Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Mac Para Progress



Mac Para launches Progress, their EN A category wing for 2009. Manufacturer description of Progress paraglider:


We have designed the ideal school glider that is easy, safe and particularly forgiving. Inflation and ground handling are very simple and offer students rapid progress through the learning process.


Flying schools have a big responsibility and select their school gliders carefully. Overall ease of use, perfect flight characteristics and durability are very important for them. Working in cooperation with a number of schools instructors we have incorporated all their requirements into a new design of school glider. MAC PARA’s Progress is the perfect glider for students to discover the fantastic new dimension of paragliding.


The Progress has 32 cells and a nice elliptically shaped canopy with an aspect ratio of 4.81. The classic construction uses a system of load-bearing tapes attached between ribs giving the canopy stability and helping maintain a clean profile. The Progress has a very low tendency to pitch forward thanks to the large cell openings used in the canopy structure; especially advantageous when the conditions are somewhat unfavorable. The performance is adequate for a school glider. The canopy is very resistant to collapse and shows easy behavior during extreme maneuvers. The Progress has simple handling and the canopy is extremely well damped in all axes. The Progress has excellent behavior during recovery from spiral dives thanks to new line geometry. The brake travel is long and gives the glider excellent behavior at slow speeds with no deep stall tendency. The Progress is the perfect glider for heavy handed pilots. The Progress comes with a 4 point riser system with 2 hang points and is equipped with split A risers for easy big-ears.


The easy launch behavior makes the Progress the perfect glider for para-motoring schools.


Materials


The top surface of the leading edge is made from Porcher Sport’s new Skytex 45 Evolution fabric and guarantees high durability.


MAC PARA use high-quality materials and combined with constant quality control during the manufacturing process together with consistent development work produces high quality products.

Surface Top Leading Edge: Skytex 9092 Coating E85A 45 g/m2

Surface Top Trailing Edge: Skytex 9017, Coating E38A 40 g/m2

Surface Bottom: Skytex 9017, Coating E38A 40 g/m2

Main ribs: Skytex 9017, Coating E29A 40 g/m2

Diagonal ribs: Skytex 9017, Coating E29A 40 g/m2

Minor ribs: Skytex 9017, Coating E38A 40 g/m2

Upper lines: Edelrid Aramid/Kevlar

6843 – 80 kg, – 120 kg

Main lines: Edelrid Aramid/Kevlar

6843 – 240 kg, – 160 kg

The Progress is manufactured using the paragliding industries well established lightweight material with excellent durability; Skytex 40, from Porcher Sport (NCV). Because for any glider, the part that always wears out first is the leading edge, we use Skytex 45 with evolution coating E85A for this. For the less stressed areas of the sail we use Skytex 40 with E38A coating. For the supporting and diagonal ribs we use Skytex 40 with “hard finish” coating E29A. This gives the advantage of a sail that is both lightweight and very durable.

Progress technical details from para2000.org

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