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Friday, February 3, 2012

Air Design RISE


AD RISE
40 long days of non-stop rain and snow finally came to an end giving us a break for 3 sunny days.
The RISE has unsheathed lines on the upper cascades and regular on the lower part. AD designed the RISE to have top performance in the EN-B segment, and is intended for XC flying.

Launching:
Pulling on the A’s, the glider comes steady above my head without a surge and I found the take off to be very easy.

In the air:
Having flown many EN-B’s before, I found that the RISE M like to be a bit loaded at 75 % of the weight range to feel it better. I was flying the M size at 102 all up.
I cannot describe The RISE as an agile glider but the turns in the thermals are easy to induce with a moderate brake pressure.
The pitch back movement of the glider in entering the thermals is dampened but does exist a bit.

I found the climb rate in weak thermals to be a bit less the Mentor 2 but average to well.
Climb rate in strong thermals are good.

Gliding into wind with a Mentor 2 at trim and accelerated showed a “nearly” close performance, with a much comforting ride under the RISE.
The accelerator on the RISE is smooth on my Impress 2 and I could push it easily all the way with a very good glide angle!
The RISE could be slowed a bit better than the M 2 for a narrow and tight landing.

Conclusion:
Air Design has created a nice high end EN-B glider which is intended for experienced pilots who want the safety of an EN-B glider + the top end performance in that category.
With those new performing EN-B’s long XC’s are now possible with a good level of security and passive safety.











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