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My first wing has been really good to me. I started on a 1/2, Windtech Kinetic. The free fly version is the Pulsar. It is an L wing with 32M of fabric. The Kinetic is the paramotor version. (stronger and thicker lines) I learned to free fly on this wing and have about 100 hours flying and another 100 ground handling it. I purchased this particular wing because I thought I would motor also.
Although I noticed other pilots changing wings, some to noticeable improvements, I stayed with my wing as it really is dynamic and fun to fly. It just seemed that I never did as well or was as high as other people on similarly rated wings. I weigh 240 pounds and have always attributed any "lack in performance" to my weight. Now, I might blame those lines...
I believe I can gain a noticeable improvement in performance (about .5), increase enjoyment, continue with safety (new 1/2) and durability, have a smaller, lighter wing..... and get more airtime!
Suddenly, I am in the market for a new wing. I want to enjoy longer flights with better performance and am confident I can now leverage that half point.
I have read an enormous amount about various wings and manufacturers. The marketing information on the Skywalk paraglider line has intrigued me ever since I began comparing it against all the 1/2 wings that peaked my interest. What are these Jet flaps all about? I can fly slower in a thermal? Well, for a larger person, the ability to slow down and better leverage some lift sounded like a desirable benefit. It would be a nice contradiction to my usual sensation of moving fast in flight and faster in landing. All this while maintaining top end 1/2 performance and speed?
I happen to buy something from the US Skywalk representative (Claude at Uptimal) previously and we made an agreement so that a I could demo a L Chili. I had to try this wing out.
But first, let me comments on the other two wings I flew.
HOOK
Launch characteristics? The Hook launched fine. Great in fact. They all did. As far as landing characteristics go, it landed just fine. Totally consistent. The majority of my flights were about half as long as my Chili adventures. There were certainly condition differences but some characteristics and experiences are more feeling based. Did you just have one flight on it? I flew Ed Levin for my first flight on the Hook. One 17 min flight at Ed Levin, I actually yelled at it out loud once when it would not turn as I expected and almost got myself in a pinch close to the terrain. Anyway, I got better and better at turning it, but I just did not like the 'feel'. It is very stable, had a great glide and performed well. My issue with not liking the Hook is all based on the 'feel' I want. No glaring issues, I'm sure it's a great glider. I liked it third best of the three. 5 flights. max flight time 34 min. All Ed/Mission, no Dump.
MAMBO
Mambo - NICE glide. Great launching. Nice and coordinated in flight. Baby wingovers felt very coordinated and had a lot of fun energy at the Dumps. Second favorite in flight. I have flown this wing a lot. It has a very strong glide to this glide and is very enjoyable. You point and it really seems to reach the destination a tad bit better than the other gliders. This is all subjective of course. I climbed up to cloud base at Ed over the 1100 and actually had to fight my way down. I had a couple times I needed to get down with the Mambo. I really had some great flights on this wing. I also got over launch at Ed in the Mambo, the highest I have ever been there. Toured Mission with it and fought a long losing battle with it at the same spot but really milked all I could. The Mambo was a great wing to fly. 11 flights including several at the Dump and the rest Ed/Mission.
The Skywalk Chili:
Flew it a Cheetah, and was fine until I made a move copying Hussein down the ridge in light lift and promptly got myself beached. Whoops. What a hike that is.
I got aloft in Tahoe for a couple good flights on the Chili. Nice light cycles from the SE. The Chili is very easy to bring overhead, in fact it was effortless. I brought it up, balanced it overhead, turned and jogged with increasing speed to the edge where I was simply swept off the ground even sooner than I expected...just like that, we were flying.
I flew the ridges on the right and got above launch but not much more... The Skywalk Chili demo is 'turn eager' as they describe. Light pressure on either side would set up a bank. Stronger pressure really set up the turn quickly. Compared to my Windtech Kinetic, it turns quite a bit quicker and a little flatter (quicker also added more roll). In addition, you can actually choose to fly the Chili slower which I did notice during my launches and thermlling. Previously, I was flying what seemed to be a little quick. The wing moved around overhead a lot, but most of the feeling it communicated made sense. It really seemed solid. A couple minor collapses came right out before I even had a chance to look. In fact, I took one nice frontal out of the back of a thermal that popped out before I had a chance to react. As far as I can tell, my Kinetic probably would have handled that air in the same manner. On the Chili, I sit "all up" at the top of its range in large which will mean less fabric as it compares to the Kinetic.
When I finally bailed off to the knolls, the wing's features worked pretty good for me. I got to 9550 above the knolls. High enough to see half of Lake Tahoe. Then I proceeded to watch someone top land which of course caused me to lose my position, thermal and height eventually earning me the LZ. I had a moment of worry over my needed glide to make the LZ, but it quickly went away. I really like the glide. I set up for a landing and was a little shocked by the ground effect landing in the Slide LZ (high altitude!). I came a up just a little short on my spot in the huge field and perhaps did not get my feet moving appropriately. .. Lets just state, I am not blaming the wing for the landing. What can I say... it was a nice, fun ride with a solid wing. 1 hr 18min.
Monday at Slide was even lighter than the previous day. I worked the ridges, found less lift than I needed and had to head for knolls... which I worked diligently, just not really successfully gaining the altitude I needed to stay airborn. In all, a 45 minute flight.
I told Claude I was on the fence about this wing. It was even. Good and bad experiences. I asked for another weekend to fly it. Granted.
I now think the wing is 'lucky'. I had three good flights on it to turn the 'even' experience of the weekend before to a 'very strong like' of the Chili the weekend after. The ridge soaring side of it (even in marginal conditions) was even better than the thermalling. I finally got a lighter Ed Levin 1200 ridge soaring day and pulled out an amazing (to me) flight. And the combo flight was good fun indeed. Sporty.
All the gliders land perfectly and launch perfectly. They just have different personalities. With respect to performance it was hard to pinpoint any differences.
Anyway, demoing brings up questions for me. Para2000.org has a bunch of numbers that are supposed to answer many questions but as you know, the numbers much of the time are not even close to accurate. ANYWAY - Only GR/Fmax Estimation Min Max seems to vary much between the high end 1/2s. Best sink rate & Best glide ratio both seem to be about 1.2 or 1.3 m/s for any 1/2 you choose. Heck, my paramotor wing (Kinetic) is 1.1 m/s best sink rate and 1.2 m/s best glide ratio per this site. (but I lose a half point on the glide).
So what should I notice? Do I glide a little further and climb a little better? I would say yes to both.. but not as much as I had hoped for. Maybe I just have more learning to do. I doubt that a .1 or .2 would be that noticeable... or would it? I could gain a half point on GR/Fm ax Estimation Min Max which I would expect to see on glide to some point.
I have to wonder if it's worth it.
Compare contrast:
All launched great
All landed great
All glided well, super slight edge perceived to the Mambo then the Chili
Turning- Loved the Chili turns. Very easy to turn. Sports car with an interesting design, perhaps safety aspect to it. Then the Mambo and then the Hook in turn enjoyment order.
Conclusion: Which wing are you leaning towards?
I think it is clear when I write it out. If I buy a new wing right now, I would prefer the Chili L. I am 130 all up and right a the top of the range. It is a smaller wing relative to my size and the Kinetic which also makes it lighter (relative).
I noticed a Gin Yeti (2006) weighing in at about 15 pounds for an XL (targeting 130 all up). The Chili weighs the same but is much smaller in fabric (by a few Ms). That has settled my desire to get a 'lightweight' marketed wing. (well, that lightweight wing anyway...)
So now the question becomes... what custom color scheme do I choose for my new Chili...
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Hoop's Wing Reviews
