SKYWALK Chili 3 S
I never flew a Chili before. My last testing on a SKYWALK
was with a Cayenne 4,and now the Chili 3 S arrived . I added some ballast to
reach 99 all up on the S (80-100) .
Launching:
I didn’t find any particular behavior rather than easy to
launch it in nil wind or in high wind .I have tried to kite it in high winds on
a soaring slope by pulling the rear C risers. It works fine knowing that the C
attachment point is far away from the brakes attachments. They do break a bit
the profile but still manageable.
In The air:
Like the C4 was having long brake travel, the Chili3 has
even a longer one!
In homogenous conditions with calm thermals the Chili 3 can
be steered with the first 30 cm of length and the wing can be called as agile!
In turbulent conditions and when entering turbulent strong
cores, the Chili 3 have a pronounced roll movement and the first 30 cm of
travel won’t do any help for controlling the glider. In those turbulent
conditions I found that to stop the surges or to replace the Chili 3 above my
head, 60 cm of brake travel are needed sometimes! That’s fine as long as the
pilot is acquainted with long brake travel.
I think the profile has lots of energy and the placement of
the C attachment is far from the leading edge, putting the brakes at a
‘long,forgiving,linear but huge brake travel, that I am not used to yet!
Climb rate:
At 99 all up on a Chili 3 I was finding myself in a ‘SKYGOD shape’ as I was able to out
climb any mosquito! Yes I can confirm largely that the Chili 3 has an
outstanding climb rate putting it on the very top of the B category!
Giving the Chili 3 to a gifted friend @ 100 all up that has only
3 years of experience, was a big mistake as he out climbed me on a M3@ 98 all
up!... And that was a hard fact!!
So the Sky god thing didn’t happen to me only….
Glide:
The glide at trim speed in calm air showed a same glide
angle as the M3 with a slightly less speed at trim. The glide in head wind
glides and difficult conditions could favor slightly the M3 if the headwind
surpasses 20km/h and in some surges. Less than that, they are almost identical!
(Did several 6 km glides in moving conditions and the glider tips were sealed
sometimes ;-) )
The speed system is relatively light and it can be easily
used in most conditions.
Big ears are efficient and can have nice descent rates (-4
m/s) when coupled also with the accelerator. They didn’t seem to flap and open
by themselves or sometimes a little dab on the brakes.
Conclusion:
With the Chili 3 SKYWALK has created a top B glider in the
category.
But it’s a relatively talkative EN-B, if I was to compare it
with the others, and it shows its strong character only in turbulent strong
cores! It needs a good ‘B’ pilots to fly it happily.
I wished the brake travel were 50% shorter! As I believe
that such excellent performances coupled with that energy needs some more
direct brake travel to place it immediately with a short travel.
No excuses for any B pilot flying the CHILI 3 for bombing
out! Unless all the flying creature are asleep ;-)