Interview with Mt Philipp Medicus NOVA (R&D)

Ziad: 1- Why are you aiming to release the Phantom 2? And what level of pilots it’s targeted for?
Philipp: There are many happy Phantom pilots, who like the performance and the handling behavior of the glider.
That's why we never really considered making the Phantom a "one-time thing".

The development isn't finished, but the target group is identical to the Phantom 

We think, that that's what made it so successful: It's easy to fly.

2- Can you describe the intended performance in active air toward the upper classes?

It has to be competitive against current EN-C gliders. (Except top speed, probably)

3- Are you intending to release a D glider in the next 6 months? or earlier?

No.

4- I have flown the Mentor 6 normal cloth and the light version in the same size. I felt more connected via the light cloth. It seems different and more enjoyable…

How can that difference in feel?

I think the lighter cloth can affect the feeling in three ways:

1.) The reduced mass itself: The mass reduction is not more than around 10%, because you have to add the air mass inside the glider. But that should be enough to be noticeable in terms of less (mass-)damping.

2.) The light cloth will not only differ in weight but also in stiffness. That will unavoidably result in a certain change in the flying characteristics.

3.) A third effect is subjective: You can hear certain deformations better on many lightweight materials, than on many heavier cloths. So even if two wings do exactly the same, you will get a very different (acoustic) feedback from the two gliders.

5- And new tandem coming soon? and will it aim more for performance as the new releases?

Yes - we are working on a new tandem wing. It's going to be rather light, with good XC-potential. It won't be a direct successor of the Bion2 therefore.

We haven't started working on the Bion3 yet.

6-Will NOVA invest more in harnesses in the future?

Yes - certainly!

7- I always wondered about NOVA forethought in the release of a 2 liner or entering competitions? Any comments? 

We are working with 2-liner prototypes for a while now. From today's perspective, we won't release a CCC 2-liner.

Cheers,

P

Thank you!