FlyAir - SKYMAN · FlyAir INFORMATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF INDEPENDENCE AND SKYMAN INTERVIEW NEW PRODUCTS...

Tandem paraglider „Air Taxi“

Reserve series „Ultra Cross“

independence is one of the few manufacturers offering the complete tandem equipment components, including paraglider, harnesses, reserve and ac-cessories in their product range.The tandem paraglider Air Taxi is a perfect companion for profession-al tandem pilots as well as casual tandem pilots. Its handling is abso-lutely smooth and allows effortless thermal flights.

The harness series Pilot and Pas-senger -perfectly matching Air Taxi- is very light and those two one size harnesses can easily be compressed for transport. Both are comfortable - during flight, take-off and landing.EVO Cross 235 reserve completes your tandem equipment. Its max-imum all up load according to EN and LTF certification is 235kg. This newly designed cruciform reserve weighs only 3.1kg and has an ex-tremely low sink rate of 5.5 m/s.

„Everything from a single source“ bears fruits in many little details: such as the soft bar of Air Taxi, which perfectly goes with the har-ness Pilot and a reserve like EVO Cross 235. This reserve has a smartly integrat-ed Y-bridle, which is ideally adapt-ed to all other components.

for more tandem equipment see

page 6 ff.

F lyA i rINFORMATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF INDEPENDENCE AND SKYMAN

INTERVIEW NEW PRODUCTS SAFETYwith Markus Gründhammer

„Survival in the mountains“

Season‘s upcoming harnesses: from all-rounder to lightweight

The new helmet generation is here

PARAGLIDER BUZZ

Current rumour, facts and news on our Facebook pages:

Ultra Cross 75

www.independence.aero 2nd edition - May, 2017 www.skyman.aero

see page 14 see page 12 ff. see page 9

SKYMAN Markus launching with „Sir Edmund“ Photo: Markus Gründhammer

„Sir Edmund“ - sensational 1.58 kg The lightest single skin is made by SKYMAN - naturally EN certified

Everything from a single source

Just like once Sir Edmund Hillary did with his first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, the SKYMAN team entered new ground by developing their new single skin paraglider. Like the team of mountaineers at that time, they succeeded by focussing on teamwork and resolute action and finally made it to the peak, bringing out this very special paraglider.

To them the certification accord-ing to LTF and EN B for the first single-surface in size 20 was an achievement like that of Edmund

Hillary, who was knighted for his extraordinary effort. With an unbe-lievable weight of only 1.58kg, Sir Edmund is the lightest available sin-gle skin at present - note well, with certification! This wing is made for a weight range of 70 to 100kg.

At take-off Sir Edmund shows per-suasive, easy handling. A short and slight impulse is enough to make Sir Edmund stand stable above the pilot‘s head - without any tenden-cy to overfly the pilot. The han-dling is pretty much straight for-

ward, so that you can easily circle in thermals. An important point in designing this glider was a high ground speed of about 40km/h. Furthermore Sir Edmund comes with a smooth accelerator, which additionally increases the speed. All in all a great experience!

Together with an ultralight SKYMAN harness and reserve, Sir Edmund turns out to be a fabulous light and compact hike & fly equipment, that would even fit in a lady‘s handbag.

see page 4

Short interview with Stefan Kurrle

What‘s the weight of the lightest currently available equipment?

Our current development aim at SKYMAN is light. Extremely light! The Single-surface Sir Edmund 20 weighs only 1.58 kg, the harness String weighs merely 350g. The corresponding back protector weighs 250g and an Ultra Cross 75 only 790g. All together such a package, of which every compo-nent is certified according to EN and LTF, weighs less than 3kg. Let‘s add a small Rucksack and a helmet and the whole stuff still weighs less than 4kg. An equipment so com-pact that, being on a hike, you‘re not even recognised as a paraglid-ing pilot.

Is such an extremely light equip-ment safe at all?

Yes, it definitely is! Neither LTF nor EN make a difference between lightweight design and convention-al equipment when testing strength and function of paragliders, re-serves, harnesses and accessories. Every type of material we use now-adays for the manufacture of light-weight equipment has been in use for many years in various products and stood the test of time. Without new high-grade designs, which have been going through intensive internal and external tests, such an immense reduction of weight would have never been achievable.

see „Extremely light equipment - where is development heading to?“

page 5

Contact us

Fly-market

Flugsport-Zubehör GmbH & Co. KG

Am Schönebach 3

87637 Eisenberg / Germany

Reception

Tel +49 (0) 83 64 / 98 33 - 0

Fax +49 (0) 83 64 / 98 33 - 33

eMail

[email protected]

[email protected]

„Why are there only reserves cer-tified for a weight up to 100kg? Having a body weight of only 50kg, these reserve sizes are far too big for me! When will manufacturers finally pay attention to lightweight pilots and bring out a small reserve size?“A right question to ask. You‘re abso-lutely right! So far no manufacturer had paid attention to these pilots!

Now independence met this new challenge and developed an even smaller and lighter version of their well-known cruciform parachute: Ultra Cross 75 (the number stands for its maximum all up load in kg).

Until then Ultra Cross 100 with a weight of 975g had been a real benchmark concerning feasibility.

Consequently Ultra Cross 75 was supposed to be not only „a bit smaller“, but preferably result in a weight and volume reduction com-pared to Ultra Cross 100.

Especially for participants of Red-Bull X-Alps, for whom reduced weight and packing volume are most important. During that tough competition from Salzburg to Mo-naco every single gram, which they needn’t carry, counts. This is one of the reasons why dur-ing X-Alps 2013 and 2015 most of the participants had an Ultra Cross 100 with them.

And also as second reserve in free style harnesses or at PWC contests, Ultra Cross 75 is an ideal solution.

It weighs an unbelievable 790g and has the packing volume of a folded T-shirt! It fits in a downsized front container, which is made especially to suit that small reserve! Of course it is certified according to EN12491 and has all typical characteristics of the Ultra Cross series: outstanding deployment speed, pendulum-sta-bility and a sink rate of 5,5m/s at maximum all up load.

for further information see page 6

Just because equipment became that compact, you needn‘t go hik-ing with a handbag! The ultra-light SKYMAN harness String is now available with a rucksack, too.String RS is really good-looking and everything fits in there: Sir Edmund, reserve, instruments and your hel-met, too. Additionally there are fas-teners to attach your hiking poles to during flight.

for more harnesses see page 12 ff.

„String“ as reversible harness

Ultra Cross 75

TANDEM EQUIPMENT

ULTRA-LIGHT RESERVE FOR MINIMALISTS & LIGHTWEIGHTS

Fly-market building at Eisenberg, workshop and warehouse

Munich

Memmingen

Augsburg

Lindau

Innsbruck

Kempten

Füssen

Zugspitze

Tegelberg

Landsberg am Lech

Brenner

A7

A96

A8A95

Erdo Sansli with „Cruiser4“ and his own Trike

MODERN MAINTENANCE METHODS

NEW HIGH-PERFORMANCE WING EN/LTF A PIONEER GOES ‚LIGHT‘

Page 3

Colours

Colours of „Cruiser4“

Orange, Light Blue and Lime

Features• Less lines for easy line sorting and

less air drag: only 3 risers per side and 2 lower lines per riser

• Precise diagonal ribs for best aero-dynamic performance

• Nylon rods for weight reduction and precise shape consistency

• Clearly labelled risers

General information New independence paragliders 2017

We are a team of pilots who once belonged to the pioneers in para-gliding. We‘re located at Eisenberg in Bavaria, near the well-known Tegelberg mountain, where Ger-man paragliding started in the 80s.

These mountains as well as neigh-bouring Tannheimer Tal, Montafon and Stubai valley are the territories of our test pilots. That‘s where they extensively test new gliders, har-

nesses, reserves and other prod-ucts.

Our two in-house brands are inde-pendence and SKYMAN. independ-ence offers a broad range of para-gliders, reserves and equipment for various requirements, whereas SKYMAN is a project in cooperation with Markus Gründhammer, which is focussed entirely on lightweight design.

For more than 25 years we have been developing new products each year. We know what pilots demand of modern equipment and invest all our experience in order to develop our prod-ucts further, to enhance security and increase your enjoyment of paragliding. From the very beginning we designed glider mod-

els and rescue parachutes, which were ground-breaking for the time. Some of our current projects are the glider Sir Edmund, the continu-ous development of our Ultra Cross reserve series as well as several new harnesses, such as the Free-style harness.

Throughout the years we were able to develop inventive re-serves, which, regarding safety, have always been a step ahead. Countless pilots have trusted in our rescue equipment ever since. So that we can proudly say to-day, that we are leading manu-facturer of rescue parachutes. As the development of gliders and harnesses takes a huge place in our company‘s profile, too, we can of-fer you an entire equipment pack-age, which perfectly suits your indi-vidual needs.

Service Your entire paraglider equipment in safe hands

We want you to be able to enjoy all your independence products for many years and we want to provide the best possible safety.

Therefore our team, almost all pilots themselves, attaches great impor-tance to offering you an outstand-ing and comprehensive service.

This includes advisory service, maintenance and repair, a reliable spare parts service and services such as our 2+2 warranty exten-sion.

For your safety we offer a compre-hensive maintenance and repair service - at fair prices!

Our experienced service staff pro-fessionally carries out every main-tenance and repair task for gliders, harnesses, reserves and accessory of all brands.

You bought a second-hand glider or rescue parachute and need an accurate check and a repack?We naturally take care of all mainte-nance tasks - even beyond the rou-tine checks!

Cruiser4

Our new glider for beginners: Cruiser 4 Even lighter and with significantly better gliding performance than its predecessor.

Our popular beginner series Cruis-er has been revised for the third time and starts with improved fea-tures into 2017 season as Cruiser4.

independence test pilots once again have focused on even small details: following latest trends, they reduced the glider‘s weight, so that Cruiser4 at size S and 26m² surface weighs only 5.0kg. Only with a completely modified interior could our designers make that achieve-ment possible.

Despite the weight reduction they didn‘t save on anything when build-ing Cruiser4. Especially regarding its performance. By slightly raising the aspect ratio to 4.77 a distinct improvement of the gliding perfor-mance has been achieved. All sizes of Cruiser4 are classified LTF/EN A, nevertheless this wing is anything else but boring.

A well-balanced and smooth han-dling, which transforms every little steering pulse without any surpris-es into slope and turning radius, as well as its outstanding and easy to handle take-off characteristics, describe this glider. Cruiser4 acts confidently in strong thermals, but sensitive in weaker thermals.

One feature of Cruiser4 is its suitabil-ity as paramotor wing. By changing to the optionally available hybrid risers, Cruiser4 is an excellent para-motor wing for up to 170 kg.

A perfect companion for the prac-tice slope, long thermal flights, first distance flights as well as for para-motor use. A true all-rounder!

The Air Games at Ölüdeniz were an ideal occasion to introduce the pre-production series of Cruiser4. At higher air density at sea level, the flight characteristics of a paraglider differ slightly, so that we used the opportunity for a last serial verifica-tion.

Local paragliding schools and re-sellers immediately showed their

interest in Cruis-er4, when a happy test pilot Johannes Tschofen landed on the beach, after going through the whole test manoeu-vre schedule.

independence im-porter and owner of a paragliding school, Abdullah Yildiz from Bursa, instantly grabbed the para-glider and went on his way up Babadag at an altitude of about 2000m. There were good thermal conditions on the mountain, so that Abdullah launched immediately and only after a short while he had consid-

erably gained in height.

After a two-hour thermal flight above Babadag and Ölüdeniz he landed on the beach, pretty much euphoric about the improvements. He is especially pleased with the expanded speed range and the glider‘s handling in comparison to the characteristics of the previous

model. His comment: „It beats its predecessor in all points!“.

His colleague from Paramotor Istan-bul had meanwhile arrived and they started an expert discussion about Cruiser4. Erdo Sansli is looking for an easy to launch paramotor wing with a good gliding performance. Johannes has a special paramotor riser for Cruiser4 with him and quick-ly sets everything up for a test with a paraglider trike.

With a weight of about 160 kg Erdo takes off with a glider at size L 32 into the dusky sky .

After only one round above the beach, he started to fly a show, put-ting Cruiser4 to the acid test at low altitude. He flies at minimum and maximum speed up and down the beach, then by the end of the bay he lifts his trike up in a wing-over close to a rock face. He demonstrates the potential of our new Cruiser4 and his self-made Trike.

After a spontaneous show of about half an hour for an applauding au-dience, Erdo lands on the beach with a big grin on his face: „That s my wing – I have seen, that it works perfectly with paramotors! Let’s go for a beer now - we re in business!”.

In 2017 a completely revised ver-sion of the Pioneer paraglider is go-ing to come out. With a weight of only 3.7kg at size M it is suited for hike & fly, yet it is sturdy and ade-quate for everyday use. The basis for that radical weight reduction in comparison with the previous mod-el is the light and durable Domeni-co D20 fabric. A completely mod-ified interior of the canopy, which now has only 40 cells, is only one new attribute of Pioneer³.

Furthermore the canopy‘s geome-try has been modified comprehen-sively. This is clearly to be seen by looking at its flat aspect ratio, with a slight nominal decrease from 5.1 to 4.9, but yet its projected and aer-odynamically effective aspect ratio of 3.5 remains the same as its pre-decessor.

The concept of Pioneer³ is likewise appropriate for beginners, who are still at a learning stage, and for relaxed, more experienced pilots. The development of this paraglid-ers focussed on passive safety, bal-ancing agility and performance in

order to support these pilots in the best possible way.

Pioneer³ conveys a truly comforta-ble flight experience during take-off and also when flying strong ther-mals. A real pioneer indeed, which assists the pilot in improving their skills in paragliding.

Thus an ideal basis for enjoyable flights – no matter if you prefer to hike & fly or plan to take-off for your first XC adventures.

Pioneer³ will be available in 4 sizes and for a weight range of 60kg to 130kg!

Announcement: Pioneer3

Service Price

Biennial paraglider check 159.- €

Biennial paraglider check incl. repack of a reserve 179.- €

Biennial paraglider check & repack and check of a reserve 197.- €

Repack of a reserve (round) 36.- €

Repack and check of a reserve (round) 54.- €

Repack of a reserve (cruciform) 40.- €

Repack and check of a reserve (cruciform) 58.- €

Harness check from 40.- €

About usAs an air-sports company we can provide any kind of services for paragliders and other equipment in our big and modern workshop.

Besides an extensive spare parts store (e.g. more than 100 line items) we use up-to-date methods and de-vices, such as sewing machines for various purposes, laser measure-ment of lines or an electronic trac-tion device for the evaluation of line strength.

But the true value of our workshop is to be found elsewhere: our relia-bility and experience!

Which equipment parts have to be maintained regularly? And how?

Most pilots are only aware of the need for biennial checks of their paraglider and regular repacks for their reserves. But certification standards specify regular checks for reserves and harnesses, too. Ei-ther based on a certain time frame or on operation period.

A close look into the manual of every piece of equipment reveals the interval and extent of required checks.

Modern paragliders usually require a trim check for their lines even more frequently than the generally

known biennial check. Reserves, harnesses and accessory such as towing device, tandem bars etc. need a comprehensive visual inspection at least on a biennial basis. And there is a replacement interval for carabiners.

Moreover, the combination of re-serves and harnesses requires a compatibility check. Let‘s be hon-est: does anyone still know their way around? We do!

Our service staff carries out every task precisely, quickly and accord-ing to the manufacturer‘s specifi-cation, so that you won‘t miss your glider for too long. All results are documented for the customer and archived internally too.

Professional maintenance can not only extend the lifetime of equip-ment, but in case of an emergency the pilot‘s life, too!

Saving costs for a check would defi-nitely be the utmost wrong way for saving money. Especially because we offer you favourable conditions.

All service tasks can be commis-sioned online, too. The service order form is available for download:

Shipping cost for returns within Germany and Austria included. Shipping costs for other countries will be charged separately. All pric-es incl. 19% VAT.

Small repair works (if necessary) are included in the costs for bien-nial check. Other repair works are charged according to the work done. Of course we will inform you in advance about the work it takes to repair your equipment.

Events ‘17/‘18

Visit us at Eisenberg or at one of these events:

May 25th - 28th Testival Kössen

September 21st - 24th Coupe Icare St. Hilaire du Touvet

January 13rd - 14th Trade fair ‚Thermik‘ at Stuttgart

LocationWe are located at Eisenberg in Bavaria - close to ‚Schloss Neu-schwanstein‘ and close to the A7 highway exit ‚Füssen‘.

Quickly need an equipment check on your way to Austria or Italy? No problem - just take the highway exit before the well-known frontier tunnel and visit us.

FINAL SERIES TEST AT ÖLÜDENIZ AND FIRST MOTOR FLIGHTMADE BY PILOTS FOR PILOTS SINCE 1990

PRICE LIST

Cruiser4 X S-23 S-26 M-29 L-32

Cells 34 34 34 34

Flat surface area (m²) 23 26 29 32

Flat span (m) 10.65 11.14 11.76 12.35

Flat aspect ratio 4.77 4.77 4.77 4.77

Trim speed (km/h) 38 +/- 1 38 +/- 1 38 +/- 1 38 +/- 1

Max. speed (km/h) 47 +/- 2 47 +/- 2 47 +/- 2 47 +/- 2

Paraglider weight (kg) 4.6 5.0 5.6 5.9

Weight range (kg) 55-80 70-95 85-115 100-135

Weight range motor (kg) - 95-120 110-140 125-170

Certification category (EN / LTF) A A A A

Price in € 2550.- 2600.- 2650.- 2700.-

A find from our archive: our historic single-surface (9,5 kg)

„Sir Edmund“

„Sir Edmund“

Test manoeuvre with „Sir Edmund“

The designer when day is done.

Page 4 Page 5

A brief asideThere are moments for SKYMAN where the point is not to design, develop, test and market! These moments are made for walks through the forest, enjoy the si-lence, wait until it gets bitterly cold and the day‘s first sunbeams tickle my nose.

It‘s only then, when I can capture the light and the crystals showing up in frozen soap bubbles. They are so flimsy and fragile, yet so charming and gorgeous.

That beauty of nature always is

a gift, which makes me gain a knowledge, that I can transfer to the development of new paraglid-ers. One thing is for sure: nature already carries all these colours and knowledge in it. We only need to see, under-stand and realize it in our work. Such a frozen soap bubble has a grace and beauty like my ‚white Beauty‘ Sir Edmund.

„What more could you ask for? It‘s just awesome madness! So long! “

SKYMAN

Features• SKYMAN lightweight design with

D10 fabric

• Extremely stable

• Trim speed approx. 40km/h

• Smooth accelerator

• Remarkable gliding performance

• Launch aid hooks

Nowadays paragliding is so varied as it has never been before. In the beginning, about 30 years ago, paragliders were somewhat adapt-ed parachuting wings with 9 cells.

With about 4kg weight these glid-ers were quite light, but their glid-ing performance of 1:3 and a sink rate of more than 2.5 m/s were real-ly poor. Within the following years paragliding rapidly evolved into a serious sport and produced quite some oddities, too.

More and more high-performance paragliders came out, getting larg-er and heavier all the time. At some point they reached about 8kg and the harnesses were equipped with large and heavy protectors, dou-bling the weight. Additionally the increasingly obligatory reserve had a weight of about 5kg. All in all about 20kg for the entire equip-ment.

So paragliding departed more and more from its original simplicity and mutated into a mere aerial vehicle, losing the chance to really enjoy nature. Due to that heavy weight, we were suddenly dependant on cablecars.

But now there has been a turn-around going on for a few years - bringing out lighter equipment, which enables paragliders to gain new ground! It means „Back to the roots“! Experiencing mountains and nature comes to the fore.

Just like the number of ski tourers rises continuously every winter, so

does the number of hike & fly pi-lots. Due to an increasing demand both sports get well equipped with new developments and up-to-date technology, which wouldn‘t have been possible only a few years ago.

The single skin has already been developed end of the 80s by Willi Graske, we have just found one in our warehouse, but it looked completely different than today‘s single skin paragliders. That sin-gle-surface wasn‘t aimed at being light - at that time everything was focussed on performance and was made to meet different expecta-tions.

When eight years ago Markus Gründhammer turned from the „Akrominator“ into a „mountain man“ and regularly made high mountain tours with his paraglid-er, it was about time to create not only lighter equipment, but the lightest possible equipment.

With new, ultra-light material and modern technology. Not in or-der to bring it back to a level from the beginnings, but to even make everything much lighter.

Within a short time high-perfor-mance paragliders for an every-day-use were below 4kg. And a similar development was to be seen for the harnesses. Equipped with new high-grade back protectors, their weight was reduced to half, to about 4kg.

But the development of rescue par-achutes achieved even more. Their

weight was reduced to only about 1kg.

Current point of equipment design: A single-skin like Sir Edmund 17 weighs only 1.4kg, String harness with carabiners weighs 440g and an Ultra Cross 75 only 790g. All together not even 2.7kg for the entire equipment! A short while ago this had been unthinkable.

So, where is development heading to? I believe that paragliding will more and more diversify.

At PWC contests performance is the most important point, regarding acro it‘s the thrill, while for hike & fly the whole experience of mountain-eering and paragliding counts. Additionally there are towed para-gliding, paramotoring, speed fly-

ing etc.

Every variation of paragliding has its own appeal and right to exist. The nice thing about it, is the fact that every paragliding pilot can make his own imagination of flying come true.

But no worries! Also in future the „conventional“ pilot, who „only“ goes paragliding for fun and relax-ation, is going to live on. He will gain profit from the devel-opment of all the other trends, of which the „waste-products“ are less weight, more performance, more safety and so on. Who knows what’s going to be possible in 10 years time!

Markus Gründhammer, who devel-ops the SKYMAN paragliders and lots of light accessories, is based here at Fulpmes, where he designs his gliders and puts them to acid tests, just until he is absolutely sat-isfied with the result of his work. In nature he finds not only challenges and recreation, but also lots of in-spiration for his work.

His paragliders just had to be-come that light, because with all his photographic equipment he already had enough stuff to carry. Now he allows us to accompany him and have a look at the develop-ment of his single skin Sir Edmund and introduces us to his philosophy.

Design & development: paragliders „Sir Edmund“ - new single skin by SKYMAN

It all began with a cosy dinner of our whole development team. We all agreed, that we wanted to build a single-surface paraglider, which is lighter, faster, more agile and more stable than anything else …

It didn‘t take long and the first pro-totype arrived at Fulpmes. Our first flights were … well, interesting and we learned a lot. Something that didn‘t please us from the begin-ning: prototype no 1 had too many lines. The outer wing was unstable - it fluttered loudly in the air.But it didn‘t take us long until we knew what we wanted to alter.

The second prototype arrived and it had 7 struts - even at the stabilo we added such a stabilising cell and of course we saved quite a few me-tres of lines.

The test flight with that prototype was much better and we were pleased with the changes, but still many things would have to be changed. Such as the tension of the rear edge, crinkles, handling and

velocity. We wanted to fly faster. At least the stability of the outer wing had already improved so far that it was comparable to a convention-al paraglider - no more curling up, no more fluttering, even at extreme wing-over or spirals.

After quite some test flights togeth-er with Johannes Tschofen, I came up with a few ideas and asked him ‚What for do we need so many struts? Shouldn‘t we just build one with less struts? We‘ve got to build another prototype!‘ - we like to call the few inflating cells on our sin-gle-surface ,struts’.

The following prototype had only 3 struts left. Again we went out for test flights and compared.

We were surprised and happy when we realised the glider was getting lighter, while performance and stability remained, handling improved and became more pre-cise. At some stage during test ma-noeuvres, I thought that we would have to name the paraglider after

the mountaineer, who first climbed Mount Everest in 1953, as Edmund Hillary was a unique and very spe-cial person and so was his achieve-ment. From that day on we called the glider Sir Edmund.

During a bivouac in the mountains I couldn‘t sleep and made a phone call to Sri Lanka ‚We need another prototype with only one strut in the middle. I believe that one strut can do the job!‘ It didn‘t take long until a new Sir Edmund with only a single strut ar-rived… and the result was really amazing. Lighter, more agile, more stable - we had reached the point where we could start the fine tun-ing. The wing still fluttered a bit, we would have to pay more attention to the rear edge tension and also the total line length would need further reduction. At that time people started asking when Sir Edmund would finally be available. But one shall never allow oneself to be put under pressure. My wings only enter serial pro-duction, when we‘re all absolutely convinced, that we did our best and have achieved a perfect paraglider. And it was far from being perfect at that time.Another one and a half years and 15 more prototypes with different tension and many other alterations followed.

Prototype no 18 came up shortly be-fore Christmas. Johannes called me and said ‚Markus, why don‘t you come over here? I just completed the test programme and everything went really fine - it‘s right what we aimed for.‘ So I drove with my Lan-drover straight to Vorarlberg and went flying with Johannes. And yes,

that was the one! Speed, stability and performance - just everything was fine.

So many tests over such a long peri-od have convinced us, that we were developing a really special para-glider. On my way home I knew, that the glider was ready for certifi-cation tests. One week later we had the result: LTF B for the upper and as well for the lower weight range.Despite its small size and high load-ing at maximum launch weight, the wing received an A for all manoeu-vres except deep stall and full stall,

where it was given a B.

The strain test achieved far bet-ter results than we had thought. Throughout the whole week I walked around with a big smile on my face and nobody at Stubai val-ley knew why. I never drink any al-cohol, yet I called Johannes to con-gratulate him on his excellent work and told him ‚Next time we meet, we will drink a beer together!‘ He only laughed and said ‚Gee, that‘s gonna be fun… !‘.Only tenacity, the motivation to al-ways do your best, mutual respect and recognition within a team, make such a success possible.

Within the upper weight range, the paraglider speed is approximately 39km/h and I personally believe, that Sir Edmund is safer than a con-ventional paraglider. If I had to choose a paraglider, which I would fly without having a reserve with me, then I would choose such a sin-gle skin. Many pilots don‘t trust in single-surface wings, yet, because there‘s no internal pressure. But instead there‘s a lot more pressure from below.

The proof of the paraglider is in the flying. So it‘s your turn now: ‚Have lots of fun with this wing!‘

The birth of Sir Edmund

Ground handling with „Sir Edmund“ Photo: Sepp Schwitzer - www.paraalpin.info

A clear highlight at the hike & fly scene 2017.

We had to wait for this glider for quite a while, but it was worth it. A big surprise was the certification of Sir Edmund at size 20 according to EN/LTF B for a launch weight of 70 to 100kg. Flight characteristics of Sir Edmund are surprisingly sim-ilar to those of a conventional par-aglider. Thanks to the light canopy its launch behaviour is absolutely amazing.

It was a great honour for me to ac-company Markus Gründhammer, aka SKYMAN, on a mountain tour at Stubai Valley. After a walk of almost 3 hours Markus starts his ground handling with Sir Edmund, which took so long, that the sun was already going down when he had completed his day work. When I told him, that I admire his endurance, he said: „That is the only way for me, to experience the behaviour of my products in prac-tice and to learn, what I still need to improve.“.

During the ground handling it can clearly be seen, that the wing is well controllable even in strong wind and that collapses unfold very quickly. Sir Edmund at 20 m² weighs only about 1.58kg and the little packed volume is astonishing. Next morning: getting up at 4:45 and get ready for take-off.

The wind had paused over night, but now it whistles again. I had flown single-surface wings before, nevertheless my experience is rath-er humble. At take-off that single skin surprises me. As air starts to shape the profile, the canopy al-ready stands above my head. With no tendency to overfly me. Sir Ed-mund quickly responds to my cor-rections and after only one step I‘m already in the third dimension. De-spite strong wind I advance quickly and can even use the time above the slope for some soaring.

During the flight towards the land-ing spot, I enjoy its good gliding performance and also its handling, which is considerably closer to the handling of a conventional glider in comparison with the single-surface wings, I had flown before. Its agility is great and so is the feel-good fac-tor.

Summary: Even though Markus gave me an early prototype, I was absolutely surprised by that single-surface.

COMMENT by STEFAN KURRLE

Extremely light equipment Where‘s development heading to?

INSIGHT by MARKUS GRÜNDHAMMER

First-hand reportby SEPP SCHWITZER

Sir Edmund - Size 17 20 23 31,5

Cells 39 39 39 39

Flat surface area (m²) 17.00 20.00 23.00 31.50

Flat span (m) 9.44 10.06 10.98 12.85


Projected surface area (m²) 14.23 16.17 19.25 29.39

Paraglider weight (kg) 1.45 1.58 1.78 2.62

Weight range (kg) 60-85 70-100 90-120 140-200

Certification (EN / LTF) B B B B*

Price in € 2490.- 2590.- 2690.- 3790.-

Subject to change without notice. *planned

Available for 75kg to 210kg take-off weight. The „Ultra Cross“ series has grown. Tandem reserve „Ultra Cross 210“

The economic parachute: Reserve series „Cornetto“

Reserve series „EVO Cross“

Testing „EVO Cross”

Parachute tests with a reserve of the „Ultra Cross“ series

Page 6 Page 7

• Very low weight: 1.4 respectively 1.65kg thanks to newly developed 20D fabric

• High opening reliability

• Very high pendulum stability

• Low sink rate

• Excellent cost-performance ratio

• Simple packing method, comparable to an annular reserve

• Deployment bag with separate case for the lines

Cornetto features

• Extremely fast opening - up to 40% below an admissible value of 5 seconds - thus close to notional speci-

fied minimum

• Lowest sink rate, up to 15% below required sink rate of 5,5 m/s according to EN 12491 restrictions

• No pendulum movements at descent

• High opening reliability even in case of spiral dive or negative rotations

• Deployment bag with separate pocket for the lines

• Very light due to uncoated 22g 10D material; only 790g for 75kg total load

• Certified according to LTF/ 91/09 and EN 12491

Ultra Cross facts

• Extremely fast opening

• Very low sink rate

• No pendulum movements

• High opening reliability even in case of spiral dive or negative rotations

• Very low system weight

• High-tensile material

• Extremely high quality standards in manufacture and material selection

• Fabric colour: orange

• Certified according to LTF 91/09 and EN 12491

EVO Cross features

Safety: Cruciform parachutes & Reserves in practice Safety: Cruciform parachutes

From lightweight reserve to tandem reserveLeading the market for many years with inventive and most reliable reserves

Lighter and more sturdy than that is simply impossible!

The smallest reserve of this series weighs only 790g and is certified for up to 75kg.

Right up to a large tandem reserve, which is Ultra Cross 210, this series offers an ideal parachute model for every purpose.

Special material - extremely light and high-tensile - is processed for these reserves. Its unique design results in extraordinary pendulum stability and a fabulous low sink rate.

A unique fabric, exclusively man-

ufactured for independence and made of 10D sturdy Nylon 6.6 with only 22 g/m² weight, as well as the use of high-tensile Dyneema lines and ribbons, made it possible to develop these inventive reserves.

Due to an effective cruciform con-struction combined with defined outlet ports at each corner, the Ultra Cross series provides an out-standing pendulum stability.

Its simple packing method com-bined with extremely fast opening times make Ultra Cross one of the safest available reserves.

The ultra-light saviours: „Ultra Cross“ The lightest tandem reserve

„Fast opening, reliable, pendulum stable - cruciform

reserves belong to the safest available rescue systems.“As leading and most inventive man-ufacturer of rescue parachutes for paragliders and hang gliders, we have been committing ourselves to safety and high quality for almost 30 years.

At independence we have continu-ously been developing new path-breaking reserves ever since.

We have used Leonardo da Vin-ci’s brilliant, primal parachute as inspiration for our cruciform par-

achutes. The result are extremely light, high-performance and reliant reserves.

Countless pilots have been trusting in our rescue equipment since 1990 and often tell us about their positive

experience using it in emergency cases and during safety trainings.

Currently we have a product range of about 20 different available models for paragliders, respective-ly hang gliders and paramotoring.

For every wallet, every starting weight from 50 to 300kg and every operational purpose there is an ap-propriate model among that range of reserves.

The best parachute is now available as tandem reserve, too! Ultra Cross 210 is the world‘s lightest tandem rescue parachute certified accord-ing to LTF and EN!

The success of independence cru-ciform reserves is based on its out-standing reliability in emergency cases. With their excellent pendu-lum stability, lowest sink rates and fastest opening times, they have been proving their value and en-couraged the team to enhance this design and widen the cruciform

series. It has been an important concern to the whole team to also make these cruciform parachutes available for tandem pilots. After a long development period and nu-merous tests, we could launch two cruciform tandem reserves in 2016.

Ultra Cross 210, as the world‘s light-est tandem reserve certified ac-cording to LTF and EN, really lives up to the name of the most favoured lightweight series!

With our cruciform parachutes EVO Cross and Ultra Cross we consist-ently receive positive feedback from people at safety trainings and especially pilots, who experienced emergency situations. Reason for us to develop another new genera-tion of cruciform reserves.

Our mid-range aim has been to replace the Annular design by a cost-effective cruciform parachute. Result of squaring the circle is the new series Cornetto. A cruciform reserve at the price of an annular parachute!

Cornetto combines weight, easy packing and sink rate of an annular design with high pendulum stabili-ty, packed measure and fast open-ing of cruciform designs.The low construction height of the

canopy increases the opening relia-bility, even in tailspins and at nega-tive rotations.

Its simple packing method is com-parable to packing an annular par-achute - thus the Cornetto series is very easy to maintain!

Cornetto

There aren‘t many pilots who deal with the subject reserve. Everybody needs to have one - no-body wants to experience the case where one has to use it. But who-ever comes to that point, where he or she has to throw it out, is well advised to have concerned himself earlier with that topic. We have asked Stefan Kurrle from inde-pendence, how a pilot can improve the initial situation before that case arises.

THERMIK: My scenario - I fly above a ridge, the air is somewhat odd, the wing shrugs and bucks. Then it happens: a collapse occurs and the glider turns away. Suddenly I realise, that I really have to pull the reserve now! Are there measures, I can take be-fore an emergency occurs, which can help to improve my situation for that case, where I have to throw the reserve?

Kurrle: Of course, there are. First step should be „dry exercise“.Knowing, where the harness‘ de-ployment handle is, dealing with the question when one has to

throw the reserve. This needs to become second nature to oneself. You‘ve got to know automatical-ly: „I‘m at low altitude – there‘s no other option left – now I‘ve got to do it“. That is the most important point! In Britain they say: „If in doubt, throw it out“.

THERMIK: Let‘s go one step back. What should I consider when buy-ing a reserve?Kurrle: At that point we should go even one further step back. It all starts when buying the harness! Modern harnesses have a deploy-ment handle, that is fixed perma-nently with the deployment bag, thus perfectly matching with the harness. Deployment force and throwing are optimised and the risk of an accidental deployment as well as a wrong assembly are min-imised, compared to conventional systems.

THERMIK: Which renders the com-patibility check unnecessary. Kurrle: Basically, yes! The com-patibility check is a test to verify, whether the combination of de-ployment bag and deployment

handle of a harness works well. In practice this always describes a compromise. If you look back to the nineties, where 20-30% of deployments got stuck – no matter if due to false assembly or due to inappropriate device combinations. Hereupon the compatibility check was estab-lished.

THERMIK: By the way, what about packing a reserve? Who is sup-posed to pack the rescue para-chute? Kurrle: Seen from the judicial point of view, every pilot is responsi-ble for the proper condition of his equipment and of course he can pack the reserve himself. But it is advisable to let a professional pack the reserve according to manufac-turer instructions. We have been qualifying many professional re-serve packers over the years, who have appropriate competence and, most of all, enough experi-ence to recognise possible weak points, which a leisure pilot often can‘t see.

THERMIK: To take up the topic

again: What is important to consid-er when buying a reserve?Kurrle: First of all, one should de-cide whether to buy a round para-chute or a cruciform parachute.

The most important criterion is: the reserve has to open rapidly. The shape of reserves can warrant fast openings (cruciform reserves), as well as other design measures, such as the Ram-Air pockets of our round parachutes. Note well, that a quick priming of the opening, even at low speed, is essential.

THERMIK: What do you think of rogallos?Kurrle: Well, even rogallos do their job. But they involve by far more technology, which the pilot has to consider in case of an emergency. That already starts with the assem-bly. In order to be able, to steer a rogallo after activation, it is neces-sary to separate yourself from the paraglider. If I don‘t separate the glider respectively, if I simply can‘t separate from it, then the reserve needs to be slowed down prelimi-nary – like in Beamer 3 for example – in order not to risk a down-plane

effect. But separating from the par-aglider is not unproblematic and might take longer than the remain-ing altitude allows.Usually a rescue system is activat-ed at an altitude of 100m or even less. It is absolutely unrealistic to presume the pilot, at an remain-ing air time of about 20 seconds (altitude 100m), being able to ac-tivate the reserve, separate speed system and paraglider, get hold of steering lines and additionally find a suitable landing area.In such a case a steerable reserve turns out a ‚white elephant‘ …

THERMIK: What else shall I take into consideration? Kurrle: Besides fast opening times the pendulum stability of a reserve is a very important point to consid-er. If you additionally have an eye on a low sink rate, you have surely made a good choice.

THERMIK:And the sink rate, is it controlled by the surface size?

>> continue page 7

If in doubt, throw it out! Franz Altmann of Thermik magazine interviewing Stefan Kurrle

EVO Cross

(Continued from page 6)

Kurrle: Well, there we‘ve got to dif-ferentiate between various types of reserves. Some parachutes are designed to advance by gliding and thereby create ascending force – even round reserves, by the way! Such reserves reach excellent sink rates at certification tests. But: in order to start gliding, they first need to be separated from the paraglider! In practice these small-surface reserves sink much faster, because the glider usu-ally prevents the gliding, hence the ascending! However a slight directional up-gliding at cruci-form reserves is a positive aspect,

which stabilises the whole system (paraglider, pilot, parachute) and resolves into raised pendulum sta-bility.

THERMIK: A question concerning weight. Many pilots focus on a light paraglider. Is it advisable to use the full weight range according to the reserve certification? Kurrle: Overall you can say, that reserves certified according to EN standard, may without any difficul-ty be used to their upper limit.

There is an easy rule of thumb: If a sink rate of 5.5 m/s is given, square this number, 5.5 x 5.5 = 30.25, and divide the result by 20.That‘s the virtual step down height,

which you will have to deal with during landing. In this case 1.51m.If you have a reserve certified ac-cording to LTF with a sink rate of only 6.8 m/s, the virtual step down height is 2,31m, a completely dif-ferent story, though.

THERMIK: What am I supposed to do after deciding to throw the re-serve? Kurrle: Most important is to throw the reserve determinedly in the opposite direction of flying, into free airspace. So that the lines can fully expand as fast as possible and thereby activate the opening.

THERMIK: What next?Kurrle: As reserves are usually

thrown at low altitude, there won‘t be much to do during the remain-ing airtime. At low altitude sit up in your harness first and look to-wards the ground. Only if you have enough altitude, thus time left, try to bring the glider into a position, that reduces its flight capability by symmetrical pulling the C- or D-ris-ers.

THERMIK: How do I prepare myself for the landing? Kurrle: As said before, always keep

an eye on the remaining altitude. The rest is up to the terrain - so there‘s no easy answer.

Is it possible to roll laterally in order to reduce the impact at landing? Is there an obstacle, which I should better hit with my feet? Tree land-ing: how can I grab hold? Water landing: where are the buckles, which I will have to open as fast as possible in order to get out of the harness? Do I have a rescue knife with me? And so on.

FOR EVERY PURPOSE AN IDEAL PARACHUTE MODEL

NEW: EVO CROSS 235

THE BEST OUT OF TWO!

THE SQUARE OF SAFETY - NOW AVAILABLE FOR UP TO 235KG

The reserve EVO Cross was our first cruciform rescue system. Being the vanguard of this technology, we could set new standards for rescue parachutes.

Very low sink rates, best pendulum stability and very fast openings - the system has proven its value in numerous tests and emergen-

cy situations, which made us the leading manufacturer of cruciform reserves.

The EVO Cross series combines highest pendulum stability, lowest sink rates and fastest opening times in one rescue system. Thus EVO Cross is one of the most reliable res-cue systems on the market.

All major organisers of security trainings in Germany and abroad, who have tested EVO Cross, agree:

„EVO Cross - the square of safety.“

Another important detail regarding safety attributes is the fabric colour: orange is clearly visible in a forest, on a rock or almost every other sur-face.

That is why it has been an important concern to independence, to also make this cruciform series available for tandem pilots.

Compared to Ultra Cross 210 its canopy is slightly heavier, but EVO Cross 235 is certified for a max-imum all up load of 235kg, thus 25kg more than the comparable Ultra Cross model for tandem pur-poses.

EVO Cross 235 weighs only 3.1kg and has an excellent sink rate and pendulum stability, which is par-ticularly important for paragliders with high load in paramotoring and tandem paragliding.

Reserve Surface max. all up load

Sink rate at max. all up

loadWeight Price in €

Ultra Cross 75 21.5 m² 75 kg 5.5 m/s 790 g 910.-

Ultra Cross 100 25 m² 100 kg 4.61 m/s 975 g 960.-

Ultra Cross 125 33 m² 125 kg 5.1 m/s 1195 g 1010.-




(LTF) Weight Price in €

Cornetto 100 28.04m² 100kg 1.4kg 700.-

Cornetto 140 32.37m² 140kg 1.65kg 750.-


(LTF) Sink rate at max. all

up load (LTF) max. all up load (acc. EN at

sink rate 5,5 m/s) Weight Price in €

EVO Cross 100 25.06m² 100kg 4.9 m/s 100kg at 4.9 m/s 1.5kg 750.-



EVO Cross 235 57.00m² 235kg 5.5m/s 235kg at 5.5 m/s 3.1kg 1290.-

The new „Hi-Tec” helmets are available in 5 colours.

Draw-string bag

Round parachute „Smart“

The small Vario „Tweety“ attached to the should strap of „Passenger“New deployment bag with UV-coating

„Annular Classic“

Smart

Weight of reserve

Performance

heavy

very low weight

low sink rate extremely low sink rate

Ultra Cross

EVO Cross

Smart

Annular EVO

Cornetto

Annular Classic

Performance aller Rund- und Kreuzkappen im Vergleich

„Annular EVO“

Page 8 Page 9

These products and many more accessories are obtainable in our online stores. Did you know?? Login details and gift vouchers are valid for both stores - SKYMAN and independence!

A short while ago we received this order for a deployment bag from Finland:

Hello Markus,

one inner container for Smart L rescue is needed here.

By the way, two paramotorists were saved by this single rescue. They collided mid- air and tangled together badly. Only one of them managed to throw his re-serve, despite being badly wrapped in paraglider lines. They collided at about 1300ft and the rescue opened at about 400ft. They landed on a narrow river bank, only a couple of meters from the river, lucky, huh?

Despite their overall weight of being over 250 kg, this rescue of max. 120kg load saved their lives. They both suffered some bruises and some broken bones. The guy who threw the rescue, landed on his butt. He suffered a couple of fractures in his spine. The other fellow landed first, on his side. He suffered a broken ankle, a broken hip and some broken ribs.

Both are fine now, and keen to get back in the air asap.

Best regards,Tero Vesala

SkyTeroFinland

Letter from a customer

„RAM-Air Pockets“ for rapid opening - a development which has proven its value in countless emergencies.

• Climb tone: > 0.3m/s

• Sink tone: < 2.5m/s (possible to deactivate)

• Response time 1,5 seconds

• Weight: only 23g

• Battery life > 250 hours

• Compact shell 3.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 cm

• Simple push-button

• Available in three colours

• including hook-and-loop adhesive points

• including battery CR2450

• Fastener cord

Price 45.90€

Facts

Dyneema Y-bridles width 15mm, strength 2800 daN

lengths: 50cm, 140cm, 210cm starting at 19.-€

Safety: Round parachutes

The series name Annular stands for quality, reliability and countless successful rescue openings.

With the Annular EVO series, we even managed to improve its well-proven technology at some essential attributes, which made it the lightweight among annular par-achutes!

Our development progress, es-pecially in material development, resulted in essential advantages regarding weight reduction and strength. In our Annular EVO series

we use a new, extremely light and highly tensile fabric and lines, thus achieve a weight reduction of 30% compared to Annular Classic.

Annular EVO is serially equipped with deployment accelerators (RAM air pockets)! For fast and re-liable openings even at low speed.

Thus Annular EVO series combines well-known low sink rate and pen-dulum stability of Annular Classic with innovative material to a rEVO-lutionary good lightweight rescue system.

Annular EVO New lightweight production pos-sibilities were reason for us to pro-ceed in developing good rescue technology and make it even bet-ter.

Advanced material provided the basis for weight reduction and smaller packed measure. Compared with Annular Classic, we were able to reduce the weight by almost 30% at similar material costs.

Smart is designed as PDA (Pull-Down-Apex) annular parachute. This means that pulling the centre line enlarges its projected surface and reduces the canopy‘s volume. Thus sink rate and opening time are reduced.

Developing Smart we fo-cussed on high pendulum stability, which is even more important in rescue systems than low sink rates. High pendulum stability and low sink rate result in smooth landings.

Like all our annular para-chutes, Smart comes with serial deployment accel-erators, so-called Ram air pockets, which achieve fast opening times even at ex-treme conditions.

Our legendary Annular series, which we have been manufactur-ing for almost 20 years, meanwhile became the most common rescue parachute concept in the world. For years it has been an archetype to so many rescue systems, which have been constructed since its design.

Often copied, never beaten!

Since 1995 the Annular system has been manufactured ten-thousand-fold. Nowadays it is still available in the following sizes: 30, 36 and 38.Its revolutionary concept, although 20 years old, still represents state of technology in annular parachute

manufacturing and has been adapt-ed almost unmodified to the design of our light-rescue Annular EVO.

The series, due to its shape, shows excellent pendu-lum stability, thus makes smooth landings possible.

The final develop-ment step in man-ufacturing Annular Classic was the development of deployment accel-erators: RAM air

pockets. These pockets achieve fast and retainable opening even at low speed.

WELL PROVEN ROUND PARACHUTE TECHNOLOGY

ANNULAR CLASSIC - THE ORIGINAL ROUND PARACHUTE - PROVEN SINCE AGES

Highly effective ventilation system due to air ducts in the EPS shell

Absolutely pleasant ear protection

Chin buckle with micro ad-justment for an optimum fit

Adjusting-wheel in the neck for ideal an individual fit. Adapt the size perfectly to your head.

Our new helmet Hi-Tec (EN 966 HPG certification) is an open and light hard shell helmet, designed for optimum fit. It comes with out-standing features!

The helmet shell is made of high-grade impact-resistant ABS plastic. The impact absorbent inner shell is made of high-grade expanded pol-ystyrene (EPS).

The chin strap position is easily adaptable to your individual head shape. Due to the adjustment giv-en, the helmet is always in an ideal

and comfortable position.

The lining of Hi-Tec is washable and easy to replace.

The new Hi-Tec helmet has been designed exclusively for airborne sports and meets EN 966 HPG standards.

Soon it will additionally be availa-ble for skiing and snowboarding purposes, certified according to EN1077 standard.

„Hi-Tec“ has a charming soft touch surface and is available in 5 beauti-ful colours: Black, Platinum, White, Blue and Lime.

Available in 2 sizes: S/M (55 cm to 58 cm) M/L (58 cm to 61 cm)

Price: 129.- €

Safety: HelmetsLight hard shell helmet with outstanding features

Further new and interesting products on the market

SKYTRAXX TWEETY VARIO

New deployment bag materialAll independence reserves now se-rially come with a new deployment bag material, which has a silver ul-traviolet coating.

Thus the reserves are protected effectively from harmful ultraviolet light and from humidity, too.

Moreover this material has a very smooth surface, which minimises the friction at deployment.

These deployment bags are also available as retro-fit kits, starting at 29.- € (including 19% German VAT).

25g rubber bands sufficient for 3-4 times repacking

3.-€

Packing kit packing aid kit for the repacking

of rescue parachutes 49.-€

Light and small acoustic variometer. Due to its compact design and its ex-tremely low weight, Tweety is a perfect acoustic variometer for hike & fly purposes and as simple backup solution.

Reserve Surface max.total load acc. EN (at

sink rate 5.5 m/s) max. all up load LTF

Sink rate at max. all up load (LTF)

Weight Price in €

Annular20 EVO 32m² 100kg 100kg 5.45 m/s 1.55kg 650.-



Annular30 EVO (Tandem) 65m² 195kg 230kg 6.10 m/s 3.1kg 1000.-

Smart 38.4m² 100kg 120kg 6.30 m/s 1.8kg 590.-

drag at 6.8 m/s

Annular Classic 30 65m² - 200kg 284kp 3.9kg 890.-

Annular Classic 36 67m² - 250kg > 250kp 4.2kg 1090.-

Annular Classic 38 78m² - 300kg 345kp 5.3kg 1370.-

Tandem glider „PassengAir“

„SKYMAN Tandem“ at dusk

„CrossCountry“ at La Palma

Important detail: launch aid hook Precise manufactureFlares for ideal force application

Page 10 Page 11

Colours

CrossAlps features• SKYMAN lightweight design with D10 fabric

• Low air drag due to Smart lines concept with 3 levels

• Ceramic rings in speed system and brake deflection

• Mini-ribs for enhanced shape consistency and thermal handling

• Launch aid for perfect take-offs at icy conditions and tailwind

• Perfect performance, easy to achieve

SKYMAN paragliders (LTF/EN B)SKYMAN paragliders

„CrossAlps“ above Stubai valley

Light and sturdy. For commercial as well as cross-country tandem pilots, who don’t want to miss the typical SKYMAN feeling, SKYMAN has designed the PassengAir.

It combines smooth launching and stable flight characteristics. The PassengAir provides an outstand-ing handling and a gliding perfor-mance equivalent to solo paraglid-ers.

Its sturdy and durable material mix of 10D and 20D fabric is suitable for commercial use. Nevertheless the PassengAir, with 40.5m2 surface area and a load capacity of 150 to 230kg, only weighs 7.1kg.

In short: ideal launch charac-teristics, outstanding perfor-

mance, high-grade materi-al and precise manufacture. Typically SKYMAN.

Price: 3490.-€

Ultralight tandem glider - not only for extreme mountaineering.Of course SKYMAN is aware of the special needs of mountaineering

companions, who want to fly to-gether after a long hiking tour and constructed an extremely light tan-dem glider for them.

With only 5.4kg Skyman Tandem is the lightest available tandem para-glider with certification on accord-ing to LTF/EN.

Due to its extremely low weight, the canopy can smoothly be launched even at sites off the beaten track. A highly appreciated feature if There is a tailwind or at very windy condi-tions.

Despite its low weight Skyman Tan-dem has an aerodynamic profile and typical SKYMAN attributes, such as high performance, agile handling and sturdiness.

Skyman Tandem is the ideal third companion for hike & fly tours and a weight range from 125kg to 210kg.

Price: 3990.-€

SKYMAN Tandem

Highest stability, safety and serenity.

SKYMAN proudly presents its first real glider for beginners: Amicus.

Agile handling and very high stability,

meeting the demands of class A, char-acterise this new wing. Its pleasant character offers real lightness, typically SKYMAN, from the very beginning.

Amicus is a friend to beginners, who lets them enjoy their first circles in a

thermal, while giving them a sense of safety .

He is going to accompany them in many wonderful thermal flights, even beyond their first flying lessons - just like a true friend should.

With „Amicus“ at Alaska

CrossAlps - high performance for high-demands (LTF/EN C)

The paraglider with strong extras.The guys at SKYMAN have put all their heart and soul into the devel-opment of CrossAlps.

Markus Gründhammer and Toma Coconea both contributed signifi-cantly to its design and realisation.

This can clearly be seen in quite some inventive details as well as in its quality and performance.

CrossAlps has special line loops, that reduce the air drag and special flares to evenly distribute load on the canopy. Precise stability tapes

evenly distribute tension, thus grant high gliding performance and stability.

CrossAlps can optionally be equipped with very light, aerody-namic Dyneema risers.

XC pilots who go paragliding in rough terrain, will not want to fly without these extras anymore.

Amicus - LTF /EN A

FIRST-HAND REPORT by SEPP SCHWITZER

CrossCountry - Strong intermediate wing for safety-conscious pilots

The well-established EN/LTF-C glider CrossAlps was the basis on which CrossCountry was designed. In order to achieve additional safe-ty and a certification as high-end B paraglider, SKYMAN has reduced its aspect ratio compared to Cros-sAlps from 6.4 to 5.7. Additionally the number of cells has been re-duced from 67 to 55.

Concept and profile have been taken over from CrossAlps, includ-ing the true 3-liner concept, its shark nose, synthetic rods in the leading edge and mini-ribs within the leech. So called Gibus-bows, which are semi-circular bows mad of synthetic wires, are sewed in as reinforcements just above the tab attachments inside the cells for a better load distribution.

With a weight of only 4kg at a size of 27m² CrossCountry actually is, re-garding its insides, really light. This is achieved by using a double-coat-ed Dominico 10D with a weight of 26g per square metre. The handling on ground is, due to few lines, pretty much straightfor-ward.

Launching CrossCountry is quite easy. Having slightly windy condi-tions, and a filled canopy, the wing ascends moderately above the pi-lot’s head and needs only a slight slow-down. At normal conditions there hardly is any tendency to overfly.

In strong wind CrossCountry is sur-

prisingly easy to keep on ground. The rate of ascent rises a bit and a determined brake impulse at the crest is required. At zero wind or with a slight tailwind CrossCountry is easy to launch, too. The wing then needs to be laid out arc-shaped in order to put all lines simultaneously under tension.

At that case a slight impulse helps to accelerate the ascent. If you give the wing a short impulse at slight headwind, CrossCountry overflies the pilot into the crest and needs to be slowed down considerably.

If you prefer to weight shift in order to turn flat, you can do that with CrossCountry, but it’s not necessary as it turns nicely even without shift-ing weight to the inside of the turn. All it takes is a little brake input.

Somehow narrow circles might re-quire additional weight shift. The control pressure significantly rises after about 15cm brake - control pulses rapidly get transformed.

In a thermal upwind CrossCountry turns smoothly - the outside brake then should stay fully released. This wing enjoys velocity even in ther-

mals.

At normal thermal conditions there hardly are pitching move-ments of the canopy, neither

during entry nor during exit. But if you fly into a strong dissolution, the glider draws into it. According to Manuel Nübel, such wings make it comfortable to turn out strong and narrow thermals and you’re hardly ever forced out of the centre. The feedback transmitted by the risers is quite good, while the feed-back of the brakes is slightly less, yet well noticeable. Despite its pli-ant canopy the wing is stable not only in gentle thermals, but also at unfavourable conditions.

With 39km/h for its upper weight range, CrossCountry is one of the fast wings of its category, while the speed-up at full speed is at modest 12-13 km/h. Surely it would have been possible to achieve more speed, but that would have been

at the expense of safety and its flat polar axis.

COLLAPSESFlying CrossCountry one will hardly experience any trouble with defor-mation or turbulences. Yet if that case occurs, the wing behaviour won’t make you sweat. The pitch movement isn’t distinct and it turns away rather slowly. The canopy usually unfolds after only a quarter rotation.

DESCENT AIDCrossCountry has only two lower lines, thus big-ears considerably reduce the surface. Together with the accelerator a good descent aid. With a launch weight of 100 kg that sums up to 5m/s. During recovery some inner cells open immediately, while the outer cells stay closed. By pumping once or by braking slight-ly, those cells can be opened.

SUMMARYAlthough it is quite agile, Cross-Country is not a glider for freestyle purposes. CrossCountry is clearly made for high-performance. Its low weight aims especially at paraglid-ing mountaineers, yet it has much more to offer than lightness.

Good launch character, excellent gliding even at headwind and, re-garding it being a high-end B glid-er, an amazing potential concerning passive safety, especially regarding deformations. Its absorption at the transverse axis is favourable, espe-cially at turbulent conditions, yet it demands to be flown actively, thus it is made for pilots with experience and routine in dealing critical situa-tions.

PassengAir

Paragliding in the Himalayas with „CrossAlps“

A TRUE PERFORMER FOR TWO (LTF / EN B )THE ULTRA-LIGHT WING FOR TWO MOUNTAINEERS (LTF/EN B)

LIGHTNESS FOR CATEGORY A

CrossCountry - Size XS - 23 S - 25 M - 27 L - 29

Cells 55 55 55 55


Flat span (m) 11.45 11.93 12.4 12.85


Weight (kg) 3.65 3.9 4.1 4.35

Weight range (kg) 60-80 70-90 80-105 100-125

Certification EN/LTF B B B B

Price in € 3200.- 3300.- 3400.- 3500.-

Amicus - Size XS-23 S-25 M-27 L-29

Cells 47 47 47 47


Flat span (m) 10.93 11.4 11.85 12.28


Weight (k)g 4.2 4.45 4.7 4.95

Weight range (kg) 60-80 70-90 85-105 100-125

Certification (EN/LTF) A A A A

Price in € 2800.- 2880.- 2900.- 2950.-

CrossAlps - Size S-24,5 M-26,5 L-28,5

Cells 67 67 67

Flat surface area (m²) 24.5 26.5 28.5

Flat span (m) 12.52 13.02 13.5

Flat aspect ratio 6.4 6.4 6.4

Weight (kg) 3.80 4.0 4.2

Weight range (kg) 70-90 80-105 95-120

Certification EN/LTF C C C

Price in € 3350.- 3450.- 3550.-

Auto CAD design study of a new cocoon harness 2D processing of patterns as an exploded view

Pattern of a harness Pre-cutting of a prototype

Pure freedom - the ultra-light harnesses „String“

„Coconea X-Alps“ with foam and airbag protector - it has a reserve container in the front

„Coconea“ with foam protector - it has a reserve container in the back

Reversible harness „Hike“

Reversible harness „Hike“

Production: Sewing the straps

String and String RS (see rucksack below) perfectly match with single skin Sir Edmund

We used the new carabiner „Rocket“ by AustriAlpin for both versions of „String“

HIKE

Page 12 Page 13

PREVIEW: REVERSIBLE HARNESS WAKKA AIR

WAKKA PRO

PREVIEW: TANDEM PILOT HARNESS WANTA

• Certified according to EN1651; if combined with airbag protector also according to LTF 91/09

• Combined self-locking leg and chest straps

• Idler pulley for accelerator system

• Integrated suspension for rescue systems next to shoulder strap

• Large capacity

• Fasteners to attach accessory during flight

Facts Hike

• Excellent comfort - with or without seat board

• Optionally with carbon seat and foot plate

• Aerodynamic profile with light wind-proof cocoon

• Length and angle of leg cover adjust-able

• Friction-reduced, double-stage accel-erator slide

• Get-Up strap lock system with safety T-bar

• 17cm thick foam protector

Facts for both harnesses

STRING & STRING RS

Every year our harness develop-ment enters the critical stage al-ready in late autumn.

Where are current trends heading to? What is the requirement specifi-cation for new models? Which har-nesses are going to remain in our product range and which of these are going to have a revision?

We’ve got to determine all these things within a short time frame, as by that time we’ve already had enough time to watch current trends and accumulate our ideas.

So in winter a tough development process is going on. We create lots of prototypes, followed by exten-sive in-flight tests, in order to see what the harnesses feel like and where they need improvements. When work is done, certification tests according to EN and LTF com-plete the whole process.

Altogether a job that always takes several month of hard work.

It all starts with the plain seat frame. Basis for that frame usually are ex-isting, modified predecessors.

The first prototype doesn’t have a outer back part, yet, and is made only to test the basic seating, as

this first step is made to determine the geometry of the harness, only. Many load bearing straps at that stage are only tacked together, so

that angle and lengths can easily be adjusted to the conception we have in mind. Often we roughly adapt the first version by using big scis-

sors - for example to adapt its form below the arms.

By the way, the harness geometry

is a very sensitive matter. Chang-ing the position of straps even a few millimetres can be the decisive factor, so you can simply slip into a harness after take-off and easily get out at landing. Once the basic frame is ready, the patterns are revised manually in order to create a new prototype, which then is the basis to deter-mine positioning and dimension of the protector and reserve contain-er simply by drawing it onto that frame.

That way the back part to-be is built up coherently, step by step.Also at that stage we often work with predecessor patterns. We tack and discard, unsew, revise - just as long as it takes to reach a satisfying result.

The final back part version then is unsewn in order to convey the alterations and create the accord-ing new patterns. Seam lengths of every part get verified concerning the fitting accuracy. Now the first presentable prototype is ready for in-flight tests.

Then, if that prototype is good enough to go ahead, we digitalise these patterns for a backup in order to realise further sizes to scale.

Design & development: harnesses

New harnesses coming up in 2017 An even larger product range and a new look for some well-known harnesses!

Wakka Air with only 2.7kg is an ex-ceptionally light reversible harness. Ideal for hike & fly purposes or as light harness, adequate for every-day use.

It offers perfectly balanced stability and agility, thus enables the pilot to fly accurately. A simple individual adjustment for body size and seat-ing position as well as an ergonom-ically placed deployment handle close to the main suspension points have been realised in that harness.

A deployment handle, which is attached to the deployment bag, grants ideal conditions for deploy-ment and throwout.

Wakka Air is equipped with a get-up system using high-grade buck-les by AustriAlpin.

A strong point of Wakka Air is its reversible function. Rucksack and airbag have been separated. Thus the airbag is well protected during transport. Despite its low weight, it provides excellent seating com-

fort and perfect brace support for the back. The back part is made of a semi-rigid, ergonomically uphol-stered plate, which also is the carry-ing frame of the rucksack.

A distinctive feature of Wakka Air is the newly designed airbag system. By using a semi-rigid plastic wire, the airbag provides a considerably better passive safety in comparison with conventional airbag systems.

The wire, which is placed at the outer edge of the seams causes the

airbag to almost fully fill itself with air even before launch. That means, that even without an inflow, the airbag accomplishes already more than 50% of its protective effect. The ventilation valve of the airbag has been designed for an ideal inflow, which is independent of leg and seating position.

Wakka Air is „made in Europe“ and certified according to EN/LTF for up to 120kg. It is avail-able in 3 sizes (S, M, L) and in 2 colour combina-tions (black/blue, black/green). It is equipped with a carbon seat board.

Price: 820.- €

The project Wanta is a completely new conception for a tandem pilot harness. The idea was to create a tandem harness based on a normal solo harness, in order to convey the advantages of that type of design.

Wanta is equipped with a large, slightly V-shaped seat board, which is ideally adapted to the re-quirements of a tandem pilot.

It is made of light and sturdy high-grade material. Thus Wanta is made of the material known from other independence harnesses - a mixture of Cordura 500 and the 2017 honeycomb tissue.

Wanta is a one size harness with

large stowage capacity and an an-ti-balance system for optimised handling characteristics.

Its strong and effective 15cm foam protector can easily be condensed for transport purposes. The reserve container is placed in the back of the harness and the deployment handle can be placed either on the right or on the left side.

Wanta costs 790.-€

SKYMAN light harnesses

As the name already says, the de-sign of Wakka Pro is similar to Wak-ka Air. Nevertheless different prior-ities have been set for this version. Instead of an airbag it is equipped with a light and effective foam protector, reaching up the back. It doesn’t provide a reversible func-tion though. At size S it weighs only 2.4kg.

The low weight was obtained by consistent lightweight design for all its components. A new honeycomb tissue is much lighter than the Cor-dura fabric, which had been used for previous, similar models. Addi-

tionally the Wakka series uses only high-tensile 25mm straps with a high percentage of Dyneema, thus with extraordinary strength values.

Wakka Pro, compared to the „Air“ version, has a conventional lock system, secured by an additional safety T-bar - with clearly colour marked Cobra buckles by AustriAl-pin, of course.Thus Wakka Pro is a perfect all-rounder, too. Likewise suitable for training purposes, casual hike & fly tours and cross country flights.

Wakka Pro is „made in Europe“ and certified according to EN/LTF for up to 120kg. It is available in 3 sizes (S, M, L) and in 2 colour combi-nations (black/blue, black/green). It can additionally be equipped with an optional carbon seat board.

Price: 780.- €

The exciting development process of a harness until market launch

INSIGHT by ALEX STAUDACHER

Coconea X-Alps, like the previous model, has been developed in close cooperation with X-Alps par-ticipant Toma Coconea, who used it at RedBull X-Alps in 2015.

With a weight of only 2.4kg (size M with carbon plate) is tailored for thermal flying, cross-country and competition purposes. A foam pro-tector has been combined with an airbag, which is the basis for ideal aerodynamic characteristics of this cocoon harness.

The Coconea harness series have a variable opening of the speed bag, which allows to easily get in and out of the leg cover.

Coconea is a comfortable harness for thermal flying, cross-country and competition purposes. Its aerodynamic profile is remark-able and the harness weighs only 3.4kg.

The leg cover is available in 3 sizes.

SKYMAN harnesses are so light and compact, that they perfectly com-plement light paragliders, provid-ing greatest possible freedom.

The ultra-light harness String re-mains part of the product range and additionally it is now available as String RS, too (RS stands for ruck-sack).

A logical consequence emerging from the single skin development.

An incredibly light integrated ruck-sack has enough capacity and at-tachments for everything you need for hike & fly. It is comfortable to carry and its reversible function makes the rucksack turn into a stor-age compartment, where you can stow all your stuff during flight.

String RS is certified according to EN and as well according to LTF, if equipped with an optional airbag. Including AustriAlpin Rocket cara-biners it weighs only 690g.

• EN certified for up to 100kg• With optional airbag certified ac-

cording to LTF too• Including Rocket carabiners by

AustriAlpin • Comfortable to carry• Weight: only 690g including cara-

biners• Fasteners to attach your hiking

poles during flight• High-grade manufacture

String without rucksack costs 270.- Euros. String RS costs 329.- Euros.

The freedom of lightness!

Coconea and Coconea X-AlpsLIGHT COCOON HARNESSES - BASED ON DIFFERENT CONCEPTS

AustriAlpin has been manufactur-ing metal ware for mountain sports, aerial sports and other fields since 1996.

Carabiners and click-lock buck-les have been the area of expertise of the company, located in Austria, ever since. Their experience and the inventiveness of their engineers always result in new, high-grade carabiners, also for paragliding purposes.

Their latest development for air-borne sports is the carabiner Rock-et. It is a completely anodised alu-minium carabiner, which is suitable especially for paragliding with ul-tra-light harnesses.

Its special shape makes it possible to always apply tension in longitu-dinal direction, thus to avoid dan-gerous transverse force.

Additionally shape and function

of its snatch have been revised. To hook webbing into the carabiner is simple and safe and it prevents per-manent oscillation.

Rocket as carabiner locker is certi-fied according to EN 362 for per-sonal safety equipment.

Exactly the same lock mechanism is basic function for the car-abiners Stratus and Stratus Slim. Their rectangular shape has been designed especially for the use in harnesses with straps of up to 25mm width.

Hike is an extremely light, yet com-fortable, reversible harness. This harness without seat board pro-vides a large rucksack capacity for your flight equipment. The one size harness suits pilots with a body height of 155 to 185cm. It is made for hike & fly, travel purposes and speed flying.A captivating simple concept com-bined with sturdy light-weight ma-terial, made it possible to achieve a weight of only 1.4kg. An option-al LTF certified airbag protector and an adjustable front container, available as additional accessory for all common rescue systems, complement Hike to a highlight amongst light reversible harnesses.

Price 390.-€

High-grade carabiners

Coconea X-Alps Coconea

M L Size M L

160 - 180 170 - 195 Body height (cm) 160 - 180 170 - 195

120 120 max. load 100 100

2.4 2.6 Harness weight (kg) 3.4 3.6

47 49Suspension height

(cm) 47 49

28 x 28 cm 30 x 30 cm Seat board size (b x l) 28 x 28 cm 30 x 30 cm

EN1651LTF 91/09

EN1651LTF 91/09

Certification EN1651

LTF 91/09EN1651

LTF 91/09

1090.- 1090.- Price in € 890.- 890.-

Jakub with ‚CrossAlps‘ above Lake Karakul

Above Pamir and Tian Shan range close to the Chinese border.

Thanks for the photos to Krischa Berlinger (left), whom we wish lots of success at X-Alps 2017! And thanks for this report to Jakub Beňo! We wish you many more exciting adventures!

• 43 days

• 1140 airborne kilometres

• 740 kilometres on the ground

• flown higher than 7000 metres above sea level with-out additional oxygen

Page 14 Page 15

Super Fly GTX is a favoured robust boot. It is suitable for paragliding purposes at complex, alpine terrain.

Price 279.-€

Sky GTX is the lighter version of Super Fly GTX. It has a soft sole and is ideal for paragliding purposes at normal terrain.

Price 229.-€

Fitwell Dragonfly - innovative hand-crafted boot made for trekking (nor-mal terrain) and the special needs of the paragliding pilots. Dragonfly is made in Italy and has a gaiter above its lacing, which is closed tightly by a zipper, in order to efficiently prevent the lines getting caught on the lacing.

A waterproof membrane and the outer mesh fabric are breathable ma-terial. Dragonfly has reinforcements for the heel and a protection cap for the toes, thus is ideal for rough terrain. A perfect boot, which is not too bold, though, and especially suitable for wearing them in cocoon harnesses!

Weight: 515g per shoe at size EU 42,5Upper: Cordura® + Lycra®Lining: 3 layer waterproof Event® membraneSole: Vibram® Mars

Price: 229.-€

Crispi Airborne GTX C.C.S. is an ideal boot for paragliding pilots! Its removable C.C.S. ankle support protects your ankle event at complex terrain, hard landings etc. and thus prevents from injuries. It is resilient and suitable also for hiking purposes. It is made of durable high-qual-ity material and very comfortable to wear.

C.C.S. removable ankle support

Upper: waterproof Nubuck; Gore-Tex® membrane

Sole: Vibram®

Weight: 810 g

Sizes: 36 - 47 EU

Price 229.-€

An igloo ideally protects you from cold winds, but it takes hours to build one.

Winter bivvy above Stubai Valley Photos: Markus Gründhammer

SKYMAN Markus Gründhammer spends his nights in the mountains as often as he can and the morning after, he floats down to Fulpmes, landing close to his workplace. Al-ways having new, gorgeous images in his rucksack.

Outdoors he sleeps well - no mat-ter what the weather is like. He even stays out there at -25°C and strong north wind. Markus explains us, what we need to take into account, especially concerning equipment and which rules to obey at a winter bivouac, in order to have a secure take-off in the morning.

What do you recommend as ration pack for a bivvy? I always have a chocolate or cereal bar with me. A bite or two are already enough, to make your di-gestion warm your body.

It is utmost important to drink enough. No alcohol, of course, because alcohol widens blood vessels and would make you freeze to

death even faster!

What do we need to consider in terms of equipment, especially for a winter bivvy? You don‘t need much in the moun-tains. Mountaineering makes it necessary to save weight – the less weight, the better!

Warm feet are essential in order not to freeze and to sleep well. In my sleeping bag I always wear down slippers. A sleeping pad, a bivvy bag and a sleeping bag – always choose a warm rather than a thin sleeping bag, as is it is unlikely go-ing to be too warm for you. Most important is to wear absolutely dry

clothes before you lie down in your sleeping bag. If not everything you wear is dry, you are going to freeze. So always remember to take spare underwear with you.A snow shovel and an avalanche equipment are indispensable, of course!

Do you have shoes, which are ap-propriate for the ascent and for par-agliding, too?In winter you need high, warm, crampon-compatible boots. Prop-er alpine boots! Otherwise you are going to have cold feet all the time. If those boots have a covered lac-ing, they are perfect for paragliding issues.

How can we ensure to sleep well up there? I always sleep well with a starry sky above me - wrapped up in my sleeping bag or at summer often wrapped in my paraglider. In winter an igloo can shelter you from cold wind. But building an igloo takes a lot of time – two people usually need 4 to 5 hours.

When you arrive at a winter bivvy,

your brain says „Go back. Up here you‘re going to freeze to death!‘ I have seen tough men, who ran away in panic, even in the middle of the night.

It‘s not too hard, though. You only need to put on dry clothes, espe-cially dry socks, and after five min-utes in your sleeping bag it will be cosy and warm.Preparing your launch in the morn-ing, you should be aware of the fact, that after a tough night noth-ing works as it usually does – your reaction time, your movements and your mind as well. Thus don‘t choose a launch site, which would require 100% of your piloting skills! Better reckon with 80% capability and take care.

How can I avoid that my glider gets wet? And how does the cold influ-ence my equipment? What in par-ticular should I pay attention to?The paraglider should always be packed in a compression bag over night and additionally in a rucksack, so that it can‘t deep-freeze. I always use my glider as a pillow – works perfectly!

Usually the cold doesn‘t affect the equipment. Only paragliders with rods in their leading edge should be packed properly cell to cell the day before. Otherwise it can hap-pen at extremely cold conditions, that they are frozen exactly to the shape you have muddled it to into your bag :-) So always pack your glider neatly!

Komperdell Carbon hiking poles - independence-Edition

can be used as camera pole 129.-€

Zanier Aviator / Heat GTX heatable gloves

349,95€ / 299,95€

independence summer gloves

windproof, various sizes

35.-€

In summer 2016 two paragliding pi-lots from Switzerland and Slovakia were heading for the adventure of their life and followed the Silk Road through two Central Asian coun-tries: Tadzhikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Krischa Berlinger and Jakub Beňo realised their journey along the Silk Road only by foot and with their paragliders. It took them 43 days to fly 1140 kilometres and walk 740 kilometres, whilst the straight dis-tance between two waypoints was 1400 kilometres.

Their aim was to cross these wide, uninhabited mountains, where back then Marco Polo on his long

journey to China passed by, and to experience and document the no-madic life of local people.

Half of the territory of Tadzhikistan is situated at an altitude 3000m above sea level. They plan to cross the Alai mountain range, the Pamir and the Tian Shan range as well.

Karakul lake is one destination on their long journey. With its 380 km² Karakul lake in Eastern Tadzhikistan is the largest lake in that country, but has a considerably high salin-ity level. It is situated in the Pamir mountains south of Transalai.

At the most remote destination of

their journey, the Pamir, which is also known as Roof Of The World, both pilots flew at an altitude of more than 7000m above sea level, without additional oxygen.

After Jakub ad Krischa had started their expedition, they could gain quite some kilometres in the be-ginning, but later on strong winds urged them to stay on ground for weeks. By that time they had already reached the wide Kirghiz steppe. The country consists of steppe right to an altitude of 1500m, which now-adays is made arable by the use of a huge irrigation system.

Their march across the high steppe of Kyrgyzstan took them many days and they had to struggle in order to reach their next destination. Poor water and cold weather conditions put their spirit and physical condi-tion at a test.

Kyrgyzstan is situated mostly in the

high mountains of Tian Shan – the highest peak is Dschengisch Ts-chokusu at 7439m.

Not only weather, extremely strong winds and sickness were obstacles on their path, but also local author-ities, who weren‘t always happy about the in-official air traffic above their heads. The outcome were quite some unpleasant situations. Sometimes they had to start their hiking tours in the middle of the night in order not to be seen.

Most of the time the two travellers were welcomed with unbelievable hospitality by nomadic Muslims, who live in that endless space in their yurts, just like their ancestors back then at times of the Silk Road did.In the end the tour turned into a race against time, when the day of departure came closer and closer. They had already given up their hope to reach their final destina-

tion, the capital Bishkek located in the North, in time, but their will drove them to continue.

They flew around the world‘s sec-ond largest lake, Lake Yssykköl. With 6236km² a vast water surface in front of the scenery of two moun-tain ranges: Kungej-Alatau and Ter-skej-Alatau.

Finally, when hope was lost to reach their flight home in time, a small window opened up for them and weather conditions allowed them to reach Bishkek only two days be-fore departure. An unforgettable adventure!

More images can be seen on the SKYMAN website.

Travel & AdventureA thousand and one miles along the Silk Road

Travel & AdventureInterview - Survival in the mountains

Test manoeuvre negative rotation

Test manoeuvre front stall - or - „What was written on its upper surface?“

Furio goes NorwayA new trend combining speed flying and speed riding

Page 16 Page 17

Geronimo2

Geronimo2

A true distance chaser in category EN BGeronimo² has been designed a high-end EN B, bearing a big po-tential for cross country purposes. The canvas is made of light Domin-ico D20 fabric. Its 59 cells have a clear shark nose at the leading edge with synthetic wires keeping it in shape. The A row is consider-ably aligned backwards for high performance. Despite its extensive inside, a weight of only 5.0kg at size S (25 m²) was achieved.

Easily sortable lines and sheathed lower lines facilitate launch prepa-ration even at difficult terrain.

The canopy’s filling and launch are consistent and easily controllable. Even in windy conditions it doesn’t require much braking to get the canopy to stand straight above the pilot’s head.

Its trajectory characteristics are absolutely commendable, wheth-er at flat curves or at more incline turns, whether with or without weight-shifting. Geronimo² shows an exemplary transformation along the pitch and roll axis. In stronger thermals the excellent damping of Geronimo² pleases a lot. Course corrections when crossing valleys can be carried out efficiently with-

out reaching for the brake, but sim-ply by shifting weight.Pascal Kreyder tested Geronimo² for the online magazine Free.aero and even compared it to higher category gliders with the following summary.

ADVANTAGES• Comfortable at (almost) every situa-

tion• Easily controllable• Easy to launch even at strong wind• Intuitive, linear trajectory behaviour • Tolerant profile regarding both, tim-

ing as well as amplitude of pilot’s actions

• Revealing pitch management by us-ing the accelerator

• Weight

DISADVANTAGES• Doesn’t „have teeth“ when entering

very strong thermals

TARGET GROUPGeronimo2 is suitable for pilots downgrading from category C, e.g. XC pilots who are tired of always getting a good shake. And this glid-er is perfect for pilots, who just start to go on long distance flights and want to improve their skills.Just like flying any other high-end B wing, one has to be able to manage pitch and roll movements at difficult conditions.

SUMMARY: This EN B wing enables you to do all the XC flights, which usually require EN C gliders. There is only a slight difference, which affects its final speed and its gliding performance at fully exploited accelerator. Those few km/h loss are compensated by increased comfort and serenity at every situation. Its behaviour, when entering strong thermals, has slight-ly less tenacity as in higher classified gliders.

Read the complete test report on www.free.aero!

Tandem paraglider „Air Taxi“

Air Taxi

Tandem glider „Air Taxi“

The name of our new tandem par-aglider Air Taxi already anticipates that its conceptual design is made to meet the requirements of profes-sional tandem pilots.

Wide payload range, smooth han-dling, similar to a solo wing, as well as excellent take-off and landing characteristics, make the Air Taxi an ideal companion for leisure tandem pilots, too.

Its serial trimmers allow a perfect adaption of handling and speed according to flight conditions and passenger.

Colours

„Geronimo2“ is available in 4 colours: Red, Gold, Lime and Light Blue

Features• High-performance thermal aerofoil with extremely high consist-

ency, especially at high speed - achieved by newly-designed reinforcements in the leading edge

• Efficient, clearly labelled and colour marked risers

• Weight-optimised material

• Minimised air drag and well arranged line setup

• Excellent take-off and landing characteristics

• Effective trimmer

• White lower canvas as ideal basis for advert application

„Air Taxi“ is avail-

able in Red, Gold

and Lime

Colours

Trend & Job profile

Yoohooo, my name is Johannes Tschofen. I’m 38 years old and I come from an area with strong turbulent thermals, which never-theless is really beautiful, the Mon-tafon. Meanwhile I have been work-ing as professional test pilot for 10 years.

Being a test pilot is really great, but it’s not as much easy-going as many people think. I often hear people say ‚Oh perfect, you’ve made your hobby a profession - that must be free and easy living!‘. At that point I always reply, that to me it is the coolest profession in the world, but

nevertheless in my job I have to per-form effectively, just like anybody else has to in an ,ordinary’ job. My duty, in cooperation with de-signer Markus Gründhammer and all the other people involved, is to build cool paragliders, which in the end have got to please the whole team. Especially when working with B paragliders, I am always very proud when I see my father flying them. A glider is only ready and safe enough by the day, when I can hand it to my father, being absolutely confident, that he can fly that glider.

Usually in test flights I’ve got to deal all the time with situations, which pi-lots usually try to avoid. Depending on my cur-rent physical and psy-chologic constitution, there are days where I could imagine jobs bet-ter than testing acceler-ated collapses and front stalls with a D wing. And there are many days, when alterations cause just the opposite of what we expected, or the par-aglider does not fly as it was supposed to do.

The road leading to a truly awesome glider is paved with days where things don’t work the way they should. Otherwise every

paraglider would be ready right at that point where it emerges from the computer - and my job would be just superfluous. Always when a glider is ready for certification af-ter numerous tests, I’m absolutely proud.

Just like for every other job, there are nice aspects of my profession too. Tasks like testing a wing’s behaviour at thermals, compar-ing gliding performance, adjust-ing the handling and much more. At these moments I’ve got that ‘Yeah, I made my hobby a profes-sion”- feeling! I enjoy these days a lot, being confident, that I am ex-actly where I belong - in the moun-tains and in nature.

The development of a glider always starts with someone from our team having an idea, saying ‚we urgently need a glider with features like …‘. Convincing the other team mebers usually doesn’t take long.

After making decisions about as-pect ratio, favourable speed and weight, we start straight away. And the first prototype usually arrives

seven days later, ready to test. Before some of our test flights even my pulse rises - like on that day when I first had to test our sin-gle-surface glider. I thought ‘Just one sail… - how the heck shall that thing fly?” But then with every single flight and every single manoeuvre, I become more confident of what I’m doing.

The first collapses, front stalls, and deep stalls were quite a big thrill. But after several attempts I learned, that these manoeuvres work even better with single skin gliders than with many double-skins. Collapses open considerably faster than at conventional paragliders, no mat-ter if it’s a front stall or an asymmet-ric collapse.

Successive collapses hardly ever occur. No matter if the deep stall is initiated via the brake or the B-risers - such a single-surface reacts almost digitally. Either a deep stall occurs or it continues to fly normal. To ini-tiate a successive collapse using the risers or the brake is almost impos-sible - just as if nothing could stop that glider from flying.

Even the tendency of gliders to overfly the pilot during certain ma-noeuvres is significantly less, as the canopy weighs far less than con-ventional double-surfaces.

The canopy weight of a convention-al glider adds up from its material weight, let’s say 4kg, plus about 5kg air, which is inside the cano-py. All together 9kg, a mass, which turns into great force at certain ma-noeuvres. A single skin has less weight and additionally no contained air mass - a fact clearly to be seen in ma-noeuvres, where the canopy is sup-posed to overfly the pilot, but sim-ply doesn’t, due to the lack of mass.

Often the development of a par-aglider costs lots of prototypes, which are improved step by step. In order not to be blinded by routine, other team pilots, too, fly the glider every now and then and tell us their opinion.

My mission is accomplished, when the glider successfully underwent certification tests, ready to go into serial production.

Johannes Tschofen lives at Mon-tafon and is one of the test pilots of SKYMAN and independence.

Currently he tests a few paraglid-er prototypes, such as the suc-cessor of CrossAlps. He gives us an insight into his profession and daily work.

A very special hobby became a profession

INSIGHT by JOHANNES TSCHOFEN

Importer of independence prod-ucts Øyvind Kindem from Norway, told us, there was a new hype com-ing up in his country: a combination of speed-flying and speed-riding. That spacious landscape with its mellow hills is made for such a sport.

Hundreds of people fly with their skis downhill, making use of a new-ly-created flight licence.While speed-riding is regularised or even forbidden in many regions of the Alps, due to many accidents, Norway decided to take a different way with that licence, which links body weight, wing size and profi-

ciency level.

A beginner may only fly with a rath-er large wing, while an expert may fly a considerably smaller wing. That concept seems to work pret-ty well, regarding the popularity of that new sport. Reason for us to develop a modified glider in coop-

eration with Draco Volans for that purpose.

Furio is available in sizes 11, 13, 15, 16, which matches exactly with the weight ranges and ratings of the Norwegian licence and it comes with these features:

Furio‘s high stability and large glid-ing angle range, which is adjust-able by adapting the 20cm long trimmer, are absolutely convincing. With the trimmer at zero or with slightly closed trimmer, Furio is categorised a speed-flyer. Its han-dling is agile and reacts perfectly to weight-shifting.

Its gliding performance at that ad-justment is extraordinary, so that take-offs at foot and at shallow ter-rain are pretty easy.

Opening the trimmer changes the handling characteristics, due to the special trimmer positioning. The canopy centre is being accelerated disproportionate to the outer wing. So the brake is being controlled in a different way, thus the handling is adapted for speed-riding.

Not only the gliding performance is reduced that way in order to stay close to the terrain, but also the handling is slightly less dynamic.

That way it is easier to ride the skis and the glider is prevented from turning towards the hill.

So Furio is a pretty versatile glider, almost an all-rounder, which covers the whole range from speed riding to speed flying!

independence paragliders

Air Taxi - Size M

Cells 52

Flat surface area (m²) 39

Flat span (m) 11.37

Flat aspect ratio 5.29

Weight range (kg) 130 - 220

Weight (kg) 7.8

Certification EN / LTF B

Price in € 3050.-

Size XS 23 S 25 M 27 L 29

Cells 59 59 59 59


Flat span (m) 11.33 11.81 12.27 12.72


Weight range (kg) 55 - 80 65 - 90 80 - 105 95 - 120

Weight (kg) 4.6 5.0 5.3 5.5

Certification EN / LTF B B B B

Price in € 2950.- 3000.- 3050.- 3100.-

Page 19

Our designers created something really special when coming up with that harness. Freestyle is a true all-rounder and has been developed in close cooperation with renowned safety expert Chris Geist.

Freestyle is a very light all-round harness, which meets the needs of

ambitious thermal pilots as well as the needs of free style pilots who are keen on acro and speed riding.

This harness is available either with one or with two reserve containers below the seat board.

Additionally its deployment han-

dles are in an ergonomic position, which can be reached intuitive-ly, thus enabling a well-directed throwout of the reserve.

Its anatomic back and its high-grade processing make it a perfect link between pilot and paraglider.

Freestyle One / Freestyle TwoLIGHT VERSATILE HARNESS

Nowadays a reversible harness is not a new invention anymore - yet Looping is! Its novel reverse system turns a large and comfortable ruck-sack into a jaunty harness within a few seconds.

A completely new reverse concept made it possible. Looping at „ruck-sack mode“ is enlarged by an ex-pansion pocket, while at „harness mode“ that flexible material tight-ens the harness back part aerody-namically.

That smart reverse system design separates rucksack and protector completely, for the first time ever. Up to now this part of a reversible harness had always been rucksack and airbag protector at the same time – thus was exposed to possible damages during transport.

Despite its outstanding unique fea-ture, Looping set standards regard-ing weight, too. At size M it has a weight of only 3.1 kg.

The airbag protector has a decel-eration rate of less than 20 g – the best result we ever achieved.

Looping is available in two versions with different lock systems.

In order to provide a concept for every personal preference, Looping GREEN has a get-up system, where leg and chest strap are locked with only 2 buckles.

Looping BLUE however is equipped with a conventional T-Lock buckle.

Looping provides an ideal, uncom-

mitted seating position, rendered possible by its newly designed main suspension.

Combined with individual adjust-ment of shoulder and back part, every pilot is going to find a seating position, which ideally suits him.

The geometry of Looping meets the demands of ambitious thermal pilots and of hike & fly pilots, pro-viding an outstanding canopy feed-back!

Price 940.- €

Looping Green & Looping BlueTHE NEW REVERSIBLE HARNESS WITH AIRBAG - AVAILABLE IN 2 VERSIONS

Freestyle facts• Available with one respectively two reserve containers

• Stiff back with perfect brace support

• Providing good movement space on the ground

• Colour-coordinated leg and chest buckles by AustriAlpin

• Buckles without self-adjustment during flight

• Colour-coordinated deployment handles and suspension points

• Friction-reduced accelerator slide

• Very light honeycomb seat board

• Magnet holder for speed bar

• Carabiners: Edelrid Alias (ONE), AustriAlpin Powerfly (TWO)

• Colours Freestyle ONE: Black-Blue

• Colours Freestyle TWO: Black-Green

Looping Facts• Looping GREEN with get-up system; Colours: grey-green

• Looping BLUE with T-Lock system; Colours: grey-blue

• Integrated reserve container, which efficiently protects the reserve from harmful external factors

• Deployment bag with integrated handle

• Extremely sturdy fabric on the bottom

• Many pockets accessible during flight

• Ergonomic back part providing perfect brace support


• Cobra buckles by AustriAlpin

• Buckles without self-adjustment during flight

• Colour-coordinated suspension points



• Optionally available carbon seat board

The back protector of Logo Easy is generously dimensioned, thus pro-vides optimum safety without con-straining the pilot movements.

The robust PVC bottom side is re-placeable, as it is fixed with a hook-and-loop tape - the ideal harness for beginners, who don’t always achieve smooth landings when starting their flight training.

Both Logo harnesses have a small packing measure in common - com-bined with an optional front con-tainer these features make Logo a compact all-rounder.

Logo Pro is a robust, reasonably priced harness. It provides an out-standing flying experience as well as good movement space, which

makes it suitable especially for be-ginners and casual pilots. It comes with an integrated rescue para-chute container.

Logo Easy & Logo ProHARNESSES FOR BEGINNERS AND CASUAL PILOTS

Logo facts• Strap adjustment can easily be car-

ried out even during flight

• Colour-coordinated leg and chest buckles

• Integrated, clearly visible drop-out safeguard

• Large easily accessible pocket



• Radio pocket integrated into shoul-der strap

• Stowage pockets easily accessible during flight

independence Single Skin and a new reversible harness

They weren’t cut from the same cloth, yet they were partners and ideally complimented one anoth-er during the first ascent of Mount Everest: Tensing Norgay and Sir Ed-mund Hillary. That is why we named the coun-terpart for SKYMAN paraglider Sir Edmund after his companion. The independence single-surface is called Tensing.

Both wings have the same basis

concerning design, but they differ in the material selection, which has been made to meet different de-mands.

For Tensing a more sturdy materi-al, 20D Dominico fabric, has been used instead of extremely light fab-ric. Furthermore its lower lines are sheathed.

Additionally a conventional 15 mm riser has been chosen. Thereby

Tensing weighs about 600g more than Sir Edmund. Yet Tensing 20 has a weight of only 2.1 kg.

A modest lightweight design and,

despite different priorities concern-ing material, an impressive result: Tensing comes with exactly the same flight characteristics as Sir Ed-mund.

Compared to his companion, Tens-ing is easier to prepare for take-off due to sheathed lines, which are easier to untangle, and has higher resistance against damages. Often a real benefit in difficult conditions.

A further positive side effect of dif-ferent material is a relatively lower price for Tensing.

Tensing is available in 3sizes (17, 20 and 23) - with certification accord-ing to LTF and EN.

New independence single skin paraglider „Tensing“

Tandem experts, all-rounders, lightweight harnessesWell-proven products remain in the product range and have been improved once more

Colours

„Tensing“ is available in 2 differ-ent colours: Lime and Red

Single skin TensingThe sturdy, yet light companion of „Sir Edmund“

„Slope“

Although Slope has been designed as a harness for ground handling as well as for the use at the training slope.

Nevertheless it turned out to be an excellent passenger harness, too.

It has a replaceable, reinforced bot-

tom as well as a large foam protec-tor, reaching up to the back.

Minimised adjustment results in simple handling, yet this harness provides comfortable seating.

Slope costs 490.-€.

SlopeTHE VERSATILE HARNESS • Large adjustment range

• Small packed measure and low weight

• Clearly visible drop-out safeguard

• Colour marked main suspensions (left/right)

• Padded leg straps

• Long foam protector reaching up far the back, LTF certified



• Sturdy and replaceable PVC fabric on the bottom

• Manufactured in the EU

Slope facts Photos of a „Looping“ prototype.

„Freestyle Two“

„Freestyle One“

independence harnesses

Tensing features • Sturdy Domenico 20D fabric

• Sheathed lower lines

• Extremely stable

• Trim speed approx. 40km/h

• Smooth accelerator

• 15mm risers

• Remarkable gliding performance

• Launch aid hooks

• Perfect price-performance ratio

Size „Freestlye“ S M L

Body height 155-170cm 160-185cm 175-195cm

Max. load 120 daN 120 daN 120 daN

Harness weight 4.1kg 4.3kg 4.5kg

Suspension height 42cm 44cm 46cm

Seat board size (w x l) 34cm x 36cm 35cm x 38cm 35cm x 38cm


LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09

Price Freestyle ONE 820.- € 820.- € 820.- €

Price Freestyle TWO 850.- € 850.- € 850.- €

Size „Logo“ S M L

Body height 155 - 170cm 160 - 185cm 180 - 205cm

Max. load 120kg 120kg 120kg

Weight Easy/Pro (kg) 3.7 / 3.9 3.8 / 4.0 4.2 /4.4

Suspension height 47 cm 49 cm 51 cm

Seat board size (w x l) 34 cm x 34 cm 36 cm x 36 cm 40 cm x 40 cm

Certification EN1651 & LTF

91/09 EN1651 & LTF

91/09 EN1651 & LTF

91/09

Price Logo Easy in € 540.- 540.- 540.-

Price Logo Pro in € 650.- 650.- 650.-

Size „Looping“ S M L

Body height 155-170cm 160-185cm 175-195cm

Max. load 120 daN 120 daN 120 daN

Harness weight 2.8kg 3.1kg 3.4kg

Suspension height 40cm 42cm 44cm

Seat board size (w x l) 34cm x 36cm 35cm x 38cm 35cm x 38cm


LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09

Price in € 940.- 940.- 940.-

Tensing - Size 17 20 23

Cells 39 39 39

Flat surface area (m²) 17.00 20.00 23.00

Flat span (m) 9.44 10.06 10.98

Flat aspect ratio 5.24 5.24 5.24

Projected surface area (m²) 14.23 16.17 19.25

Paraglider weight (kg) 1.9 2.1 2.3

Weight range (kg) 60-85 70-100 90-120

Certification (EN / LTF) B B B

Price in € 2290.- 2390.- 2490.-

Subject to change without notice.

Size „Slope“ S M L

Body height 150 - 170cm 160 - 185cm 180 - 205cm

Max. load 120kg 120kg 120kg

Weight (kg) 3.0 3.2 3.4

Suspension height 47 cm 49 cm 51 cm



91/09 EN1651 & LTF

91/09 EN1651 & LTF

91/09

Price in € 490.- 490.- 490.-

Harness „Passenger Pro“

Harness „Pilot“ - position of Y-bridles More attachment possibilities for instrumentsReplaceable bottomEnough stowage pockets on each side

Harness „Pilot“

Page 20 Page 21

The popular harness Pilot has been revised in 2017.

The new, extremely light honeycomb fabric, which we once again use this year, reduces the weight by 300g to fabulous 3.37kg, including Austri-Alpin carabiners Stratus, protector and deploy-ment bag.

Despite that weight re-duction, the capacity of its back compartment has increased and its bottom

is reinforced with sturdy PVC mate-rial.

Features like comfortable seating due to combination of leg straps and seat board, remained. The seating position of this one size har-ness is individually adjustable.

The reserve container is integrated in the back of the harness and has

a deployment bag with integrated handle.

Pilot is serially equipped with a pod for a photo pole, which can be at-tached either left or right of the har-ness.

Pilot costs 700.- €.

The harness series Passenger has been revised simultaneously. This one size harness, too, comes with a light, good-looking honeycomb fabric. The colours for Passenger Pro and also for Passenger Air are black and red.

Additionally the vario fastener on its shoulder strap has been optimised. Passenger Pro is equipped with a foam protector, while Passenger Air has an airbag protector.

Of course proven features like its colour-marked drop-out safeguard with Cobra buckles by AustriAlpin remained.

Retaining straps for the passenger usually make them feel safer during take-off run and also during flight. Those straps are provided serially in both Passenger harnesses.

The conception and many little de-tails, as well as the small packed vol-ume and low weight of only 2.8kg for Passenger Pro and 2.3kg for Passenger Air, make these tandem harnesses so popular.

Passenger Pro as well as Passenger Air cost 470.-€.

Child harness „Junior“ has exactly the same features as the big passenger harnesses.

Certified child harness JuniorSAFETY FOR SMALL PASSENGERS

Junior is the first tandem harness for children ever, which is certified ac-cording to LTF and EN.

To go for tandem paragliding with your kids is not a problem anymore with a harness appropriate for chil-dren. Webbing material and layout as well as the sewing are identical to the big passenger harnesses, but the sizes are especially tailored to the needs of children in order to provide comfortable seating and high passive safety.

Developing Junior we paid biggest attention to safety and comfort.

Junior is a harness provided with full foam protector, drop-out safe-guard and special child-proof locks in order to prevent the locks being opened during flight.

Material, straps, fabric, carabiners etc. are identical to our regular har-nesses.

The harness bottom is reinforced with very sturdy Cordura fabric in order to guarantee a long life-span for this harness.

Junior is available in size S and M and costs 280.-€

• Effective foam protector reaching up the back

• Large range of size adjustment

• Low weight: only 1.7kg at size S

• Small packed volume

• Clearly visible drop-out safeguard

• Colour marked main suspensions

• Padded leg straps

• Manufactured in the EU

Junior facts

A perfect team: Our tandem harnessesPILOT & PASSENGER GOT EVEN BETTER

Innovation ProCOMFORTABLE AND LIGHT ALLROUND HARNESS

Innovation Pro is a light all-round harness for ambitious beginners or thermal flying. Its cushioned shoul-der straps together with a notice-able good movement space, pro-vide comfort during flight as well as during take-off and landing.

Many thought-out details make In-novation Pro a first choice harness for distance flights.

The geometry of Innovation Pro and its seat board slide enable paraglid-

ing pilots to simply slip into the har-ness during take-off.

Slipping out during landing is just as easy. Individual adjustment for seat and back assist you in quickly finding your ideal seating position.

Its colour-coordinated drop-out safeguard, leg and chest closures combined with a drop-out safe-guard and a large back protector increase passive safety of this har-ness.

• Excellent seating comfort - appropriate for distance flights

• Very low weight of only 4.1 kg (size M)

• Individual adjustment for seating position and seat inclination

• Fixture for a stirrup

• Integrated rescue parachute container protecting the reserve perfectly from detrimental factors

• Deployment bag with integrated release handle

• Colour-coordinated drop-out safeguard

• Large, easily accessible pocket

• Very light-weight, formfitting honeycomb seat board

• Radio pocket integrated into shoulder strap

• Long foam protector reaching up far the back

• Many accessible storage possibilities

• Magnet holder for speed bar

Innovation Pro facts

Matador Alpin is a cocoon har-ness made for thermal flying, cross-country and competition pi-lots, who appreciate aerodynamic characteristics and extremely low weight of only 3.0kg.

Due to the strap lock system with a variable opening for the speed bag, it is possible to easily get out of

the speed bag, even during flight. The harness geometry of Mata-dor Alpin is especially laid out for cross-country and thermal flying.

Length and angle of its speed bag are individually adjustable. The leg cover is available in 3 sizes. It is pos-sible to integrate a drinking system.

Matador Alpin• Excellent seating comfort

• Serial honeycomb seat board and base plate; optionally available carbon seat board and foot plate save 410g of weight

• Aerodynamic silhouette

• Ultra-light, aerodynamic and windproof leg cover

• Friction-reduced, double-stage accelerator slide

• New get-Up strap lock system with safety T-bar

• Newly developed rescue bridle made of Dyneema; strength 2.800 daN

• Long, 17cm thick foam protector

Matador Alpin facts

AERODYNAMIC, LIGHT, COMFORTABLE

„Matador Alpin“ with removable cockpit, ergonomically placed reserve and many little extras, such as the individually adjustable length of its leg cover.

PASSENGER PRO / AIR

Comfort plays a big role in „Innovation Pro“

The sizes given for harnesses are only references, as the individually suitable size differs according to physique and personal preferences.

Typically independence

Clearly arranged design

High-grade buckles

Well placed pockets

Sophisticated details

independence harnessesindependence harnesses

• Large adjustment range

• Grab handle especially for the launch

• Small packed measure and low weight

• Pocket with integrated fixture for variometers


• Chest strap with drop-out safe-guard


• Very low weight of only 2.3/2.8kg

• Minimised adjustment for simple handling


• Integrated, clearly visible drop-out safeguard

• Large pocket (accessible for pilot)

• Passenger Pro has a replaceable, robust PVC bottom

Passenger facts• Excellent seating comfort - thanks

to combined leg straps and seat board

• One size harness with large ad-justment range

• Very low weight of 3.37kg; small packed measure

• Individual adjustment of seating position

• Deployment bag with release han-dle, which can be mounted either on its left or right side

• Integrated reserve container, which efficiently protects the reserve from harmful external factors

• Colour-coordinated drop-out safeguard

• Reinforced back for ideal seating comfort

• Very light honeycomb seat board (curved design)

• Radio pocket integrated into shoulder strap

• Fixture for a camera pole, which can be attached to the left or right side of the harness

Pilot facts

Size „Innovation Pro” S M L

Body height (cm) 150 - 165 160 - 180 175 - 195

Max. load (kg) 120 120 120

Harness weight (kg) 3.8 4.1 4.3

Suspension height (cm) 46 49 51



91/09 EN1651 & LTF

91/09 EN1651 & LTF

91/09

Price in € 750.- 750.- 750.-

Size „Matador Alpin” M L

Body height (cm) 160 - 180 170 - 195

Max. load (kg) 120 120

Harness weight (kg) 3.4 3.6

Weight with carbon plates (kg) 3.0 3.2

Suspension height (cm) 47 49

Seat board size (w x l) 30 cm x 30 cm 30 cm x 30 cm


LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09

Price in € 940.- 940.-

Harness - size Pilot Passenger Air Passenger Pro Junior - S Junior - M

Body height (cm) 160 - 195 150 - 190 150 - 190 <120 >120

Max. load (kg) 120 120 120 100 100

Harness weight (kg) 3.37 2.3 2.8 1.7 1.8

Suspension height (cm) 48 51 51 36 38

Seat board size (w x l) 41 cm x 22 cm 36 cm x 36 cm 36 cm x 36 cm 26 cm x 26 cm 30 cm x 26 cm


LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09EN1651

LTF 91/09EN1651

LTF 91/09 EN1651

LTF 91/09

Price in € 700.- 470.- 470.- 280.- 280.-

Anupa I. Chardraratne and Johannes Tschofen

Page 22 Page 23

These products and many more accessories are obtainable in our online stores. Did you know?? Login details and gift vouchers are valid for both stores - SKYMAN and independence!

Maybe I do belong to an endangered species. I’m not sure. What is the point of being a maniac below all these lines and a canopy …

I can feel every single pleat and every line, which sags at certain manoeuvres. I can close my eyes, fly blindly and will know exactly, which lines are well-taut and which are too long. After thousands of test-flights that tech-nique came to perfection. Nobody ever taught me to do in-flight tests this way - it just happened one day, that I started to realise, that I can feel the glider much better that way.

Every time when Anupa, our designer, makes a prototype for me and sends it to Fulpmes, I deliberately don’t want to know anything about its trim and other details. Sometimes I can tell him after only a single flight ‚I can’t explain to you why, but these lines on level B and C, are about 5mm too long.‘

Anupa then says to his employees down there at Sri Lanka ‚Markus can feel 5mm, which are too long, without knowing the trim. So don’t make any mistakes, otherwise they will bawl us out!‘. Anupa keeps on asking me, how I can feel such little details. Well, as I said before, just close your eyes and fly…

For some years now I haven’t been working alone anymore when test-ing paragliders. One day Johannes Tschofen joined our team, which really makes me happy today, because there are days, when the old boy’s bones start aching.

What makes me so happy about work-ing with Johannes, is the fact that he is that ,Thousandth Man‘ man to me and one of my best friends. His un-constrained manner combined with a strong will and his motivation to learn and always do his best. He always strives to learn more and to build bet-ter and safer paragliders together with me. Everything, which I once used to do all by myself - today I couldn’t realise it anymore without that team and espe-cially I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the results as much, as I can, when be-ing part of a team like that.

I got to know Joe, when he was dis-covered by my associate partner, who called me and said ‚there’s a guy from Vorarlberg coming to see you and you will teach him everything you know! He is going to assist you as a test pilot.‘A friendly, young maniac came to see me at my store ‚Easy cheesy, I’m Joe! I’m supposed to test gliders with ya!‘

The old grumbler, who I am from time to time, only growled ‚Mmmh, let’s see. I will prepare all prototypes and stuff and then we go up the Kreuzjoch.‘ In the cable car I told Johannes ‚Today we’ll test full stalls. The prototype we have, overflies the pilot too much and is too aggressive. We’ve got to work on that today.‘ Johannes only said ‚Yoohooo, easy cheesy!‘ I thought by myself ‚Ouaaahh, damn, that‘s gonna be ,fun’… !‘ and showed him, by flying with the first prototype, how I usually work and told him, to wait until I landed and then come after me, so that I could see, how he flies. No sooner said than done. When I had landed, Johannes

launched, positioned himself mid of the valley and started doing full stalls. He was shaken about, not even sitting stable, so that his long legs often were raised higher than his hands. I bristled with anger and couldn’t believe what I saw - the perfectionist, who I was by that time, without a sense of other peo-ple and only having ultimate perfection in my mind. When Johannes landed, he came to me and said ‚Hey, that was pretty cool!‘ Oh, poor boy… I started shouting ‚Hey listen, we’re not doing a security train-ing here. We do all possible challeng-ing manoeuvres, no matter if it’s windy out there or if there’s a storm. We see that trough right to the end! You don’t even sit straight in your harness. You

are going to drive home right now, because I have no time for games like that!‘ Johannes just let me shout, the only thing he could do at that moment, friendly said ‚Bye‘ and sat in his car. For me the whole thing was ticked off and I continued my work.

A short while after, I didn’t trust my eyes, when the door of my store opened and Joe came in again. The telephone rang and I was bawled out. Totally overstrained by that situa-tion, I wanted to do nothing else, but simply do my job, being left alone.

What happened within the following years, was the most impressive thing I have ever learned and seen in my

whole career. Joe didn’t give up. He had to drive home another 2 or 3 times, but always returned.

It was awesome. I have seen that this young, motivated guy was a real top pi-lot to-be, who gave up at no point ever. He is the only one, who ever achieved something like that! Nowadays, 10 years later, Joe is the one who flies with prototypes even before me. I can ask him about the accelerated collapse - whether I could try it without killing my-self. And if Johannes says ‚ yes, sure you can‘, I can absolutely confide in him.This story shows, how a strong will and friendship can move even mountains.

Today I’m a happy paraglider designer, knowing I have not only brought many good paragliders to certification, but helped people on their way, who also changed me. And I’m sure there aren’t many pilots, who have such a follower.I witness how he is getting better and better - being happy and proud of par-ticipating in such a personal progress.

A short while ago we went flying to-gether with our designer Anupa. And we taught him two things. First: something like a launch failure doesn’t exist. And second: If one oc-curs at work in Sri Lanka, he shall sim-ply say ‚Z’sammreissn Mandl!‘ (Which means ‘Pull yourself together, man!‘) He can really say that in Austrian dia-lect!

‚Easy cheesy, Mandl‘SKYMAN Markus Gründhammer

Madmen Designers and test pilots among themselves

People & Manufacture

Manufacture: Inventive lines made by rope specialist Edelrid

As inventor of the core-sheath rope, EDELRID revolutionized mountain-eering back in the 50s and set the core-sheath technique a standard of modern climbing ropes. Now-adays the manufacturer from Isny (Bavaria) puts their huge experi-ence, gained in the area of moun-taineering, into paragliding lines too.

Because they work with lots of com-mitment and innovative strength and always strike new paths in or-der to create new high-grade prod-ucts, the lines of independence and SKYMAN paragliders as well as re-serves, are made by Edelrid.

Highly efficient lines for paraglid-ers and for rescue parachutes: unsheathed lines receive various coatings and impregnations, in or-der to protect them from water, UV radiation and other harmful factors.

Lines manufactured according to the core-sheath technique are light, sturdy and provide high safe-ty margins. The principle on which this two-part construction is based, consists of a kernel and a coating plait around that kernel. The carry-ing element is the internal line core.

THE INNER VALUES COUNTFor the manufacture of paraglider lines only high-tensile yarns with a low expansion merit are used.

They are made of Polyester, Dynee-ma or Aramid and are used for the kernel as well as for the sheaths. Contrary to lines for reserves and other parachutes, which require a high expansion merit, in order to compensate the forces of a deploy-ment.

In contrast to an elastic climbing rope, glider lines need a high level of longitudinal stability. Because there is one, which thing they may not do at any case: to change flight characteristics. The high-tensile yarns thus form the heart of every line, as that braiding retains effi-ciency. Every kernel has a produc-tion length of a several thousand metres.

WELL PREPAREDUsually the individual ultra-thin yarns need to pass through sev-eral pre-processes before the ac-tual braiding starts. The yarns get twined and plied, just until they have the required strength and can be braided by the plaiting machine.

Such pre-processes as well as the braid angle are essential attributes for strain, rigidity, reliability and lifespan.

WELL PROTECTEDThe colour-fast line sheath made of durable Polyester is made for an ideal protection against external factors. Thereafter, in a further step, the actual line is made out of sepa-rately produced kernel and sheath.

With various plaiting machines, according to line type and strength, several kernels are en-sheathed with several coating yarns.

Bobbins and yarn spools dance around the ker-nel at high speed. After some thousand metres of yarns, spools are emp-ty and the actual line is completed. The coating supports a loosely braid-ed kernel and grants reli-ability as well as durabili-ty of the line.

SUSTAINED AND CERTIFIEDComposition, several refinements as well as process coordination and stretch forming of lines are trade secrets of Edelrid.

Each recipe and adjustment give a specific attribute to lines - extend-ing their lifespan, facilitating their handling or preventing the absorp-tion of water.

For ideal process accuracy and constant process stability, all manu-facture processes at Edelrid corre-spond to DIN EN ISO 9001 stand-ards.

Market

Hydrotubesuitable various drinking systems

16,50€

Leg pod „de Luxe“ for all varios

49.-€

Skytraxx 2.0 with antenna

Skytraxx now is able to radioWe’re expecting exciting new stuff from Skytraxx. Both Skytraxx vari-ometers can now be linked via radio in order for pilots to see name and altitude of pilots in the surrounding area of about 30km on their display.

Furthermore a wind station is being developed, to which all varios with-in the reception area can transmit data. The station then posts these data on the internet. Thereby live tracking at no additional cost is made possible.

On the other way around, the varios receive wind speed and other data provided by that wind station.

Skytraxx 2.0 and 3.0 are easy to retrofit.

2 new bandanas: SKYMAN and independence

Our independence and SKYMAN bandanas just arrived, bearing new imagery. These tube scarves can be worn under the helmet or just

like that, as an elegant neck scarf. A must-have for pilots.

Price 9.95€

Lots of light accessory by SKYMAN

Gloves Price: 39.-€

XC rucksack COCO, 580g Price: 119.-€

Tube Bag Price: 79.-€

SKYMAN rucksack 2 sizes available

Price: 125.-€

NEW: Daybag 79.-€Sir Edmund is delivered in this his elegant, capacious rucksack. Of course it is obtainable as individual item too.

Skytraxx 3.0 with antenna

NEW BANDANAS

2 in 1 - QPS & rucksack Price: 99.-€

Safety Knife

A cutting knife, just like the tree-landing safety-rope, is sup-posed to be part of every basic equipment. In emergency situ-ations it may become essential to sever webbing or lines to free yourself. This small ready-to-hand rescue tool can cut straps of up to 7mm. The sickle-shaped knife has a handy size and is deliv-ered in a little pocket, that can be attached to one of the straps, where it is easy to reach. Whenever you need it, simply pull the red loop. Price: 16.90 EUR

G-force Brake is a brake parachute attached to the harness. It was developed to reduce physical stress when flying spirals. During spiralling huge G-forces impact the body, so that it isn’t possible to fly such a manoeuvre for a long time. Dizzi-ness, nausea and even blackouts can occur. With G-force Brake that risk can effi-ciently be reduced. G-force Brake is particularly suited for high performance glid-ers with efficient aerodynamic characteristics and for tandem purposes as well.

Price: 129.-€

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Market

Acro brake handle with swivel

28.-€

Tree-landing safety rope including carabiner

29.90€

Rucksack Mountain Very comfortable to carry

125.-€

Magnetic plate incl. tripod for all action cams

46.90€

Professional camera pole very robust, for all action cams

39.-€

Chase parachute for action cams

79.-€

T-bar incl. Y-bridle tandem suspension

optionally with carabiners 120.-€

Shoulder strap tightener with signalling whistle

9.90 €

Tandem suspension T-bar soft

65.-€

Towing device SK1/SK2 Linkage without / with integrated

towing support starting at 51.-€

Rope parachute for towing purposes

various colours available 108.-€

Protect Bag vented „cell-to-cell“ packing bag

89.-€

Front container Multi for all reserve systems

including Y-bridle 69.-€

Various Maillon Rapide Oval/angular connecting elements

starting at 13.-€

Carabiners Various brands and types

starting at 23.-€

Accessory by independenceAll you need for paragliding

Brake parachute G-Force Brake

FlyAir - SKYMAN · FlyAir INFORMATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF INDEPENDENCE AND SKYMAN INTERVIEW NEW PRODUCTS...

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