This is my first Icaro glider ! Don’t ask me why ! It didn’t happen…Surfing around, i entered the new website of Icaro : http://icaro-paragliders.com/en/ ! Back to testing gliders. I saw the new Gravis and wrote an email to Icaro ! Since no one gets them over here, i paid for it and here it is. An M size in blue/Yellow color ! The workmanship on this B glider is excellent ! The details and the way it is built is a class of its own ! The first time I flew the Gravis i was alone in the…
Last year I test flew Supair B glider the leaf ! I was impressed by the exceptional comfort, the very nice handling and the very efficient climb rate. I have the S size (75-95) for a test flight. Launching the 6.35 aspect ratio Taska, is super easy, smooth and without any hang back in nil wind. In windy conditions (+25 km/h) the glider has the tendency to inflate very fast after 50 % of it’s rise and the pilot must use the brakes to stop it from surging. I had immense pleasure flying with the Taska S on windy take…
I have waited more than 6 months to receive the S size. The 99 cell low aspect ratio glider from NOVA has indeed a very complicated internal structure. This process of construction is delicate and takes lots of time to be completed. The price of the Phantom is high…Twice to three times more expensive than a conventional low B glider. The fabric used is light for most of the delicate parts. Launching the Phantom is similar to any B glider with a fast rise above the pilots head. The Phantom has a different feel than any low or high B…
After my beloved Trango X-Race :-), here’s UP new B glider the Summit XC 4 in SM size. The XC4 has a aspect ratio of 6.3 with an EN-B rating ! Today with the Summit XC 4 i took my time to explore it a little bit and finally managed to get a Carrera plus SM to complete my comparison. Once airborne, the Summit XC 4 gave me the same brake feel as its bigger sister the X-race ! with a slight more forgiving and filtered feel. But the Summit XC4 strangely has the ‘same’ DNA ! I must say…
I need to share some thoughts about my tests on this blog. I have flown more than 260 different glider till now… This is a completely FREE blog. No ads. Its a self sponsored blog. Free service . This blog is just to ‘escape’ for a glimpse. To enter my own “Boy’s box” My dream is to exchange wings, and now I’m living this dream. I test fly the glider with joy like a boy reaching for an ice cream or a chocolate bar. I still love chocolate 😉 A lot… So it means if a glider is so good,…
GIN Explorer Take off is super easy as the glider inflates quickly with no overshooting. The brake pressure are similar to the C+ ones ,and the explorer can be steered with only 10 cm of brakes travel in moderate thermals. The response is shorter than the C+ with (more or less) same agility. And with much more brake dampened behavior.(less sharp) Another example, is that flying a Chili 4 with it’s edge in overall performance, feels more demanding to fly than the Explorer in turbulent conditions. Big ears are very efficient, stable. They reopen by a slight brake amount. The…
After flying practically every Trango, here’s the X-Race, the newest Trango version in its light material construction. I flew that glider at 97 all up and the next day at 94 all up. I felt that the optimum weight under the SM goes around 95. Before the first flight, i remembered the Trango XC3 and thought that the X-Race could bear some of its genes. It doesn’t ! Once airborne, i could sense a more compact and homogenous feel under the X-Race. This glider moves as a whole. It seems that UP did an extensive work on it’s internal structure. Because the yaw and…
Yes …..They were a bit late to arrive ! Lets see what SKYWALK did with the Chili 4 who took quite a while in development. I was very curious to see what are the benefits on the B category and i was keen to see if SKYWALK did manage to keep the excellent climb of the Chili 3. Launching the Chili 4 XS at 92 all up is an easy task with no delay or shooting forward. A simple glider to inflate. The Chili 4 has a Joyful efficient handling. It doesn’t dive but has a “flat” corkscrew ability 🙂 …
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It doesn’t mean that they could suit every pilot need ! Every glider has it’s own characteristics and every pilot has their own feel and requirement. You can find their characteristics in the B,C, comparison charts. EN-B Low aspect ratio gliders = Ozone Buzz Z5 EN-B with higher aspect ratio than 6 = UP Summit XC 4 EN-C High aspect ratio = UP Trango X-Race Cheers,
