Hann__ Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 (edited) Wings seem to be getting smaller - or is that just what we`re seeing in the media merry-go round? What size wings are people actually flying? **edit this is a follow-on to my musings on the `Freeride` topic.. Edited August 15, 2017 by Hann__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 I'm still flying a ReAction 29, an old design now and I know that modern wings would offer the same lift in 25/24 m2 sizes. It's still a good performer though a little slow on the trimmers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 28 and I am 92 kg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom-vince Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 19m freeride at 85kg on the nitro so my all up weight is probably 10kg under average. also 23m magnetic, semi reflex. previously 19m gts, 22m gtx, 24m gtr, 29m fusion, 29m reaction, 29m synthesis, 31m freex moon, 28m edel sabre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR002 Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 Started paramotoring 17 years ago first wing was a Nova Artax 31 metre paragliding wing and as time went on my wings got smaller Power play sting 27 Paramania Action 27 Paramania Action GT 27 Paramania GTR 22 Paramania GTX24 Dudek Snake XX 20 I prefer the smaller wings as they are easier to launch and land, My cruise speed is now 10 mph faster than the Nova Artax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papagyo Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 145kg all up weight including large reserve. 31m wing at elevation of 4700ft. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieG Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 116kg all up flying an original Snake 22. Level flight and trimmers in, I have the same rpm as I did on my old Synth 29. Much easier to launch also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom-vince Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 I think this for me is part of flying smaller wings. Larger wings of my old days, launch, trims out and fly. Smaller wings have speed at slower trims, I fly and play more in slower trims and generally only let them out to go from A to B. One thing it did do. Just as much as going from paraglider to reflex opened up my flying area, so has going smaller. Initially flying at a standstill at 2000ft and maybe getting to the next village and back, reflex opened me up to a triangle or the next town and back. Smaller wing has given me larger scope to fly further in a given time. For me its time more than economy. If I fly 2 hours before dark, it just happens that way due to work commitments. In that time I get further and see more. Wind gradient is less of an issue. It has widened my weather window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamjedgar Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 (edited) 16 hours ago, GR002 said: Started paramotoring 17 years ago first wing was a Nova Artax 31 metre paragliding wing and as time went on my wings got smaller Power play sting 27 Paramania Action 27 Paramania Action GT 27 Paramania GTR 22 Paramania GTX24 Dudek Snake XX 20 I prefer the smaller wings as they are easier to launch and land, My cruise speed is now 10 mph faster than the Nova Artax Hi GR002, this is interesting and exactly the information i have been after. When you say the 20m snake is easier to launch and land in what way is that the case? I can guess the launch part however landing??? I curently paramotor with a 25 m Dudek Universal. Most of my flying hours are free flying, i currently free fly a 2 liner Icepeak 6 (23 m)...i find the energy in thie Icepeak terrifying, but at the same time the lack of energy in lower end gliders frustrating! Edited August 17, 2017 by adamjedgar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hann__ Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 23 hours ago, GR002 said: Dudek Snake XX 20 I prefer the smaller wings as they are easier to launch and land, My cruise speed is now 10 mph faster than the Nova Artax 17 hours ago, JamieG said: 116kg all up flying an original Snake 22. Level flight and trimmers in, I have the same rpm as I did on my old Synth 29. Much easier to launch also. This is interesting. Do these smaller `hot` wings make good XC choices - quick (cover a lot of ground and penetrate well into headwinds) but retain enough efficiency and lift to make them easy to fly with in a relaxed way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR002 Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 6 hours ago, adamjedgar said: Hi GR002, this is interesting and exactly the information i have been after. When you say the 20m snake is easier to launch and land in what way is that the case? I can guess the launch part however landing??? I curently paramotor with a 25 m Dudek Universal. Most of my flying hours are free flying, i currently free fly a 2 liner Icepeak 6 (23 m)...i find the energy in thie Icepeak terrifying, but at the same time the lack of energy in lower end gliders frustrating! The smaller wings are easier to launch on nil wind or low wind conditions as you can get them over head very easy and fast compared to a large wing which would come up slower with the chance of falling to one side or not coming completely over head. Ok the run is faster but with a bit of brake input its not a problem. On a windy day the smaller wings are easier handled as they do not drag you about as much as a larger wing so its a win win situation. As for landings on the GTX and GTR, come in hands up full speed then at six feet up slightly flare till your flying level and this bleeds off the speed and then when the speeds gone full flare and step onto the ground this give an easy landing and looks good. I had trouble landing the Snake XX until I let the trims out 2.5 cm to give the wing a bit more speed and this gave me the energy I needed to get a flare. took me a while to figure this out as there was nothing in the manual. With trims full in there was not enough energy to get a flare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamjedgar Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 On 18/08/2017 at 02:54, GR002 said: The smaller wings are easier to launch on nil wind or low wind conditions as you can get them over head very easy and fast compared to a large wing which would come up slower with the chance of falling to one side or not coming completely over head. Ok the run is faster but with a bit of brake input its not a problem. On a windy day the smaller wings are easier handled as they do not drag you about as much as a larger wing so its a win win situation. As for landings on the GTX and GTR, come in hands up full speed then at six feet up slightly flare till your flying level and this bleeds off the speed and then when the speeds gone full flare and step onto the ground this give an easy landing and looks good. I had trouble landing the Snake XX until I let the trims out 2.5 cm to give the wing a bit more speed and this gave me the energy I needed to get a flare. took me a while to figure this out as there was nothing in the manual. With trims full in there was not enough energy to get a flare. Ah yes i see what you mean about a little trimmer out flaring. Up until recently i had been avoiding that technique...often to my detriment. Even on my wing better landings are made with some trimmer out, however most often i need to do that when landing into a headwind to take the tendency of the wing to balloon out of the equation. The universal likes to pop up about 6 feet on its own just before you touchdown when one comes in hands up...then leaves one with that awful drop as it then runs out of airspeed. Letting a bit of trimmer out resolves this issue a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hann__ Posted August 27, 2017 Author Share Posted August 27, 2017 (edited) On 17/08/2017 at 17:54, GR002 said: I let the trims out 2.5 cm to give the wing a bit more speed and this gave me the energy I needed to get a flare. took me a while to figure this out as there was nothing in the manual. With trims full in there was not enough energy to get a flare. This is also what i have experienced in my PPG career to date - my landings were never as consistent as i would of liked and i went through phases of good landings then go through a patch of not so good.. I have been experimenting with trim settings on landings this year and i think i have finally settled on a winning formula - trims all the way out! You come in fecking quickly and i`ve seen descent rates at 600`/min or more, but just a moderate amount of brake will see you level off for an extended skim over the ground. When the speed decays as you say pull what`s left of the brakes to come to a halt. This method takes a bit of working up to but the flare control is extended over much wider window and you have much greater feel/control - don`t pull too much too early thought as you`ll gain height rapidly! It`s actually more forgiving using this method as you can make adjustments if you`re not quite at the right height and speed - the wing is much more responsive to inputs and you have 3 or 4 seconds worth to play with instead of the split-second timing required with trims in. I always found with trimmers in or near neutral the flare timing was critical, and you only had one chance to get it right. Brakes felt mushy and vague, too. My landing field is always awkward to fly from and land, the wind direction often bears no relation to what`s aloft and i usually land with zero breeze left at ground level for a landing cushion, and because of it`s topography there`s quite often sinking air at from about 50` as it rolls down from the higher ground late in the evening. It`s essential to have good control in landings like this... This is probably old news to the experienced pilots here who have been doing these types of landing for years, but the manuals and books i`ve seen always seem to advise trims in for max glide... Edited August 29, 2017 by Hann__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hann__ Posted August 27, 2017 Author Share Posted August 27, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Hann__ said: Edited August 27, 2017 by Hann__ duplicate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diyan Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 PAP Motion 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR002 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 I have still got my Pap Motion 26 wing, It was a good wing in its day. I keep it for groundling and for running in new motors 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diyan Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 On 8/31/2017 at 20:40, GR002 said: I have still got my Pap Motion 26 wing, It was a good wing in its day. I keep it for groundling and for running in new motors It's just brilliant, isn't it? I will use it as much as I can and until it's only suitable for ground handling and yet again will be keeping it for the purpose. A bit of a question though - what did you move on to? How do you find it compared to the PAP? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR002 Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 After the Pap Motion I bought a Paramania Action 26. After the Pap motion the Action took me 3 month to Master low wind forward launch but what a step up. This wing was faster a more solid feel and good turning compared to the Pap. The Pap is a Swing Arcus with power risers and is really just a paragliding wing the Action was my first true paramotor wing. If you get a chance try a dedicated paramotor wing and feel the difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diyan Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 1 hour ago, GR002 said: After the Pap Motion I bought a Paramania Action 26. After the Pap motion the Action took me 3 month to Master low wind forward launch but what a step up. This wing was faster a more solid feel and good turning compared to the Pap. The Pap is a Swing Arcus with power risers and is really just a paragliding wing the Action was my first true paramotor wing. If you get a chance try a dedicated paramotor wing and feel the difference. Thank you for the detailed response, that's much appreciated. This sounds like an interesting option that I wouldn't have thought of in the first place .. I would have looked at more mainstream wings like the Ozone and Dudek ones. I shall do a little bit more research about it in the near future and most definitely if I get the chance to, I will try a dedicated paramotor wing. Who knows, we might meet up one day and put theory into practice. Once again thanks for your time mate and I look forward to staying in touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Mark Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 G'day, I'm new to this forum. Anyway I'm flying about 120kg all up on a Niviuk Kougar 25. This is my first paramtor wing, bought second hand. My motor is a new Skymax/Moster 185 plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.