Flight Test - Solar Wings Breeze

Construction
Following weeks of glorious late Autumn weather in the sunny Lake District (eh?), the first damp but windless day gave the opportunity to at least rig the glider to take some detail shots. The standard and quality of the build is generally excellent. The sail is neat and, for an intermediate, surprisingly tight and flat. It is cut from fairly thin cloth, no doubt contributing to the excellent overall weight, but as a detail I feel the luff line attachment at the sail - using split rings - lets down an otherwise high quality product. Airwave's wire loop and moulded plastic sphere is neater and less likely to cause sail damage in the bag. The airframe and fittings are very well put together, with an unusual and very simple cross-tube junction (U- shaped metal channels replacing the usual flat plates - very minimalist). Other details include cables covered in clear plastic (why do other gliders come with anything else?) and round uprights, although aerofoils - and a VB - are options.

Rigging
Rigging on the· A-frame proved to be less than easy. All aspects are very straightforward, but - and this is a very big but - it is almost impossible to attach the luff lines/rear top rigging wires, due to the amount of tension required on the top of the kingpost. The problem is solved by finding something substantial to stand on, but such things are difficult to find on hilltops. Otherwise, much straining and tugging at the almost unreachable fixing point is necessary. Rigging flat, the technique required was to lift the rear of the keel with one foot - still not over easy. Why the excessive tension?

My other criticism is the use of velcro at both the nose and undersurface junctions. In my opinion, velcro has no place on a modern flex-wing other than to hold on a nose cone. Just as with the old Magic III, it is impossible to neatly join the nose (nil points!), but worse is the velcro undersurface junction. To inspect the cross-tube junction the wing has to be de-tensioned (best done on the A-frame - in nil wind) and then, after inspection, the velcro carefully sealed for a perfect join before re-tensioning. In high winds, forget it; it is virtually impossible to pull hard enough to get a neat join under tension, resulting in mild undersurface flutter in turbulence. Please, please Solar Wings, fit a zip and nose cone!

Ground handling
One of the joys of flying in the Lake District is the carry-up. The light weight was greatly appreciated on my first 1,000ft stagger-up in nil wind to check its landing characteristics! Static balance is fairly tail heavy, but proved to make very little difference. The glider's ground handling characteristics are excellent; I experienced no difficulty, even in a wave-affected 50° crosswind.

In the air
First flights were a real surprise. Having flown a number of intermediates over the years, my first impression was that the Breeze is not like any other glider in the class. It has a very precise feel, both in pitch and roll. My first soaring flight required taking off in the aforementioned 50° crosswind and working half a mile down the ridge, nearly 80° out of wind at times, to get to the main face (after a 1,000ft carry-up, would you have walked round with the paraglidrrs when the wind shifted?). The glider responded to small inputs in difficult conditions, including scratching up a 2,000ft face, in very, very light conditions.

The stall is very straightforward with no tendcncy to drop a wing or spin, even if turning slightly. 360° turns are very easy, even when trying to centre in rough, turbulent lift in (rotary) convergence.

The glide is good at min. sink to 30 mph but quickly degrades at higher speeds, as you would expect from a wing of this type. Full warp produced a less positive feel to the glider. Stuffing the speed bar to my knees quickly accelerated the glider up to 35 - 40mph with light but positive pitch pressure, but with a 'step' beyond this to lighter pitch pressure. I like light pitch (I used to fly a Kiss with a pitchy!), but didn't really like this light,'dead' feel at high speeds. Still, how many intermediate pilots grip the speed bar and shove it straight to their knees?

The claimed top speed of 50mph is achievable but at that speed the glider is plummeting. Great for power diving to escape cloud suck, less so if caught by the venturi effect on a windy ridge. The bottom line, on this and all hang gliders, is that at top speed your actual horizontal airspeed is much lower than indicated airspeed - you are falling at 30° to the horizon.

Landing
I've landed the glider in a variety of conditions including nil wind, fly-on-the- wall and moderate winds. Experimenting with a late flare, the glider is perhaps slightly harder to land in nil wind than expected, but a hard flare and a bit of running will quickly retrieve the situation, with no tendency to drop a wing. The glider actually has a very wide flare window but prefers an earlier flare just push out hard and hold. The light, flat sail helps when top landing. Earlier generation intermediates could be a pig in these conditions, their excessive reflex and baggy sails making them hard to hold neutral to the wind.