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SKYWINGS34 OCTOBER 2012
AirDesign are no strangers to the small-wing world,their Fox speed-riders being just 11 and 13m2 insize. The SuSi however is a different beast.
AirDesign present this wing as a multipurposeglider - neither a speed-wing or an acro-wing. Thename SuSi denotes Super and Simple, with theSuper bit intended to suggest good handling andperformance for its size. This starts to sound a bitlike hype: all things good except the things whichare bad, and you can use it for everything exceptsome things. I am going to take this apart bit by bitand see if the SuSi really does hold up to all of thisguff, and whether you really could use it as amountain wing, speed-wing, normal day flier andshopping bag. Well OK, not the last one!
The SuSi is available now in 16 and 18 sizes. Forvery experienced pilots there is a 14 model butthis is not publicly available, and an entry-level20, aimed at heavier pilots and those seeking amore relaxed mini-wing experience, is in theworks. This review is of the 18; the 16 must be avery different beast and getting into the speed-wing range. The SuSi also comes in lightweightversions named for renowned Everest climberPeter Habeler. You can also go beyond the twostandard colours and design your own scheme fororder straight off their website, as long as the
colours are on their list, presumably at a cost. Ifyou fancy an all-green wing with a yellow stripe,fill your boots!
The most notable design detail, and the thing thatmakes the SuSi so different from most currentsmall wings, is the polyamide rods in the leadingedge. These go all the way round from the top to thebottom A point so that the nose profile is completelyshaped. This has of course been seen for the lastcouple of years in most paraglider designs, but Iknow of only one other small wing, the 2012 LittleCloud Spiruline, that uses these rods - and then noton all cell-wall noses.
I hope by now everyone will have read MichaelNesler’s “Plastic Rods, Yes or No?” article on theDHV website. This sums up both the pros and thecons of rods. Lighter and cheaper than mylar,giving a stiffer profile and better performance;easier to launch as the cells are ready and open;and better with collapses for the same reason.Nesler should know because he built two of hisacro wings, one with and one without rods, andcompared them. These advantages are balancedby the limits of how far you can push this designadvantage, and even how to test such wings thatrefuse to conform to the induced deflations of thecertification schemes.
But back to the SuSi, and everything The Man sayson the positive side is true. Unpack it and lay it on itsback and it is already standing up ready for launch,pre-shaped. Pull it up and it fills across, rising wellwith no hanging back. Dump it around a few timesand the best you will do is get a hinge in the wingrather than a fold-in, and opposite brake pops itstraight and out. Above you the wing has a tightprofile, and looking up on a forward launch you cansee that the As are set back a bit more than usual.
The line layout off the three risers goes from thepyramided Cs and Ds - always a sign of a flat wingsection - to near normal As and Bs. There has beensome slimming down of lines but nothing ultra-radical. The glider weighs in at 3.8kg while themountain version is only 2.8kg - you get the idea.The rods themselves appear to be of the soft nylonsort rather than anything brittle - think thickstrimmer line. The 12mm risers and the speedsystem - no trimmers here - are very compact andneat, and there is a very good look and quality feelto the build.
I am pretty lucky to be able to fly a lot of smallwings, and to try them out at known weights onfamiliar flying sites. I wanted to be able to notice adegree of better performance for all this talk andtechnology. And yes, the SuSi does seem to fly
AIRDESIGN SUSI 18 Bill Morris reports
AirDesign is another of the new firms that have been springing up lately, in this casewith former paragliding World Champion Stephan Stiegler as designer and MartinGostner in sales and marketing, and based in the Austrian Tyrol. They entered themarket with the EN D Pure but the range has now expanded to include the EN B Vitaand Rise, the EN C Volt and the Fox speedwings, but the one that caught my eye wasthe multi-purpose SuSi as it seems to be a first.
ALL P
HOTOS: AIRDESIGN
OCTOBER 201235 SKYWINGS
UK importer:
Nicky Moss at [email protected], URL:www.ad-gliders.com.
UK dealers:
Peak Airsports, tel: 01433 651851, e-mail:[email protected], URL:www.peakairsports.com, and Simon Henville, tel:07760 881265, e-mail: [email protected],URL: www.blueroom-airsports.co.uk.
Specification
Model 16 18
No of cells 34 34
Span (projected, m) 7.13 7.56
Area (flat, m2) 16.02 18.00
Aspect ratio 5:1 5:1
Line diameters (mm) 0.9/1.15/1.8 0.9/1.15/1.8
Glider weight (kg) 3.6 3.8
Maximum take-off weight (kg) 120 120
No certification - load test only EN926-1 EN926-1
Guarantee (materials / workmanship) 2 years 2 years
Price £1,750 £1,750*
*SuperLight Peter Habeler edition: £1,850
Importer’s comment
“…SuSi does in fact tick all the boxes.” ThanksBill! We were sure that by using an airfoildeveloped directly from our two-line project wehad the right mix of performance, wide-rangingflyability and fun with SuSi. We are happy thatBill agrees with our claims. Whether Hike &Fly, dynamic free-flying and/or high-windsoaring are your thing, you will find SuSi canreally put a smile on your face. There is littlemore to say, other than the proof of SuSi’scharacter is in the flying … please contact usfor demo SuSi availability.
NICKY MOSS, UK AIRDESIGN DISTRIBUTOR
SKYWINGS36 OCTOBER 2012
LTF/EN B LTF/EN B LTF/EN C
NEW
LTF/EN D Speed Wing
NEW
Mini Wing
F/EN B
F/EN B F/EN B
F/EN C
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AIRDESIGN SUSI 18 Bill Morris reports
OCTOBER 201237 SKYWINGS
better, glide for glide, size for size. The prescribedmaximum weight of 120kg (I flew at 106kg) wouldgive a wing loading above 6.6kg/m2; easily within therange for a fast, controlled nil-wind landing after amountain launch, but asking a lot for soaring flightexcept in quite high winds.
In terms of handling there are no surprises. Theglider does not need much input to fly it flat and uselift, but will take big arms-down brake travel and gointo turns very quickly. It is not a difficult wing tocontrol; the main ability any pilot will need is to stayfocused and provide the inputs - the SuSi will dowhat it is told to do but it will not fly itself. It convertswithout pitching and generally feels pretty viceless.It will go into spiral without much drama and comeout as standard.
I did not B-line it; I would not do it on my own wingbecause it does strain it, but the manual says theSuSi can be B-lined, and with separate Bs and plentyof riser space I do not doubt it. I would stick to flying toget down and forward, rather than distorting a per-fectly good-shaped wing. In addition, the speed sys-tem, working on the As and Bs, gives plenty ofspeed, though it does seem strange to apply barwhen you are going around fast enough anyway.
On AirDesign’s figures you are meant to get42km/h minimum and 56km/h maximum speed at85kg all-up, but I wasn’t able to accuratelymeasure my speed. But it is enough to say that atmy weight I could consistently launch easily, andsoar, in winds that felt comfortable and in which noparaglider was flying - surely the point of a smallwing. And bonus points for doing all of this with anormal paragliding harness.
It’s perhaps worth trying to describe a standard UKsoaring day with the SuSi. You will be studying aforecast that would normally make you give up anddo something else. But if there is no gust range andthe forecast - or weather machines - say 20mph atthe top end you will want to go out. You will walk upwith less of a load, and you’ll probably want morewindproof gear and to take a wind-measuringdevice. If there is so much of a puff of wind in thelanding field it will be fine. You will be laying out insome wind and wanting to make sure that you do allyour pre-flights correctly. Up goes the wing and youstep off - no deep brakes - and find that you need towake up as you are cracking along.
If you fly the SuSi fast, any little errors of puttingyour bottom too close to the ground can beconverted away with a dab of brake and you won’tthen rock back into the ground. If lift comes throughyou can hook into it, let it all off or even push out onthe bar. Once out a bit you can piddle around fairlyflat trying to climb. Because of the extra speed youwill get more confident to put in another circle or goa little further back than you are used to. When youhave had enough, and that could be a while, you canpoint at the landing field, do your box approach - donot hook-turn as it is not needed - speed in, go totrim and tiptoe-land. Not too shabby for a day onwhich you would not normally get any airtime.
I’ve got to have a little gripe about the packing bag.When the SuSi first arrived all pristine from thefactory I thought, “What a lovely bag.” An outer beltto hold the whole thing together, and an inner onefor the flat packing of nose wires, are all sewn intothe bag. No more fishing around for them or losingthem - what a fabulous idea. However I came to
loathe the thing with a passion. I could not master itin the landing field even with the very good manualin my hand; halfway up a mountain after gettingblown out I would lose my mind. I am sure there is aright way, but for idiots like me please can we havea nice straight stuff-bag and belt? Or a nicemedium-size sausage bag? [We are told aredesigned bag will be available soon.] To balancethis, the rucksack is excellent; it will take far morethan you will ever need and has very goodcompression straps to get the load compact.
So the SuSi does in fact tick all the boxes. As a miniwing, at the bottom end of its windspeed range itwill get you into the air below paraglider height butflying faster. At at the top end of its range you will bewell into hang-gliding-only weather. It will be aspeed-wing if you want to fly it close in, except it willtry and get away from the hill. The stability and easeof launching make it most suitable for hike ’n’ fly. SoAirDesign can stick to their claims, and I can seemany a recreational pilot in Alpine areas sticking tothis one wing for both ease of handling and flying,yet with decent enough performance to reach thelanding field and a beer.
Is the SuSi the shape of mini-wings to come? Well…yes. If you want everything in your small wing thatwill make it as good as a larger wing, this is the kindof glider you will ask for.
Leading design features that produce aneffect. Fun to fly. Custom colours.
Packing bag. Care required for packing.
LTF/EN B LTF/EN B LTF/EN C
NEW
LTF/EN D Speed Wing
NEW
Mini Wing
F/EN BTLLT
F/EN B F/EN BTLLT
EN
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