Is the SWING CIRRUS 2 on top of the stack?

With the Ventus2 still being produced, and the Stratus2 cruising the high-end of the competition skies, where does the Cirrus 2 fit in? Swing's website is quite clear - the Cirrus 2 is a competition wing. But it gained a DHV2/3 rating, and a fairly benign one at that. Is it suitable for all experienced pilots, or just the PWC Serial Class racers? Let's dive into the wing to find out.

CONSTRUCTION : 'U'-ribs span 3 cells to spread the load across the unhung cells. The cell walls have big holes to allow easy transference of air within the wing. Although the construction looks light, the pack volume is big and the overall weight is 7.1kg, so there's a fair amount of fabric in the wing. It is well-placed - the Cirrus2 has a tight, smooth look that hints at good design.

There's mylar tape sewn over the trailing edge, and wider tape inside the wing, reinforcing spanwise across the A, B, C in selected points and along the whole of the D hang-points. The risers are the unchanged Swing standard - long, narrow webbing, neat colour-coding, standard triangular maillons, rubber O-rings. The brakes have hard plastic stiffeners built into the toggles (ow!), but have nice magnetic keepers.

A neat metal speedbar with a cable stirrup comes with the glider. The speed system uses two pulleys to effect a large 19cm shortening of the A's. The D's remain fixed, the B's and C's float to keep the change linear. The identical risers are found on the Astral2 and Arcus.

Check which bag you are buying with the glider. The standard one is a simple affair, with average geometry and limited volume. The new 'Mountain backpack' is a real pleasure for big hikes, and is worth enquiring about. Good geometry, great padding, big volume, lots of straps to tighten the load into the shape you like. Adjustable shoulder-strap hangpoints are a first on a paragliding backpack, and mean it'll fit you no matter your body size. You also get a nice big stuffsack, riser bag, and the speedbar system with your purchase.

LAUNCH : An even pullup, fills nicely, (except for the wingtips), with no tendancy to overshoot. A hard-point at 80 degrees. She is not easy to recover from extreme angles, though, because the tips stall if braking is too severe. She does not tolerate any amount of overshooting.

HANDLING : In thermic conditions, the Cirrus 2 felt like a competition glider at first - skittish. But she tightened up as I got used to the handling and applied more brake in the turns. She feels better when flown at the top of the weight range. The brake pressure begins as light (to 1/4 brake), then increases (to 1/2 brake) and remains heavy to stall. Thermalling is average, with good energy retention in turns, and moderate agility. A slight delay in the glider's response requires forethought in coring. A bit of outside brake is necessary to keep the glider flat and avoid tip closures. Releasing the outside brake does not tighten the turn, so you have to rely on her moderate response to weightshift to hook into the narrow cores. Passive stability is limited, and constant awareness on both brakes is needed in any kind of turbulence.

PERFORMANCE : There is so little difference between the modern 2 and 2/3 gliders, that the performance differences can only be seen over extremely long glides. Identical wing-loadings are unlikely to find, further confusing the issue. On the short glides that I could test it on, I was matched against the Proton (M), Bagheera (L), and slightly faster than the Oxygen (M). On full bar (a matched glide again with the others) the tips wanted to tuck in thermic conditions. The Cirrus2 evidently likes to have a higher wing-loading, so I weighted up to Swing's maximum recommended weight of 105kg's and reached 52km/h at low altitude. Full bar is too critical to be usable in anything but smooth conditions, as the nose begins to deform when pulley contact is achieved..

SECURITY : The DHV tests speak of a glider with average asymetric collapse recovery and countersteering, and allround good handling for spins, spirals, b-lines, takeoff and landing.

At stall point the wingtips bend backwards just before the whole wing pitches smoothly into a stall. During deep butterfly landings there is no noticeable increase in the brake pressure at the stall point, though the pressure is high and stall is late.

I induced a 'Terminator turn', and the wing showed no tendancy to spin, opting for a spiral instead. Wing-overs display moderate agility, with roll damping and pitch stabilisation - 'quiet' for its class. Spirals generate a big climb-out, and the turn should be continued to avoid an asymmetric surge.

She maintains her course on asymetrics very well, just like her sister wing, the Ventus. With 50% (or less) collapsed I had to lean hard into the collapse to induce more than a gentle turn. It's much easier to turn away from the collapse than into it, and a touch on the outside brake had me veering away instantly. This is a very good characteristic, keeping you safe when ridge-soaring. On larger deflations (70%), the wing turns slowly, but does not reinflate on its own until it has speeded up in the turn. Countersteering is once again easy, but you'll have to pump the collapse out vigorously.

It got DHV 2/3 scores for delayed opening of the accelerated asymmetric collapse and front tuck. This is because the wing sticks and does not reinflate - if you take a big collapse on speedbar, the wing disappears far behind you, then returns as a lump of washing above your head. The good news is it's a friendly lump of washing - I noticed no tendancy to dive, spin or spiral, making recovery easy to effect. A long, very deep pump on the correct brake clears the wing, and she regains her flying speed, without any surprises except height loss.

SUMMARY : The Cirrus 2 should make its mark on the Serial Class and National level competitions this year. It is an active, high-performance glider suited for experienced pilots who fly regularly. Its consistant behaviour in the air provides competition pilots with a margin for error, and advanced xc pilots with the performance they need. The energy retention in turns is smoothly controlled. The sleek, taut look of the wing and moderate handling are welcome surprises. The wing should be flown heavy - the speed and handling improve. I did not enjoy the lack of tolerance the wing had to turbulence at full speed (nose). For pilots who enjoy competition gliders, it's a mild ride. It is modern, and glides well, but won't be pulling away from 'the 2000 Serial class pack'.

THANKS TO : Peter Wallenda (SA SWING Importer) for the use of the wing. The Sky Gods, for sending me flying weather in the middle of the South African winter.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS :
SWING Paragliders - www.swing.de
SA Distributor - Peter Wallenda - 083 300 1755

* Note : Apply the correction factor to scale the results to a standardised condition of 1000m altitude, 1013.2 hPa Qnh pressure, and 15 deg.C. air.