The UP Kantega
Reviewed by Darron Guberman
November 2003

Legend has it that every Halloween a Great Pumpkin flies across the sky and delivers candy to children. When the bright orange Kantega arrived, I wondered could this be the Great Pumpkin? I put some candy in my harness and started flying right away.

INTRODUCTION
German based Ultralight Products has a long history of glider manufacturing. They began with hang gliders in the 1970s and made their first paraglider in 1990. The UP brand, with its arrow pointing skyward, is a well known symbol in aviation.

In the last few years UP has produced a range of new paragliders, including the Pulse, Makalu, Summit2, Trango and Sherpa. The latest addition, which they call a "performance intermediate" is the Kantega. The glider is designed for pilots with thermic experience who want to advance quickly.

CONSTRUCTION
The Kantega has that crisp, crinkly feel you would expect from a Porcher Marine fabric. The top and bottom surfaces are made from NCV 9092 E85A. The ribs and V-tapes are made from stronger E29A. The lines are made from a Technora core and have a braded polyester cover. The A’s are red, B’s are blue C’s and D’s are yellow. The black webbing risers are similarly color coded with red fabric around the A’s and blue fabric around the B’s.

Seams are double stitched, and durable tape is sewn along the trailing edge. The leading edge is entirely open in the center with only the tips being closed. A small opening in the trailing edge of the tips allows for the removal of sand and stones that find their way into your glider.

The brake toggles are made from the same flat webbing as the risers, but have been doubled up to form a tube with a stiffener in them. Initially, I found the toggles rigid and uncomfortable. Then realized the stiffener can be bent and will retain its shape. So whether you slide your hand through the toggle or just hold onto it with your fingers, the controls are fairly comfortable.

The speed system travel is 36cm with the usual Brummel hook connections and a tough plastic speed bar. The glider, manual and speed system come in a sizable pack. The ample room allows for quick packing in case you land in a game reserve after a long cross-country flight (like I did). Compression straps bring the pack down to a more manageable size.

UP makes the Kantega in three color schemes: Yellow and blue, red and black and orange and grey. The split is 50/50 with the first color on the leading edge side and the second color on the trailing edge side.

LAUNCHING
The Kantega’s fully open leading edge inflates to a wall easily with a light breeze or more. The pull-up is straight-forward with little inclination to overshoot. The weight, at 7.0 kilograms for the large size, becomes noticeable in slower winds. However, with a deliberate pull on the A risers the wing still rises cleanly and symmetrically.

Once overhead, the pitch was stable but there was a tendency to shift from side to side. Overall, the glider launches consistently and easily if one’s inputs are deliberate. I had an opportunity to tow launch several times with the Kantega. Every tow was smooth with the glider happily overhead.

HANDLING
The dust devils were starting to swirl in the bone-dry Karoo. My weight was dialed into the winch in the back of the truck and the driver waited for my launch. The windsocks lined up and confirmed the breeze was straight down the runway at 25 km/h. With a gentle pull on the center A risers and an intentional skid towards the wing I hollered GO! GO! GO!

Moments later I had released the tow rope and turned back to find that thermal I just passed. The Kantega turned from my weight shifting alone while I got the bridles out of the way. Then with both hands in the toggles I was eager to get to cloud base.

The thermals were a little ratty, having been pulled apart by the wind. I could feel the edges and bumps in my seat and through the brake lines. Feedback was good and I could tell the air was active. The pitch and yaw were dampened, but still provided enough information about the air around me. When a stronger core hit the side of the wing, I could tell which side it came from.

The Kantega rolls, but doesn’t fall down. Even in 5 m/s conditions I had very few collapses. I could usually tell the tip was about to fold because something mean had just blown past my face. Other than a little fabric rustling sound, the collapses were very benign.

The wing left a safe and stable impression on me as I hopped from cloud to cloud. I could tell I was on a wing that would behave well if the air became ugly. And better still, I could tell what the air was doing so surprises were less likely.

Turning and thermalling felt natural. The Kantega turns faster and banks steeper with progressive increases in brake pressure and weight shift. The transition from slow and flat turns to spiral dives is smooth with steadily increasing amounts of pressure.

After several hours of flying, my neck, stomach and arms were all equally tired. The brake travel is average and the pressure is good. I felt relaxed in a big and active sky. I could throw the Kantega around when I wanted to, but it did not throw me around when I wanted a smooth glide.

SAFETY
With a DHV 1-2 rating, I expected a well-behaved wing. And that is exactly what I found. Some high flights off Table Mountain provided just the place to pull some maneuvers.

Big ears are easy to pull and find with the red and split A risers. The wing tips will pop out if you hit a bump or flap the breaks. Otherwise they are content to stay in for a long time.

Asymmetric collapses were very mellow, didn’t result in much of a turn and fixed themselves quickly. Vigorous yanking on A risers, even with speed, resulted in nothing more than a yawn.

Symmetric frontal collapses recover automatically, but with a small delay. When the leading edge popped out the wing happily resumed forward flight.

Wing-overs and the roll in general are well coordinated and fun. When you put your weight into it you can crank some steep turns. The Kantega turns better than some other DHV 2 wings I have flown.

Some intermediate and easier trimmed gliders resist entering a spiral dive. Fortunately, this is not a problem on the Kantega. The progression from thermalling turn to spiral dive is good and without a sudden surprise.

B-line stalls are straight-forward with a nice surge on exit to confirm you are flying again.

Full stalling the Kantega is pretty darn hard. If I hadn’t been so determined to test this and plummet out of the sky I would have given up. After much effort, the glider will stall and bounce around overhead like normal. The surge forward when releasing the brakes was a little more than expected. But if you are strong enough to stall the glider in the first place, you will be strong enough to catch the surge.

Negative spins on the Kantega will also try your patience and determination. This is just what you want when still improving your flying skills. Spins from level and slow flight were difficult to initiate. Going from a turn into a spin instead of a spiral was even more difficult. Once spinning, the rate of rotation and exit were normal.

PERFORMANCE
UP’s newest glider has a speed range typical for a modern intermediate wing. Trim is around 36 or 37 and top speed is 50 km/h. Even when pushing the bar all the way, the Kantega is smooth and solid. Energy retention when exiting a spiral is average. The glide ratio is not specified by UP, but I made it past a few more trees than I expected when the sun got low and the lift turned off.

CONCLUSION
UP has succeeded in making a solid, well finished glider that recreational pilots can enjoy and advance with. The balance between safety and agility left me feeling very confident as I cruised high over the desert. The Kantega is an all around good performer and well worth considering if you want a wing for fun and cross-country flying.

TECHSPECS
Many thanks to John Nicholas of Bambi Paragliding for the wing. John can be reached via email: john@celsol.co.za or on his cell +27 (0) 83 777 5515. Ultralight Products can be found at: http://www.up-europe.com. The site has details about all their gliders, the company history and available accessories.

The Kantega is available in sizes from XS to XL, which cover weight ranges from 55 to 145 kilograms. Each size has the same aspect ratio and similar flying characteristics. This review was done on a large, flying between 108-114 kg all up.

Technical Specifications

* Speeds based on DHV test report.