Here's the latest First wing from Sup'air, the EONA, featuring a friendly profile with
nice wide cell openings for easy inflation. We've assumed a 90kg total flying weight
for our statistics.
The step to the Progression class can be subtle, but you can usually notice a slight increase
in aspect ratio and slightly longer lines.
Moving up to the XC class, you'll notice the lines are much longer and there are many more
cells in the wing. The cell openings are much narrower. This is for added performance.
The step up to the Performance class ARTIK 4 leads to a big reduction in wing area, so
the wing loading is higher and you should go a bit faster. Aspect ratio and cell count
have crept up, and there are fewer lines.
Jumping to the Advanced class, you get over 3 and a half square metres less area than
the A wing. But that's not lifting surface ... it has over a metre more projected span,
or lift-generating-leading-edge, and that's what counts.
The risers are similar across all classes with 3 main riser sets.
Sheathed lines on the First and Progression wings, unsheathed lines on the others.
Split As for big-ears, and magnetic brake keepers.
We're not all using perfect technique here which helps to show the difference.
The First wing pops up quickly and waits overhead.
The Progression wing also tracks straight.
The XC wing goes through a short stall phase where it rotates, before accelerating to slightly
ahead of the pilot. It requires a touch of brake to control.
The Performance wing is less forgiving
and rotates and shoots more, requiring more precise pilot reaction.
The Advanced wing ... oh dear. Phil's pulled slightly too hard and it's tucked.
That was his first attempt.
You can learn a lot by the way a wing groundhandles. The First wing responds quickly and keeps
on flying. The Progression wing is effortless to control.
The XC wing is resilient and allows precise positioning.
The Performance wing is also easy but begins to yaw at the extremes.
The narrow tips on the Advanced wing bend and stall easily.
Matching the wing to your skills means you spend less time in the bushes and more flying.
The short lines and big cells on the EONA make it come up straight without much energy.
The TEQUILA 4 will rise on its own with a gentle pull on the risers.
The layout on the IOTA is more important due to the smaller cell openings.
Moving towards the wing helps reduce the acceleration of the ARTIK 4.
The GTO 2 will shoot off skew unless your timing is spot on.
Although this looks like a lot of brake, it's probably similar to flying into a sudden thermal
on your normal landing approach. So it's good to know how forgiving the wing is.
The XC wings are generally very tolerant, which gives you room for error during toplanding and launching.
Pay attention in the Performance Class, because the stall usually arrives faster, with less warning.
The Advanced gliders do not like flying slowly; launch and landing are more critical.
The class of wing makes a big difference to your success on launch. Sites are not always
as perfect as this, but you can make your launch more forgiving by choosing an easier wing.
Because pitching is limited, you can launch in gusty conditions without any fuss.
XC wings require the finesse that comes after 50 hours of flying.
Only consider a Performance wing if you have over 100 hours of airtime and some SIV experience.
For the Advanced glider we'd recommend
a minimum of 200 thermic hours.
Let's fly!
Although it's tempting to try and compare
performance, it's pointless unless you're
at matched wing loadings in still air.
What's important here is that everyone
in this shot is enjoying their flying at the
same site, and differences are so small
you have to strain to see them.
The EONA is the most secure wing, it just cruises along and doesn't disturb the pilot.
It gives an easy turn without any residual energy to manage.
For most pilots who just
want to enjoy the scenery from aloft, the EONA does a fantastic job.
As a Progression class wing, the TEQUILA 4
is designed to have incredible passive safety
- if it collapses it has a very mild reaction.
It has too much freedom of movement and fast
responses to be left in the hands of a beginner,
but for a pilot wanting to leave the hill
and go exploring, it's a pleasure to fly
and confidence building.
The IOTA is not a beginner's wing. The sleek aerofoil is tensioned and efficient, but it
surges more as it encounters updrafts and
converts speed into height.
I've got to say it looks absolutely superb.
It's designed for thermaling, with a responsive turn.
The ARTIK 4 turns slightly wider at higher speed and is best kept flat in light conditions.
You can see the retained energy of the GTO 2. Useful, only if you can deal with it.
Returning to the EONA, you can see how simple it makes flying for the pilot.
When you do big-ears to descend, the wing is very stable on both the First
and the Progression wings.
The IOTA gives a bigger descent rate but is still simple to manage.
The ARTIK 4 is similar (slightly bigger tucks) but my wingtip caught in the lines and needed
more fiddling to clear.
On the GTO 2, take care of the flapping tips! Once settled, the manoeuvre is nice and stable.
It's time for me to tag Carlo, and let him do some of the filming.
The ARTIK 4 is a high-performance wing with a forgiving nature. I was totally comfortable
hanging off the side with a camera and letting the wing sort itself out. It's slightly faster
than the lower classes, and is designed for performance during cross country. You'll get
the best out of it when coring thermals for hours, doing long glides from cloudbase
and using the full range of the smooth speedbar.
The GTO 2 moves all the time, it has a fluid grace.
It was always slightly above us during our comparison:
floating better, gliding further, converting every little bump into lift.
It's more efficient at everything. Watch out though, fluid grace can become 'in your face' in turbulence,
so it's stupid to climb onto one of these unless you've mastered all the extreme manoeuvres
and you're basically living in the sky. For the right pilots, the GTO 2 offers precise
handling, full feedback and that wonderful feeling of freedom.