Nova at Coupe Icare 2023: Bantam 2, Ion 7, Mentor 7, a New Two-Line EN C, and the Pentagon Light
パラワールド【超多面的パラグライダー情報チャンネル】PARAWORLD
At the Nova tent at Coupe Icare, two members of the Austrian paraglider maker talked through the brand's current and upcoming products. Florina is in charge of designing Nova's paragliders, and the colleague introduced as Philli handles project management and strategic decisions. The interview covered a newly released mountaineering wing, the EN B Ion 7, the Mentor 7 in a standard-weight version, and plans for the next season: a light harness, a two-line EN C glider, and a lightweight rescue. The longest section dealt with the two-liner, and specifically which pilots Nova had in mind when designing it.
Bantam 2: a small mountaineering wing tested in competition
The Bantam 2 had gone on sale about a week before the interview. Before that release, Nova first used it at a hike-and-fly competition, which the transcript does not name clearly. The speakers described the Bantam 2 as a small wing and said it is currently the most common type of wing used in those competitions. Nova supplied eight pilots with the new Bantam 2. According to the speakers, all eight finished in the top ten, and the winner was flying a Bantam 2.
The speakers said the wing suits that kind of competition well, but that it was actually designed as a mountaineering wing. Its target is hike-and-fly and climb-and-fly pilots at a somewhat advanced level who can handle a small glider.
Ion 7 and Ion 7 Light: versatility, safety, and very small sizes
The previous release was the Ion 7, an EN B wing that comes in both a light and a standard version. The speakers said its main strength is versatility. They described it as very stable with good performance, and said it also works for freestyle maneuvers. Most important to them was safety. Nova spent a lot of time improving the safety, the stability, and the collapse behavior. They also said it is fun to fly.
The size range goes down to XXXS, which the speakers thought could matter especially for the Japanese market, where pilots may have a takeoff weight of only 60 or 65 kg. They explained that Nova sometimes struggles to make very small gliders. Such small sizes can have trouble passing certification, and it can be hard to keep the speed and agility. With the Ion 7, they said, all of this worked well, and the small sizes stayed safe, fast, and fun to fly. The range runs XXXS, XXS, XS, S, M, and L, with the largest size going up to 130 kg.
Mentor 7 in the standard version
A year earlier, Nova had talked with the interviewer about the Mentor 7 Light. Because demand was high, Nova has now brought out the Mentor 7 in a normal standard version as well.
The speakers described the Mentor 7 as very agile, meaning a pilot can place it wherever they want in a thermal, which they see as a strength in strong conditions. For weak conditions, they emphasized that the wing is stable and quite fast, so pilots are not forced to fly at the top of the weight range. They said that at mid-range or even lower loading it has "amazing climb performance." In their words, pilots can choose between maximum speed with high wing loading and maximum floating ability in weak conditions.
Next season: a light harness
For the coming season, the speakers pointed to a light harness on display next to them and said they could show it later in the video. It is a seated-type ("butt") harness, due on the market during the winter. They gave its weight as two-point-something kilos, but the exact figure is lost in the transcript.
A two-line EN C aimed at "classic" C pilots
The main new glider is a two-line EN C wing, released in early December according to the video description. The speakers said there was high demand for a two-liner in this class, and that a two-line design makes sense for the category. Nova had worked on it for quite a while and described it as essentially finished at the time of the interview, adding that they were very happy with it.
The glider has an aspect ratio of 6.1, which the speakers described as a classic C-category aspect ratio. Nova deliberately aimed at classic EN C pilots. The speakers thought it would be quite accessible for current EN C pilots and for EN B pilots wanting to step up to the C class and to two-liners. At the same time, they said that in comparisons with competitors it is "really fast," performs well, and is again very stable and fun to fly.
Asked how Nova approaches such a design, the speakers said they always start from the target group: which pilots they think should fly the glider, or are able to fly it. Here the target was pilots who previously flew Nova's Sector or who currently fly ordinary three-line EN C gliders. That target is why they chose that aspect ratio and that overall concept. They acknowledged that it is also possible to certify an EN C with a much higher aspect ratio, and that other brands do so. But they said that approach addresses a different target group. Nova chose its group deliberately and is still happy with the performance and speed it achieved.
Pentagon Light rescue
Nova will also release the Pentagon Light rescue. The standard Pentagon is already on the market. The new version is certified using lighter material and will come in sizes 85 and 100, and the speakers expected it to reach the market very soon. Its weight is under 1 kg. Asked for the exact weight of the size 85, the two agreed it is below 900 g, with one of them estimating about 850 g.
The speakers linked this product to the Bantam 2. Nova recommends a light rescue for Bantam 2 pilots, and they said they were glad to finally be able to supply one themselves.
Konnichiwa to all the Japanese pilots, hi! Hello, welcome here at the Nova tent at Coupe Icare. Happy to have an interview with you. I'm Florina and this is Philli. I'm in charge of designing the paragliders at Nova Paragliders. And I'm in charge of project management and strategic decisions.
So we just released, a week ago, on the market the Bantam 2. We started with the product at Toit Man. It's a small mini wing, it's the most common wing at the moment to take part in competitions such as Toit Man. We were able to supply eight pilots with the new Bantam 2, and actually all eight are in the top 10, and as well the winner was on a Bantam 2, so we are very happy about this.
Yes, so it's very good for those kinds of hike and fly competitions, but it is actually designed to be a mountaineering wing, so for hike and fly pilots, climb and fly pilots with a bit advanced level who can fly with a small glider.
The wing we have released before was the Ion 7 and Ion 7 Light. It's an EN-B wing, and it stands out for its versatility. So it's a very stable glider with good performance, but it works for actually all freestyle maneuvers as well, and most importantly it's very, very safe. We spent a lot of time on improving the safety, improving the stability, improving the collapse behavior. And it's also fun to fly.
It is ranging from size triple XS, which is maybe especially interesting for the Japanese market, so if you have a takeoff weight of only 60 or 65 kilograms.
Sometimes we are struggling to make the gliders so small, because sometimes it's difficult to pass the certification process, sometimes it's difficult to still keep the speed and the agility of the glider. But with the Ion 7 all of this worked very well. It is very safe and very fast, performs well, and is fun to fly. And we also have bigger sizes, of course, so it's ranging from triple XS, XXS, XS, S, M and L, up to 130 kilos, and we have a light version and a standard version.
Mentor, we still have the Mentor. Last year we were talking with you about the Mentor 7 Light, and now, because the demand was so high, we brought it in the normal standard version as well. So we have the Mentor 7 in the standard version too now.
It's quite agile, so it's a very agile wing. You can put it where you want in the thermal, which is very good in strong thermals. And what is good in weak thermals is that, because the wing is, like I said, really stable and quite fast, you can also fly with low wing loading. You are not forced to fly at the top end of the weight range, and if you fly in the middle of the weight range or even lower, it has amazing climb performance. So you can really choose if you want to have the maximum speed with high wing loading, or if you want the maximum floating in weak conditions. Yes, exactly.
For next season, on the left side of me there is the Alos, maybe we can show it to you later. It's our light harness that we will put on the market during winter this year already. It's a 2-kilo harness, a butt harness, and we'll show you later. So that will be newly introduced into the market.
And as well, you tell the news about the gliders, the two new gliders. We are about to launch an EN-C two-liner glider. So two-liner, yeah. There's high demand, and for that wing category it makes sense. So we've been working on it for quite a while, and now we are pretty much finished and very happy with the product.
It will be an aspect ratio 6.1 glider, so a classic C-category aspect ratio, I would say. We wanted to target the classic C pilots, so I think it's quite accessible to fly for EN-C pilots, or for EN-B pilots who want to step up to the EN-C class and to the two-liner class. But still, we have compared it to our competitors and it's really fast, performs really well, and is again really, really stable and a fun wing.
When we develop a glider, we are first thinking about the target group. We are thinking about the type of pilots who we think should fly, or who we think are able to fly, the glider. And in this case we were targeting the classic EN-C pilots, so pilots who used to fly our Sector before, or who are currently flying normal three-liner EN-C gliders. Therefore we chose a certain aspect ratio and therefore we chose a certain concept.
It would also be possible, and it is possible, other brands do it, to certify an EN-C with a very high aspect ratio, and then it's a different target group. So we chose this target group, but we are also really happy with the performance and the speed as well.
We will release as well the Pentagon Light rescue. We already have the standard version Pentagon on the market, and now we have it certified with the light material. We will bring it in sizes 85 and 100. I think we will introduce it into the market very soon, and the weight is very interesting: it's under 1 kilo. The 85 is around, do you have the exact weight in your mind? I think it's under 900. I would have said it's 850, 850 grams, but below 900.
Our target is especially the Bantam 2 pilots; they recommend the light rescue, and now we can supply them as well. So we're happy about that, to see that in the market. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you. Actually, okay, yeah, so.
Article published