Pilot's Comments

This section contains a series of letters we received from paragliding pilots using our products. If you wish to let us know what you think about one of our products please E-mail us »

Force

I kept my previous wing which is only a year old while I was getting to know the Force, but have now decided there is no going back to the older wing and am fully committing to the Force now and selling off my 12 month old wing.

Keith Pickersgill
South Africa




One of the demo Force wings was used at a demo weekend with UKPPG and pilots were impressed how well it flew and how much faster it flew compared to the Dudek Plasma - the positive feedback continues

I have flown most of the main wings available I would choose the Apco Force for paramotoring even if I was not the Apco UK representative.

Paul Haxby
U.K.




I received the new APCO Force gliders on Monday and was able to test fly the Medium yesterday. My long time girlfriend Dawn test flew the Small size. Both of us were really happy with the performance of the gliders. We took off in light wind conditions and the launch didn't take much effort. In the air the glider felt nice and the wing tip steering requires very little pressure and is very effective. The speed at full trim out was excellent and what performance it did have was beyond expectations.

Thank you for your excellent work, you have come up with a very nice glider.

Francesco De Santis
USA




Let me start by describing the FORCE as quite a formidable wing in flight.
FAST
Snappy (on tip brakes)
SOLID
Stable
VF FAST!

Pull up - easy, quick and direct
It does not nose tuck or collapse - it just flies past you and sits there waiting for line tension …J

Once airborne - what a pleasure!

In all, very impressive and a machine to be understood.
A flight that would ordinarily taken me closer to 1 hour on my FreeX Moon + Xplorer4 around the same points and climbs I did on Sunday with the Force/PAP combo only taking 25 minutes!

Ant Allen

APCO Force (S)
South Africa




we try the Force S, very interesting, very easy to inflate, need to run to take off but without excess speed.
little hard hangling but efficient, very stable and efficient in speed with trims off and good maniability with the tip steerings.
high speed in landing but with possibility to stop it with a flair and large breaking so, i think you do a very good glider regarding the reflex activitie

Jose Ortega France

From: Tomas Peterson

"its simply the best wing ever flown and available to pilots. We will take the market with it by storm"

From: Aloyzas
To: Apco Office
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 8:45 PM
Subject: Re:New Order

Monday I flew Force in high winds 6-9 m/s…...

When all trims are open and speed is engaged turbulence disappearing and you feel like riding a gravel road.

Yesterday I flew in still conditions.- Launch unbelievably easy not like with other reflex wings, launch is effortless like all APCO wings. In flight, speed when trimmers closed around 40-42 km/h, trims open no speedbar in 54-57km/h, trims on speed on 68-72 km/h. Amazing thing is when trims open and speed on flying almost full throttle - no torque effect to the right doesn't require to make a trim corrections for torque - Amazing!!!. Small toggles is very easy to steer and effective to make a turns toggle handles …..

Motor off and soaring, looks like is true that sink is 1,2 m/s. Best motoring wing I ever tried ! More impressions after more people will try it.

Aloyzas Liaukus

And then a few days later...

From: Aloyzas
To: Apco Office
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 4:28 PM
Subject: Re:Re:New Order

Dear Anatoly

One more thing to add to good Force behavior.

We, Otto-Paramotors produce paramotor units with left (JPX) and right (Sky100) propeller rotation. Flying both prop rotation units, with trimmers open and speed bar engaged, Force wing doesn't require torque compensation at all, by trimming trimmers or compensating prop torque influence by steering toggles in flight. In this combination Flight is straight hands can be left free even while motor is running on 80-90% rpm, steering possible by weight shifting- fly and relax!

Weather conditions were Still, best weather to make experiments on torque.

Aloyzas Liaukus

From: Ott Maaten
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Date: Wed, May 5, 2010 at 1:33 PM
Subject: Force

Hi,

Have flown Force in Estonian PPG Championship. Got 5th place… Went to compete without any training and failed one task (from 6) We compared it directly against Reaction. The speed difference is clear and even huge. So it must be also quicker as Nucleon because between Reaction and Nucleon the difference is very small (62 vs 60 km/h)

Didn't feel any risk of collapse …..

I asked our champion, Paap Kõlar, to testfly Force. Briefly his comments:
General - very, very nice and safe wing. Much better for freeflying as his own wing Dudek Plasma.
Excellent start - best wing he has ever tried. Nothing to do - all happens itself.
Measured speed with GPS full accelerated - firmly 66 km/h. So the 67+ announced is very relevant.
Good handling ….

Verdict:
Very good wing and as launching is so easy it can be used even by debutants.

all the best,

Ott Maaten

kenneth brunnemer

Libra

From: Bob Hanah
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 7:18 AM
Subject: Next Libra

Dear Anatoly and Sally,

Mark Heckler likes his Libra very much.He commented on its easy launch behavior, very nice brake pressure, and the way it centers itself in thermals.

I was able to sell my personal wing, and it is time for me to get a Libra.

Please place an order for a 21300 in #2 yellow.

Best regards,

Bob

From: Swissapco.ch - M. Arlettaz
To: Apco Office
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 5:09 PM
Subject: Re:

Could you please tell Anatoly and Adam that I fall in love with the Libra ! Really very nice wing !

Thank you very much !

All the best !

Mathieu

Swissapco

Vista HP

From: Ott Maaten
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 3:00 PM
Subject: Re: New Order Thrust HP Estonia

Dear Anatoly, Adam and APCO team,

We have flown with my collegues yesterday with Vista HP and will continue today.
Yesterday we didnt fly accelerated , today I'll do.
You did ask me not to write long letters but I do have write something.
Yesterday we have flown/interchanged with 3 wings :
Dudek Reaction, APCO Thrust HP, Vista HP
Measures done with Digifly Leonardo (especially looking ground speed and sink rate at the same conditions)
First impressions:
Launch - very good, easy.....Enormously more simple than Reaction launch.
Run and Takeoff - very good, raises the pilot at very slow speed,
Trim speed ie. slow speed - slower than Reaction/Action and Thrust HP, but i liked it a lot - explanation below at the end Trims open - equal to Reaction / Thrust HP , very good speed difference trimmed/untrimmed Steering - requires power but more precise than Thrust HP, wing acts as a "entire block" without "accordeon moving". Quite similar to Reaction. Glide ratio - better than Reaction, noticeably better than Thrust HP.
Combine this glide with low speed possibility - you get a very good combined wing for motor and free flight. Much, much better than Thrust for exemple

best regards,

Ott Maaten

From: Fredrik
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 1:14 AM
Subject:Testflight of proto Vista HP

Hello.

After one week with heavy rain and windy conditions it finally was a nice evening today and I made a few flights with the proto.
The launch felt good and take off as well to my opinion it felt very much alive, very nice for the pilots who are much into flying experience.....
My personal opinion is that it feels great,.....
I flew with a rocket engine (quite moderate power static thrust 45kg).

Best Regards,

Fredrik

From: Ott Maaten
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 4:58 PM
Subject:Re: New Order Thrust HP Estonia

Hello Anatoly and APCO,

Total 3 my fellow pilots (not beginners) who usually fly with Dudek (Re)Action, have flown Vista HP and all have finished flights with thumbs up.

All liked:
-very easy launching -precise turning
-general stiffness, homogeneity of the wing (not accordeon movings like Thrust)
-good speed trims open

I made couple of flights
- accelerated
- in weak/medium thermals
I liked in addition of above mentioned:
- good flat turning (not surging forward like usual motor wings)
- good difference of speed trims closed/opened
- when accelerated not requiring so much power as Thrust HP, Action

best regards,

Ott Maaten

Fun 42

From: Cristi Tutunea
To: Apco Office
Sent: Sunday, October 09, 2011 2:13 PM
Subject: impressions of Fun42 MKII

I had time to fly my new glider and I want to tell you it's impressive.

It's the best tandem glider I've flown so far. I didn't get the chance to fly many thermals, but I managed to have an overview. Steering works almost as I am flying a single paraglider. The wing takes off very fast and I managed to make it even when the passenger forgot to run properly. It happened that I made 2 flights crossing a rotor and the glider was very stable. I am very happy that I bought this glider and I'm sure it was the best choice.

Best regards,
Cristi Tutunea

From: "PPI"
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 3:57 AM
Subject: Fun 42

Dear Anatoly What a superb flying machine!
I flew it today for the first time and I think we will have a new one ordered by this week.
It is beautiful, the Tangerine, inflates wonderfully and has the lightest brake I have ever found in any tandem.

I would like to add that, although our take-off distance is quite short here at Pepino, the glider inflates so easely that its impressive long line length does not make any diference in comparison with other tandems.
As a matter of fact, it does better than most of the others.

I shoul be ordering another Vista M today. I will meet the custommer in an hour to see what is his color preference.
Congratulations.
It's a winner.

Paulo J. Pinto
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

From: Lafourcade Philippe
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 8:14 PM
Subject:Re: Paragliding tandem project

I have begun my paragliding summer season in Alpe d'Huez.
Let me tell you only one thing, I don't like Fun 42 ! I just love "Him".

It is really a pleasure to inflate Fun 42 in all conditions even the worse.
As you have won with the weight of the canopy (cloth, lines etc) we can feel a big difference with all the tandems of the market.
It is coming above the head without problem and smoothly. I like that.

Several times, I took off with wind on the side with an excellent control of the side effect wind. Even I took off with strong wind inflated the wing in front of me and crossing the slope more we can imagine !!! and with smooth effect of the paraglider. my passenger was ligth (45kg). Good speed in the air even with light passenger.
When we land down, the ground is arriving slowly and easiest to manage than the Play for 2 (Octa).
I know many pilotes did'nt like the landing down of it (for me it was not a problem) now I think they will feel a big difference.

So, I find Fun 42 precise, accurate. The turns are engaged if we need. We feel immediately the thermals the less important.
I can tell you that, my first flight in St Hilaire with poor conditions, I was about 100, 150 meter above all the other solo and tandem only 3 minutes later after my take off.

The gliding of Fun 42 is perfect, often I took off the first before my colleague and I am landing down later after him. It was the opposite before with my Octa. I am enjoying that, exactly the same when you are first in a championship !

Congratulations for you and all your team, you have built a very good tandem.
I"ll advice for everybody FUN 42!

See you in a few days.
Yours. Philippe

VISTA

From: kenneth brunnemer
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Date: Friday, April 02, 2010 11:35 PM
Subject: [APCO Website] Comment

hello anatoly,

This is kenneth brunnemer your colorado dealer, just to let you know I had my biggest cross country flight of my career..

I had flown 32 miles on my large vista, but the amazing thing is that i have gained more weight, i now weigh 262 pounds witch is extreamly over weight for my glider, but that did not effect the performance of the wing, in fact it made it very stable in the roughest thermals i have ever been in..it is the best paraglider i have ever flown and owned, i will be getting more sales pretty soon as the season is upon us now..

thank you,

kenneth brunnemer

From: simoncrowther
To: info@paraglidingrainbow.com
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:35:37
Subject: Vista

Hi Jean Luc,

Look at this attached picture of my GPS track:

you'll see the Vista is going well. Lovely machine!

Now that I'm getting used to it, I think it's the best glider I've ever flown, handles well and real fun.

How's life at Rainbow?

Cheers, Simon.

From: Japan La Mouette
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 12:16 PM

"I flew several times with VISTA.I think it is very easy wing all the time. It will give smile to the pilots."

Best regards.
Yoshiaki Nakagawa / Japan La Mouette

From: Darius Lukosevicius
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Date: Apr 19, 2007 8:04 AM
Subject: New Kansas state record on Vista

"Sunday finally we had winds calm down and I had a chance to try Vista.
Glider take off is very good to excellent.
I don't understand why in DHV test it's described as delayed,
it's fast, really fast, but amazingly glider stabilizes above pilot.
Winch towing is just straight forward there is not much to say.
Handling is very simple, I felt very safe even in low saving in turbulent condition at 100m AGL.
It's not collapsing at very wide angle of attack (if you miss to compensate).
So the weather appeared very good and I made almost 120km XC,
and increased Kansas state record,
(click here to see results).
Usually I fly DHV-2 or DHV-2/3 gliders but the Vista did not interfere for the new record :)
Very good glider, if I would fly DHV-1/2 gliders I would definitely get one for myself.
Flight is here: (click here to see flight) (you need to download *.igc file to see barogram)."

Sincerely,
Darius Lukosevicius

From: Jean Luc LeJaille
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2007 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: add to order

"Congratulations on the brake magnets, they are the best by far. The Vista is a winner as it cannot be faulted by anyone. The lift is excellent even heavy loaded, I can confirm. The new line of products have stepped up, new colors are good,  we will be on top of the rest again."

Jean-Luc
Apco Australia

From: Melján János
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 2:06 AM
Subject: VIST

"I'm sure, that the Vista is a best Apco dhv1-2 wing, what I ever tested."

Best regards,
Melján János

From: Vincent
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 7:37 PM
Subject: Flying with the Vista

"More than two hours of flight today and good wethear conditions. The wing is nearly perfect, I keep it ! Good job..."

"Il y a de nombreuses années que je n’ai pas volé sous une Apco, depuis mon X’Tra le petit vélo tonique de la gamme à l’époque. Et vous le savez, les amours du passé peuvent être enfouies mais ne sont jamais oubliées et même quand c’est fini, «amour» ne rime qu’avec « toujours » !"

Best regards,
Vincent.

From: Stefan Stautner
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 8:45 PM
Subject: DHV-Gütesiegel sticker

"Today I had some flights with the VISTA. Very nice wing smooth handling good to start and i had flights with the ChairBag Harness. Nice seat, good feeling."

Regards and a nice week,

Stefan

From: Meyer Franz
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:24 PM
Subject: Re: HALLO ANATOLY

"I have flown yesterday the Vista M for 3 flights, the last more than 1 h in different thermal conditions. CONGRATULATION !!! this is the best APCO glider I have flown ! He is light in weight, handling and very save and homogen in his flight and landing performances. About the glide and sink-performance, I had a good feeling, but I had no direct relation to other gliders. I'm looking foreward to a good Vista- season!

Best regards,

Franz Meyer, Switzerland

 

From: Adventure Airsports
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 8:02 AM
Subject: RE: Order

"I took the Vista out on the paramotor yesterday and it handles surprisingly well with a motor."

Kind Regards

Rob and Kate Lithgow

From: Ken Brunnemer
To: apco@apcoaviation.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6:43 PM
Subject: RE: Dealer letter - Tandem Spreader Bar - March 2009

Just wanted to let you now, that I realy love the vista!

It is the best glider i have ever owned, very stable with lots of performance.

thank you




From: Andrey Chervinsky
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: 16 October, 2007 9:41 AM
Subject: my new APCO VISTA

Dear Anatoly,

Please be aware that in September, 29th, we had all-comers competition in one of the paraglider clubs.

Though the competition program could not be called as a very rich one, but I managed to have the lead surely due to my new APCO VISTA wing.

Its speed and perfect controllability undoubtedly helped me to win.

Thank you once again.

Andrey Chervinskiy
Minsk, Belarus

KARMA

From: Stew paramotoring
Date: July 06, 2006

Just a quick thanks for a fun glider,the first flight in the Karma Large was with motor for two hours even with the Large motor I could thermal easily and under power had strong stable climbs that others could not match. My first flight in the Karma Med I flew a quick 12KM out and back late in the day the glide was very impressive and some of the DHV 2 S were having trouble making the flight. A great glider I am looking forward to going over the water with it I will let you know.

Thanks Stew.



From: Jaap Eringa - Paragliding Holland
Date: June 15, 2006

At last I flied the Karma and I like the glider very much. The condition were very rough my friens told me later but I didn't notice that at all. What did happen was that I soon was the highest pilot because thermaling with this glider is very easy. The steering is very light and I could centrate very small thermals. Even the glide with full speed system is extremely good for an DHV 1 glider. Then I did what the testpilots already did, but I like to do it myself too: letting collapse for more then the half canopy: the glider went still straight!

Summary: The Karma is the safest glider I ever met. I feel good if beginners fly it, they can nothing do wrong with it and the performance is for such a simple glider unexpected good. My students learn vert quick from the beginning because setting up can evey child do with a Karma. Also I am confinced that licenced pilots still will like it!

Congratulations with this new glider!

All the best of Jaap Eringa



From: Nordic Ventures
Date: 5 June 2006

I did a few front launches in order to check and adjust brake settings on the gliders and we towed up one of the Medium Karma's with an instructor to make sure the glider behaved nice on tow. All good so far.

By 7:30 am we started towing the students aloft with the new gear. Every single launch was flawless and over the next 3 days we did 50 tows with the students without one single aborted takeoff - this glider is amazing and seems to be behaving picture perfect on tow.

We use our own tow bridles that includes the tow assist system but I am sure that these gliders will tow as well without it as the launch charactericstics are perfect.

As the course progressed I was just waiting for someone to blow a launch but it did not happen. On the last day of the course we had all the student pull big ears, then assymetrical tucks and fronttucks. No problems here as expected. On their final flight we had everyone doing manouvers and then finishing off with a reserve deployment over the water in a controlled environment. All reserves deployed perfect (factory packed and assembled) so greetings to Larissa and thanks for doing a good job.

Blue Skies,

Jan Nielsen
Nordic Ventures AS



From: Jose Casaudoumecq - Aerolight
Date: 13 June 2006

We tested the Karma with paramotor last Saturday (shipment arrived Friday) and we liked it very much. It is exactly what is needed for a beginner PPG pilot ... easy inflation in no wind or light wind conditions, nice handling, good retention of speed / energy when coming to land and good flaring characteristics. It is a very nice wing. It is competitive versus other beginner PPG wings in the market , we think it is going to be a best seller.

Thank you.

Jose Casaudoumecq

LAMBADA

Via: Northern Paragliding
Date: 30 March 2006

By the way, the Lambada is fantastic! Probably the most satisfying wing I've ever flown! It quite simply outperformed everything on our recent trip to India. I had two very nice cross country flights on it in the first two days. It's fast and has an awesome glide! Thanks again to you guys for the recommendation!

Gotta go for now mate
Talk soon
Blue skies
Chris



From: Brett Hardin

I have flown lots of wings, and I have put 25 hours on a borrowed Lambada - I can't understand why more people are not aware of the Lambada's superiority in the DHV2 class - it must be a marketing issue because the wing is obviously the best in its class.
I will order soon
thanks

Brett Hardin



From: Stephen Sherar - Skytek Paragliding (Australia)
Date: 12 February 2006

The Lambada, we have found to be very nice to fly, we have put them through the paces in flight, they are nicely responsive but well behaved, the speed at trim and accelerated is very good, many other pilots will land due to strong wind but we are able to keep flying quite safley, they are very easy to ground handle and land very easily as well, the wing gives a nice amount of feed back when thermaling, it is easy to find the core and maintain a consistent bank to stay in the core with out having the wing surging or the tips flapping - a predictable wing that can be activley flown yet gives no nasty surprises.

We are happy and look forward to a long and mutually properous relationship.
Stephen Sherar
Skytek Paragliding (Australia)



From: Sgaria Andrea
Date: 26 October 2005

During my first test flight with the Lambada M, I have realized a FAI triangle of 90 km. After the purchase I have realized beautiful flights in Italy and Switzerland, exceeding more times the 100 km, also in many strong conditions.

I am extremely satisfied of my wing and I wanted to only communicate to you that for me you have made an optimal job.

Best compliments from a your become attached customer.

Bye bye!

Andrea



From: Neil Cruickshank - Northern Paragliding
Date: 25 July 2005

We got out and flew the Lambada on Friday. As luck would have it we had a mini test fest and had the Lambada, Airwave Mustang, Nova Mamboo, Ozone Rush, Salsa and Pro-Design Jazz all on the hill at the same time.

Both my and Martin's opinion is that of the Mustang and Lambada, the Lambada is the nicest to fly with much rounder handling and better sink rate.

I have the Lambada in my bag now, so looking forward to giving a good try flying XC, but so far very impressed.

Best regards

Neil



From: Yoshiaki Nakagawa - Japan La Mouette

Regarding LAMBADA. Yes, I tried to fly as much as possible with LAMBADA since it was arrived. I think your project got goal. LAMBADA must has easy handing with good performance. 2 days ago, I could fly 82 km with LAMBADA M. It was longest distance for me in this year. Sometimes the condition was turbulently, but I could control without trouble

Best regards.
Yoshiaki Nakagawa / Japan La Mouette



From: Tehnofan
Date: 4 May 2005

The very first impresion of Lambada, but not 100% exact, because of unadequate weight (I have 68kg and use 15kg balast, on what I'm not very used):

Take off:
Like Bagheera - easy, no dead point position, at strong wind pilot is catapulted in the air

Handling:
Hard brakes but precise
Wingovers, spiral etc. clasic for Apco
Side colapses rare, practicly no correction needed

Performance and behaviour:
Stable also in bad conditions. For Keara pilots easy wing, because need no correct. by flying. Good termaling capacity, but this is hard to judge so far. Trim speed and LD the same as new Gradient Avax. Speed gives additional 8-10km/h and glider steel feel stable.

First impresion is very positive and forecast for sale is much more optimistic than with Keara.

Best Regards, Stefan

SALSA

From: Jaap Eringa - Paragliding Holland
Date: June 19, 2006

I have some remarks about the Salsa
18 juni 2006 I let an rather experienced student fly on a Salsa M. The performance of a Salsa is quite good, that's why I am always reluctant to give such a glider to a student in rough conditions. Only 10 meters of the ground the student got a collapse: half the canopy was gone. To my surprice the Salsa didn't turn at all and opened in a second by itself. The student could still make a normal landing. What a safe glider!

bye Jaap Eringa



Jose and Anatoly,

The new Salsa is great! It launches easily, feels light, gives great feedback in the air, turns very smoothly, and has a nice glide and sink rate. It does everything well!

Thanks.

Rick Higgins



From: Stephen Sherar - Skytek Paragliding (Australia)
Date: 12 February 2006

The pilot of the salsa M is also happy with the wing and the Finesse top harness, he has around 50 hrs experience so chose the salsa but has also flown one of the lambada's and finds both wings very nice in handling but enjoys the extra speed and responsiveness of the lambada; the salsa has been shown to have a very good sink rate and is usually top of the stack.

We are happy and look forward to a long and mutually properous relationship.
Stephen Sherar
Skytek Paragliding (Australia)



From: Neil Cruickshank - Northern Paragliding
Date: 25 July 2005

Of the 1-2's, the Salsa doesnt disgrace itself at all. Ive flown it alot this year and like it more and more. I did think the brake pressure was high, but having flown the Mamboo and Jazz, I now realise that this is the case with them too. Only the Rush has lighter brakes. In level flight I think the Salsa has the edge, superb glide and good speed. Looking forward to trying the new brake kit.

Best regards

Neil



From: Neil Cruickshank - Northern Paragliding
Date: 9 March 2005

I managed a couple of days flying on the Salsa S and am very, very impressed. Great glide, with and without speed bar, nice positive brake pressure like the Presta but much better turn response. Altogether a nice package. Well done.

Many thanks, best regards

Neil

THRUST

From: Venelin Staykov
Date: 13 June 2006


Hi,

Writing to you a Bulgarian pilot, Venelin Staykov

Want to say to Anatoly Cohn and his team at APCO a big THANK YOU for such a beautiful paraglider Thrust - created by you.
I have been flying since 1998 and until now mainly flew Nova wings
But .... last year I was lucky enough to fly in New Zealand for 20 days side by side with your dealer Jimmy. I am an experienced pilot, made several 400+km XC flights and went over 5,000m. altitude .

Flying my today's wing Nova Aeron beside Thrust gave me an excellent opportunity to compare and see the Thrust's advantage. Following this impression, we have in Bulgaria several Thrusts flying and all pilots are extremely happy with the wing Last Saturday, I flew triangular 50km. in less than an hour - the wing performed spotlessly!!! No problems whatsoever!!! Once again thanks again!!!

Venelin

From: Paul Haxby - AXB Sports Ltd
Date: 20 June, 2006

Please see attached for some recent flying with my two daughters (5 years old Rebecca and 2 years old Amelia) who flew with me on the Apco Thrust. Great for take offs even when you have a child strapped to the front of you.

I also used the Apco Thrust to do a paramotor flight over Snowdonia in North Wales and I am producing a promotional video for AXB Sports that will be available at the end of the year. The Thrust allowed me to do some steady camera photos and video work over the highest mountain in Wales.

Regards

Paul Haxby
AXB Sports Ltd

THRUST HP

From: Aerosupply Scandinavia AB
To: Apco Office
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 5:39 PM
Subject: General / Paramotor Harness

Dear Anatoly, Hopefully things are well at your factory...

First, I would just like mention a thing about the Thrust HP we received from you earlier, that was intended to be used as a demo glider here...

I was really pleasantly surprised by the easy inflation/handling of that wing, and it's a pure joy to fly... I have flown several brands of gliders earlier, including Gin, Swing/Powerplay, Skywalk, Ozone, etc, but this one sure beats them all, and I will probably end up keeping it myself !

Best regards
Aerosupply Scandinavia AB
Aviall Associate
Distributor Anders Persson
Managing Director

 

TWISTER

From: wade maxwell
Sent: Apco Aviation LTD
Subject: Twister

Dear Apco, Just writing to say thanks again for a great wing (Twister).

I just participated in "Wings over Bear Lake" it is a small time aerobatics comp, but the only one we have in the USA this year. I came in first place. Thanks, Wade.

ChairBag

From: Nick Crane, Paracrane USA

I am excited to have my first shipment!
The chairbag harness is awesome, I really like the design and I think it's the best on the market I've seen.

EDGE

From: Steven Acord

I am a new Pilot and all though I do not have many flights right now under my belt I wanted to let you know how awesome your Edge Harness is, well I don't have to tell you how awesome it is but my experience with it was awesome. I felt so comfortable and when leaning into my turns I would wrap around me as if I were part of the harness.

I look forward to finishing my instruction and earn my rating and taking my first cross country flight in what has to be the most comfortable harness out there.

You can count on me as a return customer and promoter of APCO products. Thanks again!

Steven Acord

POROSITY

From: Concept Air

Hello Anatholy just for to say hello, here! i'm paraglider-repair guy and kite-designer , often i testing your product with the JDC porosimeter your product is amazing, yesterday i was testing a Prima 1999, and the clothing stay stable around 560 and the contruction is very good too, i was going outside for a inflate test and like a brand new....Bravo... Ben




I have purchased JDC Porosimeter MK1.

So far I have not used it very much, but yesterday I measured my old Sabra manufactured in 1994 or something like that. It has been flown maybe about 100-150 hours, most of the time it has been as school-glider.

I was quite surprised about readings which were between 495-703 with average of 620 seconds for siliconized fabric. On the same glider there is some panels made of non-siliconized fabric, readings in that area was 65-70. Difference between different cloth seems to be enormous. Surely some of difference comes from the MK1 since siliconized fabric is smoother and there is probably less leaking between fabric and unit, but that does explain only small amount of difference.

So far I have thought that there sure must be some small difference between siliconized and non-siliconized fabric, but I have thought that using siliconized fabric is mostly marketing trick.

Now I really have to change my mind. Your siliconized fabric is not just marketing trick, it really is much much better than average cloth.

I don't know how actively you use your porosimeter, but I will ask anyway. What is your opinion about readings, when has "danger-level" reached? Porosity surely is only one of reasons to "get glider out of use", but I would like to hear your opinion about that.

Petri Rantala
Paratronic Oy
FINLAND

COMPATIBILITY FOR PARAMOTORS

Dear Anatoly

You may remember that I emailed you to say how very pleased I was with my APCO Bagheera. I thought that you would like to know that I have also bought an Allegra for paramotoring. I have only had two powered flights on it so far but I am amazed by it!

I have been paramotoring now for four years and have flown several different wing/motor combinations in that time.However, the Allegra is something else! I find that it takes off very easily, doesn't yaw and inflates well.

But best of all, with my engine on fast tickover, the wing almost maintains level flight! I have problems getting down to land because it is so effecient! Added to that I use so little fuel - my last wing (the "Reflex" - designed specifically for paramotoring by an Englishman) used around 4/5 litres/hour. With the Allegra I am using just 2 - 2.5 litres/hour. The last time I got fuel economy like that was when I first started paramotoring and to acheive that I was using a very large Airwave wing that was very "floaty" but very difficult to launch in light/nil winds and slow as well.

The Allegra as a paramotor wing is superb, it is quick, excellent glide and easy to launch. Best of all it is AFNOR "standard" too. I am flying my (medium) Allegra deliberately overweight. I am about 120 to 125 kilo all up with the fully fuelled paramotor on my back. I know that is outside your pilot weight range but the new thought in Europe is that you should fly overweight on your paramotor wing to get speed and effeciency - this certainly seems to work OK.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards

Mike Richards

PS. Both my APCO gliders are excellent.

From: Adventure Airsports
To: Apco Aviation LTD
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 8:02 AM
Subject: RE: Order

"I took the Vista out on the paramotor yesterday and it handles surprisingly well with a motor."

Kind Regards

Rob and Kate Lithgow

COMPARISON: BAGHEERA & ALLEGRA

by Brett Hazlett

There has been a lot of talk this season about two new gliders from Apco- the Bagheera and Allegra.

Recently, I had the opportunity to fly both these gliders in the medium size courtesy of Muller Hangliding and Paragliding and FlyBC Paragliding. The following are my impressions of the gliders and performance figures that I believe to be close to reality.

Apco Bagheera M
Flat area: 28.2sqm
Flat aspect ratio: 5.9
Total weight range: 85-105kg
Vmin: 21km/h
Vtrim: 36km/h
Vmax: 50km/h
Min sink: -0.9mps
Best glide: 8.6:1
Certification: AFNOR "Performance", DHV 2

Apco Allegra M
Flat area: 29.1sqm
Flat aspect ratio: 5.5
Total weight range: 85-105kg
Vmin: 21km/h
Vtrim: 35km/h
Vmax: 46km/h
Min sink: -1.0mps
Best glide: 8.1:1
Certification: AFNOR "Standard"

The Bagheera and Allegra share some design philosophy. This is seen on the ground, in the air and from the "feel" the gliders give while thermaling.

Spreading the gliders on launch, one notices the unique texture of the sail material. From what I have heard, the P.U. coated and double siliconized cloth offers exceptional performance and durability. Apco's 3year/250hour warranty seems to be consistent with that claim. I also appreciated the quality of construction and attention to detail that was evident after having a close look at the wings. Both gliders were straightforward to launch and easy to land.

When test flying a glider, hanglider or paraglider, I try to let go of thinking about specifics about how a glider flies and instead I try to notice overall impressions, particularly while thermaling, as one usually spends about half of a cross country flight thermaling.

Both gliders were similar in that they were very responsive to weight shift, required very little adjustment with the brakes to follow wandering thermal cores and with active flying the wings felt solid in turbulence. The Allegra was a little different in that brake pressure was slightly higher and while thermaling the glider felt less lively or more dampened. This implies a higher level of safety as expected from its certification.

Thermaling these gliders did not require much effort and by comparing climb performance with other pilots that I often fly with, I found these gliders to have a large "thermaling capacity". If you like thermaling, \this means a lot of airtime; if you like cross country flying, this means a lot of distance; but this will always mean a lot of FUN!

Now as far as performance is concerned, the Bagheera and Allegra perform very similarly at lower speeds with the Bagheera having a definite advantage while accelerated. However if you fly a Bagheera but do not spend much time accelerated during a cross country flight then an Allegra would likely be able to keep up with you. Remembering that the Allegra is "Standard" rated makes it a very appealing glider indeed.

They are both really nice gliders so how should one chose?

If you are interested in serious cross country flying but not competing then an Allegra is the glider of choice. If you want to compete seriously then I would recommend either; the Allegra if you want the safety that it has to offer, the Bagheera if a little extra performance is important to you.

(Brett Hazlett is a member of the Canadiam Hang Gliding Team and started flying paragliders a year and a half ago. His first glider was an Apco Sierra 28. Brett is a 3rd year engineering student)

HYBRID POWER WING

From: Greg Yarbenet

Dear Anatoly,

Just to let you know that early this morning I flew the Hybrid 500 & was totally amazed at its performance!!! This has to be the best canopy I've flown in 16 years of powered flight! The conditions were more on the windy side & gusty and after a few turns , etc. , I felt very at ease in the air with it!

Looking forward to talking with you!

Take care,

Greg