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[Bùi Thái Giang]

Coupe Icare / Saint Hilaire - The Duel: Hannes Papesh wins the Milk  
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Saint Hilaire hosted the Flyers’ Festival for the 23rd time this year  and despite bad weather, everybody was in great spirits. For us there  was a very special event: The Duel! A glide angle comparison between our  new MENTOR 2 and a 2010 certified EN D glider… Hannes Papesh won a  glass of milk from Tom Payne. What’s the story behind “The Duel”?

When  developing a new wing, the glide angle is a decisive factor, of course.  Test flights with the MENTOR 2 confirmed that it has an extremely good  L/D. So we also compared it with a current EN-D wing over Achensee (the  lake where we do all our testing). Result: The MENTOR 2 won this  internal contest in accelerated flight.
Hannes posted this in the forum (Link).  Of course, some pilots wouldn’t believe it. Therefore, Hannes and Tom  Payne (world class pilot, X-Alps participant, and forum moderator)  decided to have an L/D comparison in Saint Hilaire. It was about a beer  for Tom or a glass of milk for Hannes – and above all – honour!

When developing a new wing, the glide angle is a decisive factor, of  course. Test flights with the MENTOR 2 confirmed that it has an  extremely good L/D. So we also compared it with a current EN-D wing over  Achensee (the lake where we do all our testing). Result: The MENTOR 2  won this internal contest in accelerated flight. Hannes posted this in  the forum (). Of course, some pilots wouldn’t believe it. Therefore,  Hannes and Tom Payne (world class pilot, X-Alps participant, and forum  moderator) decided to have an L/D comparison in Saint Hilaire. It was  about a beer for Tom or a glass of milk for Hannes – and above all –  honour! Showdown was Saturday at 7.30 a.m. Tom Payne and our test pilot  Alex Höllwarth were armed with wing, harness and a scale (for identical  wing load). Tom flew a Gin Genie harness WITH POD, Alex a UP Fast  (without pod). Alex used the MENTOR 2 (size S) during his first flight  and Tom the 2010 EN-D wing, they switched wings for their second flight.    

Results (according to Tom Payne’s post):

• At trim speed, the EN D wing is slightly faster and glides slightly better than the Mentor 2 S.
• At high speed (full speed on the Mentor 2 S, 75% on the EN D wing) the Mentor 2 S glides noticeably better than the EN D wing.
• The EN D has a higher top speed than the Mentor 2 S.

Tom duly gave Hannes his glass of milk.
A few commentaries:

• both wings were standard 'over-the-counter' items.
• We knew these would be the results. Otherwise we would have been more  discrete beforehand and Hannes isn’t the type of guy to make empty  promises…
• Performance is good but not everything! Therefore,  we want to emphasize once again that the MENTOR 2’s real strength is in  the “normal” flight – just like the MENTOR 1. We designed it to be the  top EN B wing for cross country flying and not to win some strange L/D  contests.
• We intentionally DO NOT max out the EN B category  with the MENTOR 2. Actually, it has a lower aspect ratio than the MENTOR  1 and it is less demanding to fly than the MENTOR 1.
• As we  have received many questions concerning the Polyamide rods on the  leading edge: They do NOT need any special care or packing, as they are  very robust and flexible.
• Finally, don’t trust any paraglider manufacturer’s marketing claims! (Like Hannes always says…)

With that in mind: Should you be interested in the MENTOR 2, try it out yourself! Here, you find our information: (Link)
http://www.paraglidi...er=asc&start=28
http://www.nova-wing...s/mentor_2.html