AIRWAVE Slingshot

The Slingshot is Airwave's latest acro wing following on from the successful Burn and Burn Extreme wings. This new acro wing is the most energetic and dynamic glider we have ever designed but still remains safe and stays open when other Acro gliders would be collapsing. It is also the perfect step up from the Burn.

The Slingshot offers a more dynamic feel, reacts more directly and willingly to any steering inputs from the pilot, and is more agile in overall handling. Special trimming and a new profile ensure the success of radically vertical manoeuvres as­ it has the necessary pendulum effect for big tumbles, and the speed and energy for the rest.

With the Slingshot pilots can do all currently known acro-manoeuvres, whereas the advantages in the dynamics will take them to new levels of Acro flying.

Features:

• Microline uppers, sheathed lower, mid, and brake lines
• Hybrid sail - porcher Evolution 45gm leading edge, rest 39gm porcher skytex classic
• Strengthened leading edge seams for increased energy
• Dynamic yet safe
• Acro handles

Technical data: HERE

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AIRWAVE'S NEW SERIAL CLASS GLIDER

The Magic5 is a high performance wing for long distance cross country flying and competition use, and is the latest evolution of our serial class wing. It’s directly developed from the Magic4 and incorporates a lot of the cutting edge developments we have made in the last two years with the FR Series. Inclusion of these improvements in technology has allowed us to increase the aspect ratio from 6.22 to 6.4, while still improving the level of safety.

The Magic5 is even easier to fly than the Magic4 - it’s exceptionally clean profile cuts through turbulence better than all it predecessors making it easy to fly efficiently even in rough air. The result is less stress for the pilot, allowing him/her to concentrate on making the right strategic decisions to maximise performance.

Design Notes:

It was hard to know where to improve on the Magic4, except to try and find more performance with the same handling, while not compromising the safety of the design. First we incorporated the X-Brace that has become a characteristic of the FR series and is also now used on the Sport4. This single X of reinforcing webbing in the middle of the wing gives a centrally-reinforced region of stiffness and creates a stronger, more collapse resistant wing. We’ve also used the new style of internal rib on the Magic5, which gives an even higher
level of stability and sink rate throughout the speed range. Instead of using the same style of internal rib across the chord, the Magic5 uses a different style of rib at the front than the back. This is a design feature that we first developed on the FR3 that then went on to be used on the Mustang2 and Sport4. Combining the new internal ribs with a racy profile has enabled us to create a wing with an exceptional sink rate, yet with great stability at speed, and, by redesigning the speed system so that it adjusts the camber of the wing as it is accelerated, we believe we’ve hit a near perfect combination for racing and big distance flying.

The Magic5 in sizes M and L just passed tests with EN D as well as LTF 2-3. The test pilots reported that it was hard to find any D’s for the glider and on full speed asymmetric collapse the glider received a C, which is quite exceptional for such a fast wing.

Speaking of fast, never before has a glider received EN certification with a speed range of over 30km/h. During the certification they measured a top speed of 58km/h on the Magic5 L. Stall speed is very low at 26km/h, with a trim speed of 39km/h.

But the real beauty of the Magic5 is not in its speed range or its stability at speed but the pure pleasure of handling, especially in thermals.

Sorry for any inconvenience of a late release – but we wanted to build the world's best serial class glider – and that takes time.


Technical data: HERE

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The Intermediate Glider for New and Recreational Pilots

The Airwave KISS is a secure step in to the intermediate class of Paraglider. Aimed at recreational pilots who want maximum security and comfort in the DHV 1-2 class, this glider is designed to make soaring stress free and effortless. An ideal wing for pilots to gain their early cross country experiences on, or experienced intermediate pilots who simply want stability and peace of mind in their flights.

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Airwave GECKO

For every pilot, the early days in the sport are in many ways the most important.

This is why we dedicated so much time to develop a new and better beginner glider incorporating all the current paraglider design technology available today. Even features we learned and built into the World Champion gliders were used in the Gecko. This makes the Gecko an extremely safe and easy to fly wing which performs nicely and is always fun to fly. Also, only the best and highest quality materials which are available today were used. The Gecko has a hybrid sail which is stronger, more UV resistant but also lighter than other gliders of its class. The Gecko has passed the new stringent CEN tests (23A,1B), the strictest level of certification currently in existence.


Design Notes

We know that one of the most important attributes of a wing of this level is its ease of launch. With this in mind we've spent a long time working on building in exceptionally forgiving launching and ground handling characteristics. The Gecko climbs overhead with a very smooth motion and has no tendency to overshoot, almost no matter how hard and aggressive you are with it. Even if the glider comes up off to one side it's very easy to correct and continue with the launch. The most important attribute in a wing of this class is security and stability. By bringing the centre lines together and reducing the amount of roll, we've made the Gecko feel incredibly secure, even to a Novice.







Internally, we used an unusual box construction to give greater stability at the front of the wing. The A's and B's are closer together than normal so the profile is thicker and more stable than usual which makes the leading edge feel quite rigid, providing more stability and collapse resistance.

Many years of design experience has enabled us to develop Open Class wings with an aspect ratio as high as 8.0 with great handling. We have used the same knowledge to give the Gecko the same smooth and forgiving handling. As well as being a new step up in entry level paragliders, the Gecko is also an excellent paramotor wing when used with our optional paramotor risers.

Technical data and colour options: HERE

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Airwave SPORT4
Using new technology fed down from our World Champion competition wings, Airwave designer Bruce Goldsmith has managed to create an intermediate glider with significantly higher performance. Improved pitch and roll stability make this extra performance easy to use – it literally floats to the top of the stack with minimal inputs and glides away from the pack.

Sink Rate
When designing the new Sport4 we started by asking Sport 1, 2, and 3 pilots what they needed most in the glider. Was it better glide or more speed or more safety or stability? By far what pilots appreciated in the Sport3 above all was the ‘easily accessible performance’. Already with the Sport3’s ‘auto thermalling’ handling we were on the right track. This gave pilots the ability to get a good sink rate out of the glider without working too hard and we have further developed this idea on the Sport4. This concept of easily accessible performance with an emphasis on sink rate is what we have worked most on in the design of the Sport4.

Roll Stability

The Sport4 is an evolution of the Sport3 in many ways but it also has a lot of new features as well. It has one less cell at 52 instead of 53. The middle cell has been removed to give more feeling of stability though the harness, which is consistent with our CSS design concept that runs throughout the range of Airwave gliders, but we have opted for more stability to make the wing more accessible.

3 or 4 rows of lines

In recent years there has been a shift from 4 rows of lines to 3 rows of lines in high performance gliders. In fact, Airwave was the first brand to certify a 3 line glider with the DHV in the Magic4. So when we developed the Sport4 we also investigated the idea of having 3 rows. During the development of the Sport4 we had prototypes flying with 3 rows as well as 4 rows of lines and both flew nicely and passed the certification requirements. However, the 3 row glider was not as easy to fly as the 4 row version and so, for the production version of the Sport4,we have designed the wing with 4 rows of lines in the center of the wing and 3 rows in the tip. Thus enabling us to get the best of both worlds.
The Sport4 has only 3 risers which allows us to reduce line length even more - reducing drag and giving better overall performance.

Hybrid Diagonals

The Sport4 is the first of the Sport series of gliders to incorporate hybrid diagonals in the sail. This concept was designed to improve stability at speed as well as low speed performance in my competition glider. The concept has worked so well that I have now been incorporating it in the complete range of Airwave gliders.
There are 2 different styles of diagonal ribs on paragliders. I call these ‘finger ribs’ and ‘solid diagonal ribs’. Most manufacturers use only one style of ribs.

1) Solid Ribs: At Airwave I started by using solid ribs (on the Magic and Sport1 for example). These ribs go from the tab to the top seam of the glider.
2) Finger Ribs: These diagonal ribs start at the tab and go to 90% of the way up the ribs and they need to have a horizontal band that takes the spanwise loads from the finger rib.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantage of Finger Ribs is that they are lighter and they provide better stability at speed, the disadvantage is lower brake range and worse sink rate.
The Advantage of solid diagonal ribs is they give longer break range, and better sink rate, but are heavier and have less stability at speed.

I have now invented a new type of diagonal ribs, which uses finger ribs on the A and B lines and solid ribs on the C and D lines. This gives a glider all the advantages of solid diagonal ribs and all the advantages of finger ribs as well. The Mustang2 was the first production glider using this new type of diagonal technology and I also used this in the competition glider that I flew (and won!) in the World Championships.

This is a new system that has never been used before and we are now incorporating into all Airwave gliders. It is very exciting and it works very well indeed.

Slightly higher aspect ratio

The AR of the Sport4 has been increased from 5.15 on the Sport2 and 3 to 5.35 on the Sport4. This is a very modest increase in aspect ratio, and the other features of design of the Sport4 mean that we can get better stability and safety from this higher aspect ratio than we had on the Sport3 - enabling us to achieve more performance with better safety.

Sizes: S, M, L, XL
Technical data and colour options: HERE

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Airwave MUSTANG2

The Mustang2 is a performance wing that directly incorporates technology from the FR Race series and is tuned to give dynamic, agile handling. Lightweight, long lasting and with a very high level of performance for its class the Mustang2 is aimed at experienced pilots looking for a performance wing suitable for cross country flying, adventure flying, and acrobatics.

DESIGN NOTES
The design brief for the Mustang2 was to upgrade what we already knew to be a very popular wing. Keeping the same basic profile and shape we returned the wing with the latest manifestation of our software and were able to increase each size by 1m without taking away any of the original Mustang 1´s agility. This slightly larger sail gave us a better sink rate at all speeds and has dramatically decreased the stall speed from the Mustang 1´s 23 km/h, to 20km/h. This lower stall speed adds to the all round usability of the Mustang2 allowing you to fly slower in lift, giving you greater security when close to the stall point and making it even easier to 'mush' in on difficult landings.





At the top end of the speed range new profile technology has given the Mustang2 greater stability when accelerated giving the glider an exceptionally large and very usable speed range. A combination of this same new profile technology and a development in line layout has given the Mustang2 a longer more progressive brake range that its predecessor whilst keeping the same level of agility and making the wing even more responsive to small precise brake movements.

The line layout has been simplified resulting in less line, less drag and hence a better glide at speed and the accelerator redesigned to be more like our competition wings. The Mustang2 has an unusually wide and user friendly speed range, and is a simple and undemanding wing to fly. We consider it to be one of the finest wings we have ever produced and a glider capable of superseding the original Mustang.

Technical data and colour options: HERE

Watch the short video of a MUSTANG2 L inflating in light winds

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A great successor to a great glider

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