For those Team mates that attended the Team meeting in Fiss, Austria you will remember the discussion that we had about the future of competition racing using serial (EN D) wings. From my point of view, I had travelled to Fiss in the hope that Hannes and his team would announce the TRITON 2 as NOVA’s offering into the 2012 competition scene. My assumption for this was based knowing that Hannes was strongly in favour of a move towards Serial racing and also knowing that wings like the TRITON already had significant headroom to increase performance.
So it was rather a shock and a disappointment to find Hannes not only saying TRITON 2 was not a priority, but that the whole of the competition scene faced significant issues with manufacturers pushing EN D wings into a ‘grey’ area of certification; further compounded by the likes of folding lines.
I, like a number of other vocal competition pilots in the audience felt this was NOVA side-stepping the prospect of developing an EN D wing capable of challenging the front end of a competition. In addition, if there was no development before the end of the year, then NOVA would be left behind in 2012; without even having a credible EN D in their line-up.
Well, it turns out Hannes was correct! The various paragliding forums around the world have been alight with multiple discussions about EN D in competitions; use of folding lines, Ozone’s detuned R10 called the ENZO and just now a suspension of testing EN D’s following Alain Zoller’s (Air Turquoise test pilot) accident. Most of the themes have echoed Hannes’ predictions about what might happen as a result of CIVL’s suspension of Open class in July 2011.
I think that this is a great example of how well this NOVA Pilots Team works in that we have a real live forum, where we have open access to question and put our point of view across to real ‘experts’ in a friendly and lively arena. Hannes and co. did not get upset with us voicing our opinions and constant questioning; which is where this differs greatly from the internet based forums :)
As for future EN D wings, we will have to wait and see……
Steve Nash
Link to article in XC MAG –
http://www.xcmag.com/2011/12/accident-halts-en-d-paraglider-development/
Dec062011