ICARO Paragliders' 2024 Lineup and the Flying Edelweiss Behind Its Designs
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 Coupe Icare 2023 in Saint-Hilaire, France, the owners of German brand ICARO Paragliders, Wolf Kaiser and his wife, walked through the company's upcoming gliders. They explained why the brand concentrates on the EN-A and EN-B classes, why its wings look the way they do, what changed in their new acro glider, and whether a two-liner C-class wing is coming.
A German Brand Built Around "Lifestyle" Gliders
The Kaisers introduced ICARO as a German brand that has existed for 23 years. Wolf Kaiser is the owner and head of the company. His wife described its philosophy as producing "lifestyle" paragliders with designs that come directly from the company logo. She said they are proud of this approach because, in their view, no other manufacturer can do it.
Pandion 2: A Brand-New Low-B
The first glider presented was the Pandion 2, a new low-end EN-B wing. The Kaisers stressed that it really is new: first deliveries were starting at the time of the interview. They added that it was already available through ICARO's Japanese importer.
Why ICARO Gliders Look the Way They Do
ICARO's logo is a "flying Edelweiss." Mrs. Kaiser described the Edelweiss as a very special flower. The company stretched the flower's shape a little to make it look like it is flying.
Every glider's graphic design is taken from some part of this flying Edelweiss. In the Pandion 2's case, the canopy shows the heart of the logo, and that is why the glider has its distinctive appearance.
Elanos: A High-End B in Development
The company was also developing a sportier, more performance-oriented EN-B glider called the Elanos. All ICARO glider names come from Latin bird names. The Kaisers described the elanus as a speedy bird.
The Elanos was not finished at the time of the interview. Mrs. Kaiser said they hoped to have the first size ready at the start of the next season, around January 2024. She presented this as a goal, not a confirmed date.
The 2024 Range and a "Safety First" Motto
Once the Elanos is out, ICARO plans to offer five gliders in the entry and intermediate classes:
- EN-A: two gliders (the model names are garbled in the audio)
- EN-B: the new Pandion 2 at the low end, the Gravis 2 in the middle, and the Elanos at the high end
Mrs. Kaiser explained that these classes matter so much to ICARO because they are where the brand is strong, and because the company always puts safety first. In her view, safety is the most important thing in paragliding. It keeps the sport attractive and lets new pilots take it up, enjoy it, and stay alive.
The Nikita Line and the Path Into Acro
Freestyle and acro flying are popular, and the Kaisers said the Nikita has a long history at ICARO. The newest version is the Nikita XTC. They also mentioned a separate freestyle glider meant for softer flying and for learning freestyle.
The Kaisers drew a clear line between acro wings and other gliders. An acro wing is not good for cross-country or thermalling. It is made purely for technical acro maneuvers.
Their advice for learning acro was to start with a good freestyle glider, which they called the best and safest route. They said many young pilots now follow this path and move to an acro wing once they have built up enough safety.
What Changed From Nikita 5 to Nikita XTC
According to the Kaisers, the previous Nikita 5 was a full acro glider, and pilots had to be sure of their acro skills before flying it. The Nikita XTC is meant to suit a much wider range of pilots. They said moving from a freestyle glider to the XTC should be no problem.
They stressed that choosing the right size is what matters most. The XTC comes in four sizes, and they believe every pilot can find a suitable one.
Will There Be a Two-Liner C?
Asked whether ICARO plans a two-liner EN-C glider, Wolf Kaiser said it is not currently part of their philosophy. However, the company is working on two-liner designs using what he called very good design software, and they will see what comes over the next two years. He promised more information at the following year's Coupe Icare, leaving the question open for now.
Hello, we are here by ICARO paragliders. My name is Wolf Kaiser. We say the best to all pilots in Japan.
Yes, and I'm Ver Kaiser, the wife of the boss. He's the owner and the boss of ICARO paragliders, and we are doing our brand, which is in Germany, situated since 23 years.
Yes, our company has a philosophy: we are producing lifestyle paragliders with beautiful design from our logo. And we have new paragliders for this season. This is the Pandion 2. The Pandion 2 is our brand new low-B glider. Brand new means that really the first delivery started these days now, and we are very happy to present this beautiful glider to the market. It's also available already in Japan at our Japanese importer.
And what I would show you is why, or a little bit explain why, our gliders look like as they are. We are very happy about this because we know we are the only one who can make this. Our logo is the flying edelweiss. Edelweiss is a very special flower. We made it a little bit longer because it's the flying edelweiss. Yeah, you can see it in the back. And every design of every one of our gliders is a part of our flying edelweiss. If you look on the Pandion, it is the brand new B, I told you, it is the heart part of our logo. So that's why the Pandion looks like as it is.
Yes, we work at the moment for EN-A and B gliders, a more sport glider with performance, and the name will be Elanos. All names come from Latin bird names. Yes, and the Elanos bird is a speedy bird. And I hope the first size is ready at the beginning of next season, so for season January '24 we hope to have ready the high-end EN-B.
Yes, so that we have a very, very beautiful range for EN-A gliders, the Pik 2 and the P... sorry, and in the EN-B class, brand new, the Pandion 2, our Gravis 2 placed in the middle, and high-end the new Elanos.
Why are these two classes so very important for us? These are the classes where we are strong, because we always try safety first. Yes, that's the most important thing in paragliding, to hold our sport attractive and so that new pilots can come and fly and live this beautiful sport, and yeah, they can live it.
And freestyle and acro is very popular. Our Nikita, yes, is a long story, the Nikita, and we have a new Nikita, the Nikita XTC. And XTC is for our special perfect pilots, Thomas and Colin, yes. And we have a freestyle glider for a little soft flying, for freestyle learning.
Ouros is a different wing. It is not so good for thermal flying, for climbing, and whatever; it is only technical for acro maneuvers, sure, yes. But to learn acro, for sure, the best way and the safest way is to start with freestyle flying with a good freestyle glider, and many young pilots go this way really now. And then, if there is safety, you can change to an acro glider and the Nikita XTC.
Why did we make a new acro glider? The Nikita 5, the older one, was really a full acro glider. You had to really be sure that you can fly acro. And now with the new Nikita XTC, the range of pilots who can fly this glider is much larger, because this is important. It's no problem to change from a freestyle glider to the Nikita XTC. Important is the right size, yeah. And we have four sizes, so I think it's no problem; every pilot finds a correct size.
Sure, at the moment we have not the philosophy of working on designing two-liners. Maybe we will see what's coming in the next two years. We have very, very good software for designing, a new software, and we will see. We will have more information next year at the Coupe Icare in Saint-Hilaire.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much, and greetings to Japan. Yes, bye. Have fun, fly. Bye-bye.
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