Supair STEP S (70-90) EN-B

Supair STEP EN-B  size S

The Step is Supair’s new high B glider.  The Step with an aspect ratio of 5.7, has a shark nose, and a refined unsheathed set on lines.  With this look and construction Supair looks serious about performance gain…Lets see…

The take off is calm, and doesn’t have a tendency to overshoot, unless the pilot don’t use a little brake. 

I flew the S size (70-90) from 85 to 90 all up. This test concern this size with the mentioned loadings. Other sizes ‘could’ be different and flying the S size in different loads at the beginning of the range ‘could’ differ. Just to be specific. This test is an idea . Test flying is best !

I also flew the S size with different harnesses, one GTO light M and one Delight 3 M. In strong air at higher altitude sites, the combination of GTO Light and the Step are very different from the Delight 3 /Step combination, in matter of roll movements and pilot correction when encountering strong turbulence. The GTO light allow to feel the sharp movements under the Step, and gave me slightly more workout than a Mentor 5 XS, or the Chili 4 if both flown with the GTO Light.

Flying the Delight 3 M size with the Step was completely different and the Step was very auto-controlled by that harness in sudden lifts and sharp thermals.  The Step felt a need to be controlled slightly more than the M5 XS. It feels slightly similar to the Chili4 S (75-95). 

The Rush 5, S (70-90) is calmer and tamer than the others.  

The Step handling and brake authority are more defined than the M5 XS which is a bit less informative and not as linear as the Step. The Rush 5 S is slightly harder, with less travel, and lesser agility.   The Chili 4 S is sharper, shorter in travel than the Step with close agility. 

Overall the Step is an agile glider with a linear and pleasurable feel on the brakes. 

Supair of course designed that harness with the Step, and i humbly recommend that you try the Step with the Delight 3 in order to feel that difference.  

The Step has a moderate to light feel on the brakes without any hard point. After the 10 cm gap away from the pulleys, the Step can be steered lightly with 20 cm of brake travel for swift but mellower turning radius.  Lowering the brakes at the carabiner level, will induce a corkscrew turn enabling very tight turns. This feature is not available on the M5, Rush 5, and even the agile Chili4 !  

The Step has the genes of the little Leaf in terms of turning radius !  The overall pilot level over the Leaf is a step and a half ! 

I flew next to a Mentor 5 XS (70-90) that has the same size as the Step, and we were similarly loaded. Best way to compare and comment. 

The Step climbs really well…Knowing that the M5 XS is a super climber, i cannot but confirm that the Step felt super competitive with an edge !  The ability for the Step to tighten the turning radius is an efficient way to climb in narrow cores. 

The Step has a very slight pitch back, sometimes un noticeable. I felt that i could be more efficient when i flew the Step at max weight ! the climb didn’t suffer at all, and i was still climbing like a spring without any pitch momentum. 

Doing some glides with the same mentor 5 XS , lifted my eyebrows over my sunglasses !  :-) 

The Step is a serious gliding machine, and we were both inseparable in glide at trim, at half bar, even at top speed. The Step has 13 km/h over trim taken at 1000 ASL. 

The handles on the C are efficient on this 3 liner in moderate conditions.  Applying half to full bar, in moving conditions, and controlling with the C handles, i was able to prevent most pitch situations. 

The leading edge felt very well pressurized. It was hard to pull on the A lines to induce a collapse at trim speed. St full bar the leading edge flutters a bit , but it feels solid.  

Big ears are stable. They have a moderate efficiency and they reopen quickly without any input. 

Conclusion:  IMHO, Supair has made their best glider till date for overall package it has to offer.  Climb like a devil, glide like the top high B, handles super well…fast enough for a high B…what can i say more…If you want my opinion….A demo should be considered as your next step   ;-)

This is only my opinion. Make your own !

Woody Valley GTO Light size M

My main and long tested harnesses were the GTO in L and XL ,The connect race XL, which was the WVGTO slightly modified for more options, The X-rated 6 in L and XL. 

I personally liked the configuration of those harnesses and the way they transmit roll movements in the air. Probably the GTO and Connect race transmits a bit more the turbulent and sharp airmass sometimes, but in overall conditions they are really nice to fly. 

I have here the GTO Light in size M and L. Woody Valley changed their sizing and the new GTO Light in M size is ‘slightly’ bigger than the old GTO L size ! 

For my 1.81 and 73 kg, the GTO Light M size suits me perfectly. I also tried the L size but it seems a bit big for me. Could be ok…But i prefer the snug fit of the M size. 

The GTO Light doesn’t have a seat board, but the pilot sits on a firm and flat back protection which gives more or less a good solid sitting feel. But it’s not a solid seat board feel. 

The rescue compartment seems large enough for big rescues. A Rogallo type, can fit easily. 

The comfort sitting position of the GTO Light for the back, hips is excellent. It resemble the best comfortable harnesses. The GTO Light is much more comfortable to sit in than the old GTO, Connect race, X-rated 6. It comes very close to the Forza and the Lightness 2 in terms of back support and comfort. 

As for the roll movements, they seem to be less informative than a Lightness 2 for example and quite close to the old GTO. Weight shift capabilities are excellent ! 

I could really weight shift efficiently by balancing my weight to the turning side much better than the Supair Delight 1 or 2 and for sure better than the X-rated 6. 

I can say that there’s some balanced roll movement in the GTO Light to ensure a pleasurable flight as the movements are precise and accurate. In the Lightness 2 and the Impress 3, the induced roll movements by entering thermals were not really homogenous, as i already mentioned it in those tests, but in the GTO Light, they deliver exactly what’s the air is doing without parasitical or unnecessary yaw movements. 

The legs are naturally supported and doesn’t require any effort form the pilot to keep them straight. 

The speed system is the same as the old GTO with 3 steps, and still easy to use. 

The chest strap is easily adjustable as the adjustment lays flat on top on the front strap. The Cockpit is placed on the right angle, the adjustments can be altered in flight if they are not secured by a loop. But it’s preferable to adjust them before the flight. 

The pod seems warm enough. But must wait until winter to be sure... 

The GTO light doesn’t look as fragile as it weight. I mean it look solid enough for a light harness. There's also good back compartment for storage. 

I have added a small ball with an elastic on the front pod to ensure proper entry into the pod like the one on the Forza, because i had difficulties to enter. 

Conclusion: Overall i like that harness. I think Woody Valley has created a very nice light and comfortable to sit, harness with a rear inflatable for more aerodynamics and has practically everything a pilot needs.

Cheers, 

Ziad 

Supair Delight 3 size M

Supair Delight 3 size M

I already have flown the Delight 2, and still have one over here with a friend. So i can compare both harnesses. I will also compare in this test the Delight 3 M with the GTO, GTO Light, Lightness 2 M.

At first, it looks like all the materials used on the Delight 3 are an upgrade over the Delight 2. The overall construction seems also much better. The rear back storage compartment is slightly bigger. 

The rescue system operates in an innovative way and it looks very neat. 

What looks and feel the same is the chest strap system and sitting position. The chest strap lays flat on top of the buckle, and can be easily reached and adjusted, like the GTO Light ,Gin Race 4. 

Getting into the pod is easy without any ball attachment. 

I flew the Alpina 3 in S size at the same load both on the GTO Light and on the Delight 3 for 3 consecutive days…In our Cedars site which is know for it’s rough air at mid day in August.

 ”Finally the weather is improving … :-)”  

In turbulent air and sharp thermals, the GTO light and the Lightness 2 would shake my body at higher angles right or left, and needed a quick weight shift to counter steer in order to keep levels , the Delight 3 abs system would provide 60 % of that work, enabling the pilot to focus on the thermal quality and steering direction and precision.  

Under the same tested glider which is an easy C, i found out that the Delight 3 would largely compensate those dynamic drops from left to right in strong bumpy air.  

It’s a matter of personal feel if someone would like this feature or not.  

I personally like the feel under the GTO Light which let you feel like a swallow …But one thing for sure, is that in strong air i was able to turn faster and easier “on rails” those bullet thermals just because i wasn’t thrown around…and that’s a quite interesting feature to consider also when flying in strong air even when the chest strap is largely opened.  

In weak stuff, the GTO Light weight shift authority is remarkably easier to induce, and also the feel in light air. But i was happy to open the chest strap on the Delight 3 to feel those tiny movements when the thermals are weak at the end of the day. The roll feel are still there, but much less. 

The size of the Delight 3 M size for my 181 and 73 kg are perfect. I feel I’m in the middle of it’s weight/ height range.

The back support and sitting position on the Delight 3 are fairly comfortable.  In this matter i cannot compare seatless harnesses with seat board harnesses in terms of comfort as the seatless like the GTO Light or the Lightness 2 would offer that homogenous hammock feel, but i can clearly confirm a very good back comfort on the Delight 3. 

The front instrument holder is in the right angle, and it’s front pocket is large enough for storage. 

Under the seat a 5 kg ballast can be easily fitted. 

The accelerator has two steps and the pulleys deliver a smooth push.

The one thing i was expecting, is a rear inflatable cone, on that seat board harness !  and that light harness would be a very interesting one…But i’m being picky… 

Conclusion: The Delight 3 offers an excellent comfortable ride and will deliver a smooth and well balanced feel about the air. 

What i would say that i think the Delight 3 would be quite an interesting harness to fly under some dynamic handling gliders.  

For sure ,it’s a matter of adaptation and getting use to any harness, but IMHO, flying in strong places for hours, some pilots will save also the extra energy in compensating glider movements and will be more efficient at the task at hand.  

Nice materials used, light, can be stored with an average compact size, comfortable for a seat-board harness. If you know the feel under the Delight 2, then you have a large idea, otherwise demoing one could be an interesting ride.

SKY Aeon M (80-95)

SKY Aeon  M (80-95)

The Aeon is the new EN-D from Sky-paragliders with a D rating. It has a 7 aspect ratio and three lines configuration.

The launching is homogenous and easy. It resembles the LM6 launching behavior. 

In the air at 93 all up, the brake travel to induce a turn are relatively moderate to short and the reaction of the glider in homogenous but strong thermals is quite nice and the Aeon could be described as fairly agile. In turbulent air and choppy thermals, an implication is needed to make a clean turn as i could sense the aspect ratio. Much like the LM6 in that matter. 

The difference is that the LM6 brake are slightly firmer and it feels more as a block, the Aeon feels quite tamer, slightly less feel on the brakes, and less dynamic movements in overall conditions. 

The trim speed of the Aeon M at 93 is around +1.5 km/h than an LM6 S (70-85) at 85 all up or an LM6 MS at 95 all up.  The glide in still air is very close. The glide in turbulent air is also quite similar. The difference came slightly at first bar in turbulent air where the Aeon comfortable movements could have a slightly floatier results. But it’s really very small…And practically the differences will come from the pilot in that case. The C controls work well on this 3 liner. For sure not comparable with 2 liners but still nice to prevent moderate pitch behavior in turbulence. 

However, i was impressed by the climb rate of the Aeon that showed me on several occasions a slightly faster climb than the LM6, especially in sudden thermals or strong cores. It seems that the Aeon is converting every move to a climb which gives a quite efficient tool in XC.  This was also felt in moving air where the Aeon could be a nice efficient floater in those conditions, surfing the airmass rather than bumping and loosing the glide. Actually the 7 aspect ratio Aeon was giving me a D class performance which is different than a high C class performance glider in it’s ability to convert the turbulent air into good and smooth gliding properties.

The differences in behavior between the LM6 and the Aeon are very different, as one pilot will appreciate the stiffer feel of the LM6 and brake pressure connectivity, to the slightly softer canopy feel but (still very coherent) of the Aeon with a softer but still responsive brake feel. 

Saying this, i could also feel that in relatively strong air, the Aeon gave me the overall feel of a D glider, as it needed a precise pilot handling which confirm it’s placement in that class. 

Ears are stable and need pilot input to reopen.

Conclusion: Sky has created a comfortable but efficient EN-D glider for the required pilots. Very good climbing behavior, very nice glide at bar. Light weight, and comfortable to fly for pilots flying gliders in the D category. 

This is only my opinion. Make your own !