ScaredOfHeights Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi all, I've narrowed down to; Hadron Kougar 2 Viper 3 I know it's unlikely to find anyone who has flown them all, but would appreciate peoples views. I'm 95kg naked and my all up XC weight is typically around 145kg. I love flying large triangles so I need a balance of speed and economy in order to optimise the distance. Morgy I know you are a dealer and "afraid" of being biased, but would really love to hear your thoughts. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob999 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I'm looking at XC wings for this year and my list is polar opposite to yours !! I'm looking at: Nuke WRC Ozone Roadster 2 Ozone Sirocco Paramania GTX (when they start production again) I look at your list and see acro and slalom. Its interesting what people see as XC wings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 If I can add my 2p's worth I had a speedster 30 for a couple of years and loved it, nice easy wing to fly, a little "baggy" by comparison to the current wing I'm flying I'm now flying a GTX 24, it's a lot more dynamic if you want it to be or will happily sit above your head and let you potter along hands free, I have a feeling that it could bite you on the arse if you weren't sure on what you were doing tho. I find the the GTX is more fuel efficient & a lot easier to launch, the speedster was easy and I'd had no complaints but the GTX just seems to jump off the floor, sit above your head and want to play. As far as I can make out from the Ozone blurb, the Sirocco is a lighter weight Speedster aimed at older Gents and Women - Not my words I hasten to add, The Viper will eat you unless your a comp Pilot & the Roadster is aimed at the beginner market and is a little more forgiving but has less dynamic flight qualities. Maybe I'm just reading into the Ozone blurb too much as I think they are great wings but I think the marketing is a little off. I've never managed to fly the WRC, tried to get a test flight on one but after 3 months of being messed about by a dealer I gave up, to be honest I've only heard negative stuff about the customer service, that said it's better than the current Paramania service! Badger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredOfHeights Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I'm looking at XC wings for this year and my list is polar opposite to yours !!I look at your list and see acro and slalom. Its interesting what people see as XC wings. Hmmm really? The Hadron holds pretty much every long distance record as well as most of the top spots on xcontest Viper description from Ozone. "The Viper 3 is the world champion paramotor wing for expert pilots who fly in high level competitions and make advanced XC flights". And recently won the economy tasks, definitely a XC wing. Kougar 2 - Was design for fuel efficient XC..? Slalom wings I'd say Paramania GT Dudek Snake Ozone Slalom etc I've flown the Speedster and wasn't a fan, but totally accept that is more a chocolate, vanilla thing.. besides the Viper 3 looks like a significantly better performing wing for XC. Looks like I just need to try and get my hands on them all to fly.. doh Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredOfHeights Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Oh and GTX does look good, but now getting a little older design and the issues with manufacturing at paramania so I had ruled it out. But yep, I know pilots who fly and love it. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I currently have a 22m & 26m viper 3... I have flown the GTX a few times, I have also owned 28-26-24m Speedsters.. I found the Speedster faster and more economical than the GTX... It also thermals and free fly's much better.. That's why i have used the Speedster for many record attempts.. The Viper 3 is for the more advanced (expert) pilots for sure... It is supper efficient and climbs like a rocket.. That's why i used it for The time to climb world record attempts.. and beat them by around 20% The viper 3 IMO is slightly slower than the speedster But it's supper efficiency meaning you can fly for much longer. Rough Glide ratio test achieved around 8-9:1 Fuel burn on the Bailey hornet was around 3lph on full fast trims. The Hardon is not a slalom wing nor is the kougar 2... The GTX IMO oscillates like a bitch not as much as the GTR did but still annoying for XC style flying. My spot landings have gone out the window since flying the Viper 3, She just glides and glides for ever... Make sure you take good advice from your local dealer before purchasing a Viper 3 also go and try one!!! You are buying an uncertified wing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredOfHeights Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 Thanks Morgy, I really appreciate your advice, I know you hold back giving it Matt PS Yes, I did wonder about the slalom comment...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I have found the "GTX Wobble" annoying sometimes but other times the wing is steady as you like, to be honest I'd forgotten about it, the last 5 or 6 flights have been hands off and pretty much weight shift only. I'm close on 100kg starkers and fly the 24, I have a friend who is mid 90s and fly's a 26 speedster, on full trim there's only a small difference in the speed but the GTX is slightly faster, the bigger difference is in the slow speed, the speedster seems to be able to fly considerably slower on trims. I have to say I've found the differences are marginal possibly 1kph at best, and again the fuel burn is only a best guess and marginal and not measured by anything more than marks on the tank and time in the air but I would still bet that my GTX is slightly more efficient than my old speedster set up. I've not managed to blag a flight on a Viper 3 but I'd love to have a go when I get the chance, 100 + hours PPG and 50 + hours PG , but I am put off by the expert or die feel of the advertising! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredOfHeights Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 Badger you are not alone.. I'm 500 hours of thermal flying and 250 hours on the paramotor in 18 months and the description still puts the wind up me.. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartynD Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Just to add a spanner or two I think everyone has there favourite manufacturers I started with Dudek & after owning a Speedster I've gone back to Dudek When you're on a good XC flight you want to get places Yes the speedster is super easy to fly but it's sooooo slow WRC Nuk fantastic around wing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredOfHeights Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 I love my WRC and now going to also own a Kougar 2. Test flew it, liked it, less RPM.. give it a go. I'm confident that the Ozone Viper 3 would have better performance but not able to demo here in Australia. And I hear rumours of a new Hadron... But enjoyed the flight on the Kougar so that will do. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvioduarte Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Folks, I'm a PG & PPG pilot here in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. I don't have for sure same PPG experience like you all here. I fly a Parajet Zenith, BaileyV5 and Speedster24. All up @120Kg. Most of the time I used to fly PPG in smooth wind conditions near the beaches, but sometimes go fly XC country side. As you might know, country side, here in Brazil means medium to strong thermal conditions most of the year, practically in all seasons. My impressions flying XC in thermal conditions and comparing my Speedster24 with a friend flying a GTX24, both trimmed: Speedster bumps and asks for more active fly in thermal conditions than GTX and is a bit slower than GTX. I would like to test other brands, but here dealers don't have wings for testing and rarely we see other brands than APCO, OZONE and Paramania. Thus, reading your opinions is must for me. Want to know your opinions: I've heard about Viper3 and Dudek WRC are superb for XC. Not sure if Viper3 has same (worse or better) behavior than Speedster or GTX when crossing turbulences, thermals. (I feel good with PG in turbulences or thermal, but not same confidence with PPG flying Speedster). - What your opinions for Viper3 and how about Dudek?? Hopefully someone that flew Speedster and than Viper3 / Dudek WRC can respond like he has live experience to say something about. regards, Silvio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 HI Ive had a speedster 28m 26m and 24m I now fly the Viper 3 22m.. My experience of flying the GTX 22 against the Speedster 24m was that the speedster was faster. The viper 3 does demand good pilot skills when flying in Thermic conditions and does move around more than the speedster.. like a high end paraglider wing.. The handling of the viper is Great IMO and returns some very positive feed back to the pilot.. Some may not like this.. The viper 3 is not a hugely fast wing but returns Amazing eco figures and has one of the if not the best glide out there at the moment. IMO. I am getting 2lph on a 22m with a Mac Fly polini 250 without touching any of the carb settings or playing with the Prop pitch.. I also free fly with my viper 3 and holds it's own with some of the Hot ship Paraglider wings on the hill. If you do have regular PG hours in active air and like to fly XC and thermal PPG the Viper 3 is a very good wing to fly.. If i wan to go places Fast I will use my 16m Slalom, This gives me the best of both worlds!! 49kph @ 3lph 65kph @ 5.33lph full fast and bar is 75kph... rough fuel burn of 8.0-8.5lph The viper 3 gives me 38kph @ 2lph fast 50kph ish @ 3lph.. You can work out for your self that the Best KPL will be from the Viper 3.. I am also 120kg all up.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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