OZONE Forza

OZONE Forza
The Forza is OZONE new XC harness.
Some of this harness features is an anti-G front pocket, one pocket for talkie walkie, a nice double and large cockpit, one place for a rescue, openings in the pod for urinating tubes, a certified 17 cm back protection, an adjustable speed bar, a small red ball to tie on the shoe laces for a pod recovery after take off, no seat board, etc…
There are lots of adjustments for a comfortable sitting position.Flying the the Forza showed me a very comfortable sitting position that is similar or quite close to the Impress 3.
The legs rests naturally like sitting on a sofa and there’s no need to put any effort to keep them straight inside the pod.
However the strong point of the Forza is the precise transmission that is received from the glider above.
The Forza doesn’t have the unnecessary roll movements found earlier on the Impress 3 but does inform the pilot in a soft and precise manner.
After some hours flying under C and D gliders, i can confirm the overall comfort, stability and usability to be really interesting !
The M size with the M pod suits my height of 1.81 and 74 kg very well. In fact i think that even 1.83 pilots would fit nicely.

Despite not having a seat board, the weight shift is still fine with this harness. Of course seat board harnesses will always have this lock feel in a turn, but with the Forza it’s getting a bit closer.

The construction on the Forza looks very good ! It’s a step forward from the light Ozium, and resembles the Exoceat harness in it’s robust construction weighting around 5 kg for the M !

Conclusion: The Forza is a complete harness with great comfort, accessibility, and a certified protection with lots of features.
If the price suits you, then it’s a must to try that one !

NOVA Mentor 4 XS light

NOVA Mentor 4 LIGHT XS

The light version of the Mentor 4 was released in September 2015 and the XS size going up to 90 kg was my choice for this test.

I could never imagine that by a simple though, this M4 light could launch ! It is so easy to inflate in no wind and the glider could hover above my head waiting patiently for me to fly.

The light cloth of the M4 light gave the glider an immense easiness to launch in marginal conditions. Launching the M4 light in 20 km/h wind is very quick but very well stabilized over my head with an efficient brake control.

Having flown the original M4 normal version in size S, i thought i have to let the glider climb at trim speed as the original M4 was efficient in that mode. Surprisingly and after some time on it, it doesn’t have a similar approach, and the M4 light has the best climb like any other glider i already tested, with a little pull on the brakes ! Don’t ask me why….I really don’t have the answers…But the M4 light XS has a more pronounced neutral pitch than the Mentor 4 S, which normally the smaller sizes should normally be more aggressive in pitch.

The climb rate of this Mentor 4 XS light in my humble opinion and after some comparisons with other gliders , has a ‘much’ better climb rate than the M4 ! I think this is an impressive glider that will surely put it’s pilot effortlessly on top of gaggles !

Talking only about the very good climb rate without a good maneuverability will let any glider out of interest. The Mentor 4 XS light has a ‘short, precise, linear, moderate feel through the brakes, and good agility ! My kind of gliders !  I could put the Mentor 4 XS immediately wherever i wanted despite rough conditions inside any thermal ! Pretty good handling indeed !

Lets glide…
Doing some glides on this Mentor 4 XS light with one of the ‘best” C’s of the moment, yes C’s…showed that the M4 light is an annoying little glider for any high aspect ratio glider thinking he could easily slip far away. The Mentor 4 XS light will be there saying a little ‘coucou’ every now and then  ;-)
I can confirm a very competitive glide ratio at trim and especially at full bar, like it’s bigger sister the Mentor 4 S i still have over here. To say the least…


The Mentor 4 XS light, i will surely say that in active windy and bumpy glides, a slight edge is shown only for the higher aspect ratio gliders in the category above !
The Mentor 4 XS light needs a good B pilot under it in turbulent conditions, and it’s slightly more alive than the M4 S and could resembles the Ozone Swift 4 for the same level of pilot control.

Ears are stable and efficient with bar.They reopen smoothly on pilot action. The speed bar has a moderate to light pressure with 14 km/h gain over trim speed at 1000 ASL.

Ok, ok …You should be bored now…Good launch, very good climb and handling , very good glide … and you want to ask me if it’s also ‘one’ of the best ‘B’ gliders of the moment ?
Simply: yes.

Explanation: Test flying until now, 190 different glider, didn’t teach me only about their behavior, but something much more important IMHO.
To get the lightest, simplest, smallest, ‘relatively’ easiest, and with a moderate aspect ratio, cross country machine with enormous potential plus a ‘smiley’ stamp on the pilots face is indeed a blessing !

For me paragliding is a wonderful and magical sport and each glider regardless of it’s category that delivers the biggest amount of comfort/efficiency/safety is the future everyone will eventually grow old looking for.
Conclusion: The Mentor 4 XS reminded of my beloved, Mentor 2 S with it’s shorter brake response and it’s agility. The M4 XS light has more feel into it than the normal M4 S.
This glider likes to be flown at top weight to give you it’s best.
And for the majority of pilots looking into this segment of gliders, The M4 Light flown at it’s best is a very interesting XC companion, with top overall performance a ‘B’ pilot will ever need.

SKYMAN Cross Country S (70-90)

SKYMAN Cross Country S (70-90)

The new light B glider from Skywalk has arrived. The S size 70-90 flown at 85 all up .

The Cross Country is made from the same material used on the Cross Alps and show on this glider a very nice and neat construction! The Cross Country has unsheathed lines on the upper cascades and sheathed lines on the lower ones. There are only 2 A’s, 3 B’s and 2 C’s ! that’s it !

Launching this very light glider is super easy and even with 3 km wind, the glider could hover above the pilots head waiting to get airborne !

First turn and the feeling of the brakes are toward the light side and getting slightly firm on the lower part. The travel is short to medium and the agility is very good !

The Cross Country has the tendency to turn flat and small weak thermals are caught efficiently with little amount on the brakes.

It seems that the Cross country is a well dampened glider and the gap in liveliness is big behind it’s bigger sister the cross Alps. So the Cross Country is a very comfortable B glider with very simple requirements to have a smile while flying.

I have made some transitions with other gliders and noticed that the Cross Country is fairly competitive and could be placed in the mid of the high B category. It reminded me well of the UP Kantega XC2, which is a very efficient and cool glider.
The speed travel is long and could get the Cross Country at +13 km/h over trim.

Ears are super efficient  and -5 m/s are easily achievable.

Conclusion: The Cross Country is a light B glider with a very neat construction.The overall comfortable performance will indeed put a large smile on the week end pilot. Test flying this glider is an interesting option for the pilots who privilege comfort, ease of use and super light equipment with a very satisfying overall performance.

SKYWALK Cayenne 5 XS

SKYWALK Cayenne 5 XS (80-95)

The Cayenne 5 with an aspect ratio of 6.4 is the new replacement of the Cayenne 4 that SKYWALK decided to inserted into the C category.

Having flown the past SKYWALK range of gliders including the Cayenne 4, i will describe in the following their differences.

Launching the Cayenne 5 XS at 91 all up is straightforward and a control on the brakes is needed in strong winds to keep the glider overhead.

Feel and maneuverability :
In the air the Cayenne 5 feels much more coherent and solid in structure than the C4 and the pilot authority on the brakes is very well improved over the C4 giving the pilot a short ,precise steering ability to give an agile feel even in choppy conditions.
Flying the Cayenne 5 in thermals is a delight as the wing carves the air with every pulled centimeter on the brake travel giving the impression that the Cayenne 5 feels like an extension of the pilot hand movements and weight shift.

Comfort:
In strong cores and turbulence the Cayenne 5 is a step over the C4 in terms of piloting, but the brake responsiveness of the C5 will let the same good pilot control it much better.

To place exactly the Cayenne 5 for it’s future pilots in the C box which is actually stretched a bit, with high aspect ratio wings, I will consider giving the highest score to the most demanding ones i felt in this C box :
I’ll give the Trango XC 3 = 95 %, the Triton 2 S = 85 %, The Delta 2, Alpina 2 = 60%, and the Sigma 9 = 45 %. Here I’ll give the Cayenne 5 XS at 91 all up = 70 % .

The Cayenne 5 moves as a whole and feels very solid.It’s only in strong dynamic cores that the pilot underneath will have to be active and keen. But it’s slightly more tamed than a Triton 2 S or much more than a Trango XC 3 SM with same loading .

Performance:
After some long glides and especially head wind glides at trim and at full bar, i can confirm that the overall performance and efficiency of the Cayenne 5 XS i am testing is clearly close to the top contenders.

The Cayenne 5 XS shows it’s efficiency when cutting through the air-mass and moving forward, and it’s very efficient in racing, lift lines on ridges.

Small example of trim speed and glide :
Flying the cayenne 5 XS (80-95) at 91 all up next to an Alpina 2 SM (80-95) at 95 all up, showed a slightly faster trim speed (0.5 km/h) for the C5 still ! and a slightly better glide angle at trim !

Applying half bar reduces the turbulence and the C 5 cuts through without the feel of loosing height with a moderate pressure in the speed system. The top speed at full bar is 54 km/h at 91 all up and 900 ASL and the glide angle at top speed is still competitive for the C category.

The Cayenne 5 can be also described as an efficient climber, in weak and especially in difficult conditions where the pilot need to cut through those little difficult cores, the cayenne 5 will help by it’s ability to surge and search upward efficiently.

Small ears are stable even with bar. Bigger ears are slightly unstable even with bar. The tips are very well pressurized and tends to open energetically.

Conclusion:
For an experienced pilot wanting to choose a C glider, I found that the Cayenne 5 has a very interesting ratio of performance/ comfort /efficiency/ and pleasurable handling. The Cayenne 5 is a well balanced C glider with excellent performance and great usability, intended for the experienced pilot looking inside the C category. 

Cheers,
Ziad

Coupe Icare 2015

GIN Genie X-Alps