Just had a three day flyin/demo weekend here in Pennsylvania. I had two wings from Aerothrust which were the Synthesis 29 and the Reaction TST 27. I finally got some good flying on the Synthesis 29 and will be comparing it to my Revolution 28 which I fly. There were many many flights on the Synthesis and the overall feeling is that it is a Great wing, user friendly as far as trimmers, and most definitely FAST. I have asked all who flew these wings to write their own reviews and post them so I do not speak for them.
Pilot, Mike MacPherson
56 years old. Not an athlete.
Current wing Paramania Revolutions 28
Dudek Synthesis 29
Fresh Breeze Simonini 122
Pilot weight 230-235 nekked.
All up weight 320-330- Me/Motor/Wing/Reserve/Clothes/Fuel/Instruments
My thoughts are this, it is incredibly easy to KITE..
The trim system is incredibly easy to USE.
It is very FAST, faster than my Revolution
Trims all the way in, it handles very well, and you can throw it around at will.
Trims out of course the handling gets stiffer BUT the TST ( tip steering toggles) REALLY turn this wing easily. Also, even with trims in, I found myself using the TST just because they were closer to me than the brake toggles and very effective for turning.
Side by side speed comparison with Action GT 28 piloted by Ryan Smith with
both of us at level flight, trims all the way out, I was about 1 mile and hour slower than Ryan. Of course all of this will vary with pilot weight, but it does indicate how fast the Synthesis is. Ryan and I are very close in all up weight.
I have had no problems launching it either reverse or forward, light winds, or cranking winds, which we flew on Saturday night
I laid the Synthesis out flat on the ground, and then laid my Revolution on top of it. The Synthesis was only slightly bigger. I will try and post a picture of this.
Now the question is would I buy this wing? YES. However for my flying style I would have to fly the size 31 when it comes out as I like to takeoff slow, land slow, and only let out the trims if the wind is strong. I am also most likely going to a size thirty Revolution as even my Revo is a bit fast on landing. Everyone has a different flying style, and two of the local Reflex pilots, Ryan Smith and Mike Bowen say that as soon as they are off the ground, they let their trims out the whole way. I personally do not as I like to float and boat, and again only tap the speed if needed. That’s just me. I also believe there is a trend where pilots may be happier flying a larger Reflex wing, as it will afford a bit slower launch and landing capability, but still allow a much larger window of conditions to fly in because of the Reflex tech. One of the pilots who flew both wings, and was on the light side for the Synthesis says he believes the Synthesis 29 was faster than the Reaction TST 27 that he also flew. This particular pilot normally flys a Sting 140 I believe.
Hopefully the other pilots who flew these wings will post their comments.
The only real negative comments I have about the wing is the fact it did require more power, all of the time. I can boat around on my Revolution at about 4300 to 4400 RPMs. verified by a vario that I am at zero sink. On the Synthesis, it was constantly at 4900 to 5100 RPMs. As I mentioned above, I like to float and boat, and I like the motor to be doing as little as possible, or in other words just enough power to keep me at level flight.
We all have to indentify our flying styles and buy our wings, motors accordingly. I surely would buy this wing. My next wing is either going to be a Revolution 30, or a Dudek Synthesis 31. The decision will be base solely on three things. Which one will use the least power, which one will fly the slowest with trims in. If the Dudek 31 still uses more power, BUT, flies slower for landing and taking off that will be the wing. If the Revolution 30 flies slower, that will be the wing. I remember when hang gliding wings, got better and better performance, they also got faster and faster and required more finess to land. Many times the landings were very high anxiety as whacking in was not uncommon. With ppg, the landings on the older wings, were a lot slower. With the Reflex tech from what I have seen, landing are surely faster and require a different technique. I do not want to go the same route as when I was in hang gliding where the landings became a high anxiety type of affair. So, because of my physical ability etc. I need to fly a wing that will offer that. I also do not want to fly anything but a Reflex tech wing.