We made this video with the aim of showing that within the tests that could be performed, the wing behaves just as well as any other traditional high aspect comp wing despite the presence of the carbon flexible arches. It does not answer all questions, but we hope it helps everyone see what we feel is positive about the use of carbon in this wing.

These tests have been carried out to help answer some of the important questions asked by pilots who have no firsthand experience of this wing but who are as intrigued as we are to see where the innovations might lead.

Please note that Open Class Competition Wings are not designed to meet EN Test requirements. They are designed and trimmed to fly well while piloted by expert pilots in real conditions and to pass load test requirements.

The BBHPP has an aspect Ratio of 8.4, which should be considered high by any standard, 2 line or not. Testing a wing with such a high Aspect Ratio exposes the pilot to a very high probability of cravat after each manoeuvre (as most of you know, most wings that are EN tested are below an aspect of 6.5)

For the video that follows, extra lines have been added to the leading edge of the glider in order to induce asymmetric and frontal collapse. With an Aspect Ratio of 8.4 and only 2 line groups, pulling the A’s is similar to pulling the A’s and B’s together on a normal wing.

Due to the increased collapse resistance of the BBHPP, and the 2 line configuration, a ‘proper’ full frontal test is extremely difficult to induce.

The BBHPP is extremely collapse resistant; in more than 300 hours of real time thermal flight testing, epic cross country flights, and hard competition flying, our test pilots have experienced only three 50% asymmetric collapses and no full frontals. This is significantly less than we would expect compared to a standard competition wing. All recoveries have been normal, requiring the same pilot input as any other open class wing.

Pilot: Russell Ogden.
Roquebrune, France, December 16 2009