a certain advantage? I know that pilots are sometimes complaining that the models are renewed too often. But let me tell you a bit more about our experience of model replacement. In the…

After trying Swing’s high-performance C glider, the Agera RS here is another Light C with less aspect ratio, the “Helios” The Helios S (75-95) flown at 92 has a moderate to light brake travel. The authority on the brakes is very sweet in thermals. Immediate control is delivered by the brakes, and the turning radius inside a thermal is accurate. The climb rate is nice for that glider. In weak conditions, I couldn’t say it’s very floaty but ok… The glide angle is in the first half of the C category. The speed bar is easy to induce, and way…

The Rise 4 is the new 2020 high B glider from Air design with an aspect ratio of 6. The turning radius inside the thermal can be very narrow, due to the short, precise and agile behavior of the wing. The brake pressure is on the average side, with a linear brake response. The climbing performance in (no wind, no sea breeze) is excellent ! as the Rise 4 floats inside that thermal without losing it. It’s just when there’s a wind factor or a valley breeze, that things changed a bit. I tried to fly the Rise 4 at…

Ziad: 1- Why are you aiming to release the Phantom 2? And what level of pilots it’s targeted for? That’s why we never really considered making the Phantom a “one-time thing”. We think, that that’s what made it so successful: It’s easy to fly. 2- Can you describe the intended performance in active air toward the upper classes? No. 4- I have flown the Mentor 6 normal cloth and the light version in the same size. I felt more connected via the light cloth. It seems different and more enjoyable… How can that difference in feel? 1.) The reduced mass itself:…

Disclaimer: I couldn’t get a hold of one as our dealer received again, (a note) No Cure 2 for Ziad! Gliders sent only to a “controlled” environment is an underestimation of the good pilots out there in the world, especially with the presence of a large social media network. I wouldn’t want the dealer to have any problems, so I waited until the demo was finally sold to a friend (Northern Eagles Club) flying in the north part of Lebanon. I visited him, and he was so kind as to lend me his new toy. BGD Cure…

I asked OZONE R&D, Mr. Luc Armant, a few questions concerning some interesting future designs. Ziad: 1- Will the new Delta 4 be certified this spring? Z: 2- Will it have a moderate aspect ratio? Like its predecessor? Z: 3- Will the use of the collapse line be used in the new C class? And on the D4? Z: 4- Can you please comment on the strong points of Zeno 2 you are focusing on? Will it have sharper Handling? Z: 5- Will the Zeno 2 get the same sizes as the Delta Rush series? Example 75-95…etc. Or will it follow the Zeno 1 pattern?…

Flow is the new Australian brand. The XC racer is their EN-D 2 liner glider, and they released a beautiful new CCC, the Spectra. My friend, lend me his M size ( 80-103 ) to test fly it. At first glance, I opened the package and saw a minimalistic line distribution, with a sliding B riser, and C control steering. That amount of very few lines means ‘performance’….Let’s see… Launching the Fusion with its 6.3 aspect ratio is a piece of cake. Steady pull, and no surge forward, after a small brake input. Full bar is achieved without any tension…