I really like the look of Niviuk wings and the Link 2 will be high up on my list of gliders to consider once I have completed my training. Niviuk PPG wings are not EN rated for the reasons Niviuk give below. I just wondered what experienced pilots made of this explanation. Is it true that complying with the EN rating system compromises design potential? And if it is, can that potential be realised safely without an EN rating?
“Currently the EN standard is used to certify free-flying wings. This means that manufacturers have to submit their gliders for the certification tests WITHOUT the engine and therefore the results are not based on the weight or load that the wing will be subjected to in real flight.
For this reason, paramotor wings certified in accordance with the EN standard are ONLY tested within a certain weight-range and in the vast majority of cases this certified load is lower than the most common loads in actual flight.
For example, a paramotor wing (size 24) can bear a load up to 120 kg. Under the EN standard, this would be certified for a weight-range of 65 - 85 kg. For this reason, any pilot flying this wing with a higher wing loading, for example 105 kg, would not be complying with the EN certification.
In conclusion, if the paramotor wing is flown outside the EN certified weight-range, it is equal to flying it WITHOUT certification and therefore neither the flight test nor structural test can be seen as valid. After an in-depth analysis of this issue we have concluded that the EN certified weight-ranges are not representative of paramotor wings because they can create confusion and misinformation. Therefore, we have decided to use the DGAC certification as our main reference.
We could also undergo the EN certification process, but designing a paramotor wing solely to obtain the certification within a certain weight-range would prevent us from optimising the type, capabilities and performance of the wing.”
