Niviuk Kougar 2

[Hemberg]

Found this

and this

Looks fine to me.

But I've not heard anything about the handling of this wing. Any owners of the kougar 2 yet? Feedback please!

Interesting to hear more about how the new shark profile wings do.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Guest

[ko3n3k3]

Shane just (finally) released his review of the Kougar 2 and Dobermann.

http://flyhalo.com/2014/10/combined-review-of-the-niviuk-kougar-2-and-dobermann-reflex-wings-part-one-by-shane-denherder/

I'd love to hear other peoples thoughts. Even if you've only briefly flown the wing. Definitely considering this as my next wing.

EDIT: that link is only part one of the review just covering some history and his thoughts on wings. Idk when part 2 is coming

[Hemberg]

That's a well written introduction. I hope part 2 will come soon.

[scotty]

Hello, I’d like to share my Kougar 2 experiences with the group.

Firstly got to state that I have been flying Niviuk for some time, 3 season’s at least. Also those who know me will state that I may be biased being supported by Niviuk Uk. However be assured that I wouldn’t fly a make or wing if I didn’t believe in it 100%. The Niviuk brand may not be familiar with many PPG pilots, but they are a big player in the free flying world and are well placed to challenge the more well-known PPG manufacturers including Ozone.

Like most I started PPGing with the main crop of high reflex wings and there was nothing wrong with any of them. However being from a free flying back ground I wanted more performance; but not just speed, I wanted real performance in glide, sink rate and handling as well.

The original Kougar was a brilliant first performance PPG wing by Niviuk, it delivered excellent handling, sink rate and glide and whilst not the fastest wing, it wasn’t slow. However it did require significant active piloting and was not a beginner’s wing especially if flown in strong conditions. Also when flying in competition navigation tasks the workload was high and to be fair I was always wary about flying it accelerated in less than smooth conditions. I likened it to motor vehicles; I was flying a ‘manual shift’ whilst the full reflex wings were ‘automatics’. I learnt a lot about active flying. It was wonderful in pure eco tasks and I even won one at the Boston league.

I got a pre-production 20m Kougar 2 (K2) in July and have been flying it extensively. I recently took delivery of the production version (Sept) and have built up 30-40 hours on them. In my opinion the K2 is the best PPG wing I have flown to date.

Upon release I was worried that Niviuk had totally reworked their performance PPG specification, giving up glide and sink rate for speed, stability and heavy handling. However I was extremely pleased to find that glide, sink rate and light brake pressures were retained. In fact I was immediately impressed with the sink rate and glide on my first flight which seemed comparable with my 23m Kougar 1. At 115kg (flight weight with motor) my TO is a little faster as is the landing but the efficiency of the wing is very impressive.

Top speed is significantly increased too. I won’t give figures here as it will be different for different pilot weights and machines, but with more speed system travel to exploit I’d state that it is at least 10km/h faster than the 23m K1. The trimmers are relatively small and most of the speed is gained by the speed bar, which is very significant. In fact you need to come off the speed system carefully as the wing will climb steeply if let off abruptly.

Handling is lovely; light at slow trim becoming a little heavier at fully open trimmers, but still fully manoeuvrable. The tip steer (or course corrector) lines are also attached to the brake handles. At accelerated flight steering can be done by pulling the handle towards the chest, but I prefer to reach up and directly hold the line, which is easy to locate. If you are into wing overs and spiral dives then the K2 will not disappoint, it is very dynamic.

The wing has very good stability and feels well pressured at all trimmer settings. I have flown it in a variety of conditions and I like flying when the air is active and thermic. I live in a hilly area and fly in wave affected conditions and whilst I have to admit that I have felt uncomfortable a couple of times in rough air the wing has behaved impeccably. Even at 20m the K2 thermals very well engine off. Recently I flew for just under one hour from an 8 minute engine run.

Engine wise I prefer a modest power plant and was worried that my excellent Vitto Evo2 100cc would not be up to the job, but this is not the case. The K2 retains such an impressive polar that even in accelerated flight I can maintain level flight. I think this is one of the K2’s most impressive qualities.

Finally the K2 is such a cool looking wing with the most modern of features. The aggressive ‘shark nose’ with thin slot openings looks great, but more importantly adds much to the performance of this wing.

I'd certainly recommend a trial flight for those interested. FlyBubble have the Niviuk Uk 23m Kougar 2 demo at the moment.

[alan_k]

Great review.

I'd be wary of referring to the Kougar 2 as the K2 as it could be mistaken for the Cima K2 during searches.

You wouldn't want any association with superdell would you?!

Cheers, Alan

[Fugazi]

Some pictures here of me and Simon flying the Kougar 2

http://www.niviuk.co.uk/camera/index.ph ... ViZGE2N2Qw

A LOT of fun !

[ko3n3k3]

Great pictures Mr. Fugazi. Do you have any thoughts about the wing; or a tiny, cliff note, review? :)

[Blue2410]

Hello All,

I am looking to get into PPG as I have about 40 hours unpowered PG (318 Parawaiting!)- spread over three years though ( 2, week long hols and a week SIV.) Last 18 months I am working to many hours and my thinking is that I can grab the odd hour or two with a motor and stay in the sport. Luckily I can afford new kit but maybe this is not the best option. I have started with wings though and like the look and the sound of the Kougar 2.

However, I am trying to pick up the lingo / read between the lines for Paramotor/Wing performance to be able to decide what I should go for. I will book a conversion course and test my dreams before I leap into it - but quite enjoying this forum and getting ahead of myself thinking about kit.

For Wings in PG - common thinking is that it is best to stay between the lower and upper weights of the wing - but it seems from some of your comments that PPG is best to be near the top end. This is ok for some of the wings: Revo 2 and Speedster as the ranges are quite close. This Kougar though has a very big range 100 - 180 for the 28m2

I am 110 without clothings so 132kgs all up PG ...and I am assuming 155kgs for PPG. Therefore I sit slightly high of middle in the range.

This has made me question what would the characteristics of the flight be for me in terms of:

a) Safety

b) Dynamics

c) Take Off/Landings etc

Also,

d) what sort of power unit would I need for my weight

e) Would this wing be suitable for also using for free flight - considering my weight

Further,

f) what do you PPG guys means by "responsive" C Class Wing?

g) " " " " " " yet fast enough to keep you happy" - Hotship?

I currently fly a Buzz 3 XL which is 110-130 kgs rated so I am just over the top leading to faster flying and my perception that I can't Thermal as well as others. I want safety and don't want a "Hotship" and want from my PPG to have enjoyable 1hr / 2 hr flights/ trips round my Bedford vicinity and the occasional longer trip away with new buddies I am yet to meet.

I feel confident about flying and will become more "current" with PPG - but cannot work out how the range is so big on this Kougar 2 and yet is quite a small m2

( I very much like the idea of a dual purpose wing, and one that I can turn the engine off when I am high enough and thermal with the birds like the previous contributor did.)

Sorry to rattle on, but I thought I was getting the Wing weights / m2 sizing argument until I came across this wing.

Kind Regards

Andy

[Blue2410]

Hello All,

I am looking to get into PPG as I have about 40 hours unpowered PG (318 Parawaiting!)- spread over three years though ( 2, week long hols and a week SIV.) Last 18 months I am working to many hours and my thinking is that I can grab the odd hour or two with a motor and stay in the sport. Luckily I can afford new kit but maybe this is not the best option. I have started with wings though and like the look and the sound of the Kougar 2.

However, I am trying to pick up the lingo / read between the lines for Paramotor/Wing performance to be able to decide what I should go for. I will book a conversion course and test my dreams before I leap into it - but quite enjoying this forum and getting ahead of myself thinking about kit.

For Wings in PG - common thinking is that it is best to stay between the lower and upper weights of the wing - but it seems from some of your comments that PPG is best to be near the top end. This is ok for some of the wings: Revo 2 and Speedster as the ranges are quite close. This Kougar though has a very big range 100 - 180 for the 28m2

I am 110 without clothings so 132kgs all up PG ...and I am assuming 155kgs for PPG. Therefore I sit slightly high of middle in the range.

This has made me question what would the characteristics of the flight be for me in terms of:

a) Safety

b) Dynamics

c) Take Off/Landings etc

Also,

d) what sort of power unit would I need for my weight

e) Would this wing be suitable for also using for free flight - considering my weight

Further,

f) what do you PPG guys means by "responsive" C Class Wing?

g) " " " " " " yet fast enough to keep you happy" - Hotship?

I currently fly a Buzz 3 XL which is 110-130 kgs rated so I am just over the top leading to faster flying and my perception that I can't Thermal as well as others. I want safety and don't want a "Hotship" and want from my PPG to have enjoyable 1hr / 2 hr flights/ trips round my Bedford vicinity and the occasional longer trip away with new buddies I am yet to meet.

I feel confident about flying and will become more "current" with PPG - but cannot work out how the range is so big on this Kougar 2 and yet is quite a small m2

( I very much like the idea of a dual purpose wing, and one that I can turn the engine off when I am high enough and thermal with the birds like the previous contributor did.)

Sorry to rattle on, but I thought I was getting the Wing weights / m2 sizing argument until I came across this wing.

Kind Regards

Andy

[Hemberg]

Thanks scotty for that review.

The Niviuk brand is not well known within PPG but a respected brand in PG for sure.

Blue2410, the tendency even in PG is to have higher loading.

In general I would recommend mid to high loading for ppg. The landing compare to pg is faster and you need better timing than pg, the extra weight on your back makes a difference.

Whether or not the kougar 2 is a good choice for you I'll leave to others, since I not even seen one.

Ozone roadster 2 is worth keeping an eye on as well. It has EN B certification.

Power, I would go for the more powerful ones in your case. moster maybe or something like that. It's a good idea to have access to spare parts easily so check what's available in your area.

[ko3n3k3]

I have a 23m demo coming next week. I'll do my best to post a review.

[Fugazi]

Hi

Basically what scotty said.

I am the importer for the brand in the UK so obviously my views will be very biased, so best for others to comment.

Lovely wing tho !

We just had the Dobermann out over the last couple of days, another excellent wing that works well for very fast free flight aswell as Slalom!

Pics :- http://www.niviuk.co.uk/camera/index.ph ... zA3YTRiOTQ

Phil.

[Hemberg]

Kougar 2 seems to be able to turn quite well.

http://vimeo.com/109308408

So how's the dobermann? Turns easier I presume, but what about stability, flying hands off and so on. Not as relaxing as the kougar 2?

[ko3n3k3]

good vid on the dobermann here, imo.

[Johnnyg]

Hi Guys,

John here from Oz glad to see a few of the videos up here from us flying the Kougar 2. Had the pleasure of flying my Kougar 2 for the past 15h. I'm 135kg AUW and fly the 25m.

I have also taken out 80mm from the tip steering to make it a little more manoeuvrable. I fly it with a FlyThrust 185 Moster Plus.

The Great Thing about it is;

Super lifty and excellent glide. Well behaved in turbulence and its agility. The 2D steering adds a whole new dimension to my flying. You can make it dive or turn as flat as you like. We typically do a lot of foot dragging and low level flying and this wing is perfect for that. The wing is extremely precise. First impressions of the wing is that it's rock solid. I couldn't collapse it while ground handling it and pulling one side of the A's with all my strength. My PG mate didn't believe me so he tried and failed. I love ground handling and learned a lot about the wing by doing so. This wing will inflate crosswind and once up it stays up. In my playing I induced massive collapses (going behind trees and objects) only to have it pop straight back out. The wing will most certainly free fly and a mate of mine free flew his and loved it.

Some not so good feedback

It has been received with mixed feelings here amongst some of my mates. They do not like the break pressure but that all relative to what you have been flying on and your fitness. I'm use to it now, it doesn't bother me and prefer the pressure.

The biggest issues which I'm finding now and looking to Sell the wing is that YOU NEED TO LOAD THIS WING PROPERLY. During our experiment last week I flew a 22m Snake (which I loved BTW) and my mate Scotty flew my 25m. The sweet spot in my opinion is up the top end of the range for this wing. I was as fast on his 22 snake as he was on my 25 Kougar 2. The wing loading when I worked it out was 6.9Kg/mm. This is the range I'd be aiming for so I'll be looking at buying a 23m.

I feel more comfortable in this wing that I did in my in any other wing and the confidence comes from the "feel" of the wing and no I do not deal them.

In short this machine is amazing, but you need to load it properly and adjust the tip steering to get the most out of it. I'm looking at selling my speed wing as a result as I think the 23m will do it all and some.

Finally if anyone is interested in my 25m Kougar 2 let me know it's for sale at 3300AUD + Shipping.

[Hemberg]

Good test report. Thanks for the input

[bombsquad]

HI, i have been offered a good deal on a kougar2 but i am a bit worried that it will be to big. Its a 28 and im about 140kg auw so i will be in the middle of the wheight range, will i be dissapointed in handling and speed or is it ok?

Im not very experienced ppg pilot but I have lots of free flying experience and mostly fly minigliders nowadays, I fly ppg with a little cloud spiruline right now but its not optimal for powered flight even though its quite agile.

[Flypapuk]

HI, i have been offered a good deal on a kougar2 but i am a bit worried that it will be to big. Its a 28 and im about 140kg auw so i will be in the middle of the wheight range, will i be dissapointed in handling and speed or is it ok?

Im not very experienced ppg pilot but I have lots of free flying experience and mostly fly minigliders nowadays, I fly ppg with a little cloud spiruline right now but its not optimal for powered flight even though its quite agile.

I would say it's going to be too big, at your weight I would recommend the 25m , but have a go of it if you can.