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- Hi there.
This is Carlo from Flybubble.
I'm here with the CHILI5,
the new latest High B wing from Skywalk,
which unsurprisingly they say is their best CHILI ever.
Welcome to the Flybubble Paragliding Channel.
- [Nancy] We are free flight experts
and equipment specialists
helping you get the best flying experience.
- And one of the key things that the CHILI5 has
that the CHILI4 didn't
and the first time in the Skywalk range
for a High B glider to have is a BC system.
What they call their speed control system,
which is that system on the rear-risers
where you can on the speed system use the rear-risers
to control your speed.
CHILI5 comes in this very nice
inner bag.
I say very nice cause it's nice quality.
The materials great.
The stitching is very high quality
and it has
most zip part here
you can see with mesh to let the glider breathe.
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Here we have the glider.
New shiny glider.
That's a nice compression strap.
Okay, time to get the glider out.
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The riser bag.
The pack, stickers, manual,
printed manual.
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We have the C riser.
There.
And then the brake handle you can see, the brake handle
has got a little bit of stiffening in the bottom.
Nicely stitched at the bottom.
The Maillon Rapide "S" style,
the maillon's just a little bit longer.
Nice little plastic inserts to hold the lines in place
and keep the maillon from coming undone.
And you can see the lines are all colour coded.
Now what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna play around
with the CHILI5 on the ground
and try and show you what it's like inflating
and how it inflates.
How it comes up.
I'm on a bit of a slope
and the wind's quite variable and gusty.
It's actually pretty strong at the top of the hill,
which is why I've come down.
So yeah, it's gonna be kind of testing conditions
because, you know, the wind's varying around
and dropping right off and coming through at times.
So it'll be a good test.
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So the Skywalk CHILI5,
it's handling I'd say is,
it's got the brake pressure
is a moderate to light brake pressure.
It's got a moderate to longish travel,
not short and it's not very long.
The first part of the travel works very nicely
for most of your turns and thermalling.
The agility is kind of moderately agile.
It's not a very agile glider
but it's not sort of too slow and planky either
it's somewhere in between.
It does feel very taut and solid.
It gives you a feeling.
It's got a very reassuring feeling about it, quite calm.
The feedback is moderate.
It's not a high feedback glider,
but it's not a very,
it's not a sort of really dampened
sort of glider that you can't feel what's happening either.
It's kind of,
you know, in the middle of that sort of range.
The glide is excellent across the speed range.
I've been very impressed with it.
I've been flying next to some, close to some very good pilots
actually some of the pilots in the British team
on their Enzos, and of course they have more performance,
I'm not saying it has that performance,
but I've noticed that I've been able to stay with them
in the climbs.
And when we're gliding,
it's not like they're just shooting away
until they put the bar on of course.
Yeah, the CHILI5 is very pitch stable.
When you're flying in active air
it actually sits above your head quite steadily.
So that's very good.
It doesn't have a lot of demands.
You're not constantly having to catch the glider
or it's pitching back.
It's pretty steady above your head.
It bites into thermals pretty nicely.
And the climb rate, so just in terms of sink rate,
soaring on a hill when you're next to other gliders,
and you're just flying around,
assuming we're reasonably similarly loaded,
then soaring-wise, the CHILI5 does very well.
You're definitely noticing that you're staying up
near the top of the stack most of the time.
I would put the tendency slightly more on the,
in the weaker and moderate climbs,
it climbs particularly well.
In the stronger climbs,
maybe it's got a little bit of a tendency
to get knocked out a bit.
You need to make sure that you're keeping in the core.
That's my feeling.
Speed bar is very light and efficient
and feels very, comes on very smooth.
You don't have a kind of heavy pressure to get it going.
It's very light to push on
and all the way through the travel.
You feel like you've got a nice feeling
of how much bar you're putting on.
And the glider speeds up nicely.
The BC control system, a fairly usual kind of system.
That's got, it's got the risers, the ABC risers,
and then a system of connectors between it.
And the pressure I found is moderate to heavy.
Like most of these BC systems,
it's quite, it's a little bit stiff,
so you can certainly use it and it works very effectively,
it keeps the sail nice and clean,
but it's on the heavier side.
So it's difficult, I found it difficult,
if it's very active, like suddenly active air,
it's difficult to react quickly with that.
So it's very good for adjusting your angle
by keeping your speed bar onto the level that you want
and then just sort of adjusting, micro-adjusting,
as you go along with a different level of speed.
So the CHILI5,
I think it's an ideal glider for some somebody,
especially if they're stepping up from a Low or Mid B
and they're wanting to go up into the High B class
but don't want something that's too demanding
or too sporty and active feeling,
and they prefer something that's kind of
got a more reassuring feeling about it,
then that's a perfect candidate.
Also if somebody who's got a High B glider
and got maybe one of the higher sportier end of High Bs
and find it a bit much,
they might find that the CHILI5 suits them better.
And likewise, similarly,
if you're a pilot that's flying a sports class glider
and you find that a bit too sporty
and you prefer something that's got less pilot demands
that's more comfortable,
then the CHILI5 is a great choice.
So overall, the Skywalk CHILI5,
I think it's an excellent High B wing.
I'm really impressed with it.
It's a very great all around High B wing.
I find it's kind of,
the pilot demands around the middle of the
High B class.
So middle of High B,
and the performance is probably nearer the higher end,
the top end of the High Bs that I've flown,
which is most of them.
So yeah, very impressed.
Very nice glider.
If you're a pilot that really likes a glider that's
very agile and very nimble,
then you might find the CHILI5
is kind of lacking a little bit in that area.
So it's not that it's, you know, it's got moderate agility.
It's not slow, but it's not,
it's not a very agile glider.
It's much more of a very reassuring, steady feeling,
smooth feeling glider.
So if you like that, that's great.
But if you want a glider that's sporty and agile,
then you might find the CHILI5 is a little bit, you know,
you want a bit more sportiness and agility than that.
Also, if you like a glider that talks to you quite a bit
and it gives more feedback,
then it's feedback is moderate, it's a bit dampened.
So again, you might prefer something that's a bit more,
a bit more feedbacky a bit more that talks to you more.
But as I say again,
the CHILI5 it's got a nice moderate level agility.
Does tell you what's happening in the air.
One very serious criticism I have to say.
So, what is it?
And that is the breaks have got poppers!
I prefer magnets.
- [Nancy] Oh no, not poppers!
- [Carlo] Yeah.
Are you a popper or a magnet man or women?
I'm a magnet man.
How about you?
Popper man?
Popper woman?
Magnet man?
Magnet woman?
Tell us in the comments below.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this review
of this Skywalk CHILI5
as much as I've enjoyed flying the CHILI5
and doing this review.
If you've got any questions that you'd like to at fire us
or just chat with other viewers
then stick a comment below.
And look forward to seeing you in the next one.
(heavy breathing)
Bye!
Good days work, done.
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