Merry Christmas

Wishing all our customers a great festive period and a fantastic 2011

Ava Tanto Harness has arrived

We now have the Ava Tanto harness in stock but be quick as with the VAT hike Jan 2011 these harness are flying out. Call now to avoid disappointment

Uk XC season round up

Another xc season has come to a close and again we see Gradient Pilots and their gliders at the top of the stack. Congratulations to you all.

Uk national XC league 2010 champion Richard Westgate clocked up and inpressive total of 837.5 km in six flights. Richard spent the season on board either the Aspen 3 or the Axax Xc3. He was also the runner up in the national weekend league.
While in the Sports class Mark Jones was runner up (Xc2) and a creditable 9th overall. With Phil Wallbank thirdon his new Aspen 3 ( 15th overall)
The Uk winter league was won again by David Thomson onboard his trusty Avax Xc2. While I was the runner up on board an avax proto.

In the local club leagues to Gradient pilots did well

Cumbria - yours truely with flights on board the Xc3 and Avax protos Tony Bradley the sports class victor on board his Xc2
SMPC - Winner Ian Miskin Xc2
SPHF - A clean sweep for Xc2 pilots 1st Julian Robinson, 2nd Ian Miskin 3rd Dave Thomson
Dales - Dominated by neighbouring Cumbrian Pilots with yours truely managing a 4th place from only three visits
Pennine - Ist sports Class Mark Wilson (Aspen 3) and 4th place overall.

Not only that Gradient pilots across the country continue to be at the top of the stack
Well done to you all and roll on the 2011 season

The New Student (NG) Harness from Ava Sport

Three years of research and development, The design team from AVA Sport have found an innovative solution to provide the lightest and simplest School harness. Very functional design, that incorporates many new innovations and refinements.

The new Student^NG Harness is only 2.8 kg complete with carbon seat and incorporates Ava's new generation of air protector (^NG ), which aims to put an end to the heavier foam and voluminous Cygnus protectors yet offers no compromises in terms of pilot protection or comfort. A new revolution has now begun.

We are offering PG Schools special discounts on this new Harness. - Call for details.

British Paragliding Cup 2010

Congratulations to Richard Butterworth (Gradient Avax XC2) on winning this years British Paragliding Cup. A close second was Tony Spirling (Avax XC2). Local Pilot Tony Bradley managed to come a way with best new competitor with his 8th place (Avax XC2) Well done Tony.
Alan Ford took best EN-B and Sheryl Cameron the 2nd female place on Golden2 and Aspen2 respectively. Congratulations to these winners
The racing highlights this year seem to have been a good race task from the Long-Mynd and pilots are still talking about the sublime cloud surfing which was had in Snowdonia.

Gradient pilots held 9 positions within the top 20.

2nd Tony Spirling Gradient Avax XC2
7th Dave Thomson Gradient Avax XC2
8th Tony Bradley Gradient Avax XC2
13th Raffaele Lagrutta Gradient Avax XC3
15th Gary Jackson Gradient Aspen 2
16th Mark Riches Gradient Aspen 2
17th Alan Ford Gradient Golden 2
19th Malcolm Grace Gradient Avax XC2

Sheryl Cameron was 2nd best female on her Gradient Aspen 2 in 22nd

New demos have arrived

Just to let all who have eagerly been anticipating , we now have demos of the New XC3 in sizes 28 and 30, We also have aspen 3 demos in 28 and 26 and the size range of the golden 3

Triangulation by xc2 pilots

XC2 pilots again prove that the Scottish Highlands is the ideal place for big triangles
Following on from Julian Robinson's excellent 53.1km triangle from Squrr Finnisg-aig on 25th May onboard his Gradient XC2, Ian Miskin has just flown a 54.4km triangle from Glencoe, also on an XC2. Well done guys!

XC3 Vid

Thanks to Felix for providing yet more great footage of the new XC3

Going XC on the 3

Monday the 17th was to be my second flight on the new XC3 and hopefully a chance to get a comparison against the very sorted M3 from Ozone. Taking off ( simplicity itself) into a good cycle soon had me exploring the site ( a new one for me) and it was not long before I was making my move to the next suitable ridge 10km downwind. The glide was excellent though again I was unable to do a comparison as the wing had me floating downwind on a buoyant line without company.
The flight itself was technical and with the wing very much looking after itself I was free to make tactical decisions on where best to fly. Transitions crosswind to avoid spread-out seemed simple just point and go. The speed bar is easy to apply and feels very solid even on 3/4 bar it also did not seem to degrade my glide much. Doing 3 figure flights from the Lake District is still a very uncommon thing, However I think like our political scene, we are at a time of change. My second flight on this wing was only the 6th 100+km flight completed from the Lakes and the 3rd this year. This wing above anything else allows the pilot to spend more time on making the most from your decisions rather than spending valuable energy on flying the wing.
The XC3 is what flying PG should be all about.

Here is a link to the test results. http://www.para-test.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=4&id=30&Itemid=37

Infinity and beyond!

Antoine Montant is captured performing the first infinity to ejection, on board his Gradient Seven, Totally sick, but ultimately wicked, enjoy the spectacle.

Infinity Drop - Première mondiale

XC3 First Flight

One of the first xc3's to arrive turned up on my doorstep on Thursday, though It wasn't until Saturday that I could get it out of the bag, and even then it was very much on the windy side and had reservations about whether to fly or not.
However, I have been eagerly waiting to get my hands on this wing ever since the first protos were being talked about.
What I can say, well this is a neatly constructed wing with great attention to the detail, this was immediately noticed by the two pilots with me, which also included a founding partner for another PG manufacturer.
Considering it was a top end day, this wing is a real pussycat at ground handling, it comes up with only a light pull and is very easily controlled. the next thing that struck was the lightness on the brakes and the responsiveness to my inputs is just superb.
There were reservations about taking to the air on such a top end day and on a site which can be unpleasant to say the least when its also a bit off, but playing with the wing on the ground gave me so much interest to see what its like in the air, I had to give it a go so cautiously I allowed myself to take to the air.

Immediate impression, Oh this is good! and certainly nothing like as demanding to fly as my other wings. - A real confidence boost that I was under a very sorted design. Now the day was difficult to gauge speed and to be honest there were times I was simply parked, but as height was gained it became clear that this is a very solid wing, even though I was on the lighter end of the weight range 114(I'm guessing) on the size 30. Speed bar is lighter to push than my Avax SR8 and its effect is immediate. In turns it is nimble needing less adjustments to the outside than what I have been used to, though this may have been more about the day. It certainly felt that I was able to hook the climbs a lot easier under this wing.

It short this wing gives confidence, I was definitely with a wing that was not on the edge of giving one more excitement than required.

I was unable to compare glides etc as the others were unable to take off due to the gusty and unpredictable wind. Now I know i was lucky in choosing my take off slot but once in the air this wing was giving everything I wanted to feel assured that I hadn't just made a big mistake.

Cannot wait till this front clears today and I can get back on it hopefully with others on Monday.
My overall impression was -Why oh why, have I been flying so long on wings where you really had to keep on top of them at times when here I could simply enjoy the great experience of xc.

If you are planning to change wings this year foro something with EN D performance this wing seriously needs to be on your short list.

Swallows and Swifts are back!

While trying to get a quick flight in yesterday - I noticed the return of the first Swallows and Swifts of this year. These are great thermal markers as they go about catching insects in the rising air. Now these birds are back, it's truly open xc season once more.

Our New Avax is now ready

Received news today that the AvaxXC3 has attained its predicted EN D certification (size 28) and that sizes 24, 26, and 30 are ready for certification as well.

Certification in progress for AVAX XC3

The certification process has now begun for Gradient's new high performance glider the AVAX XC3 . We have been told The tests are going-to-plan and we should expect production to begin with sizes 28 and 26 asap in April with other sizes to follow.
We have heard on good authority that the Avax XC3 is a 3 liner, and includes rigifoil, and makes use of the 'Gibus arc' on the rib at the height of the B, it also makes use a the new diagonals as first seen in the Aspen 3, and has an aspect ratioof 6.8. Overall handlling quite similar to XC2, theough even more agile This Italian Importer who was there at Bassano during final tests states this is very 'nice'! He states the leading edge gives the impression of great solidity. The ppeed system uses 2 pulleys, it is not an effort to apply and the wing speeds up a lot just touching it lightly. Speed increase is considerable.
Ondej Dupal is happy with the result; he said the leading edge is very stable and he tested the wing up to 68 km/h (though this won't be the final trimming for certification). He states that for Gradient this is an innovative wing with big performances and is very nice to fly.

To whet your appetite for the Golden 3

This short video was taken on the beautiful Island of Madeira. See in action the latest intermediate glider from Gradient. - Golden 3

Enjoy!

Lighten up for 2010 with the Ava Sport Tanto

The all new AVA Sport harness -TANTO has been designed for the cross country pilot who is conscious about pack weight yet does not want to compromise on comfort or performance. The New TANTO is packed with many new features and innovations which aid to a very simple and functional design.
Firstly the new harness belt system makes the regulation of the whole unit very easy and simple to use.
Secondly there is a new design and construction method for the reserve parachute container, which provides a very sleek storage solution, yet offers a very quick deployment, should it be required.
The TANTO has 17cm back protection, but unlike other products on the market, The TANTO harness will integrate a new generation of protector, which aims to put an end to the heavier foam and voluminous 'Cygnus' protectors currently in use. Made entirely of a (dare I say, rather secret) new high quality material, which is being manufactured using the latest technology within the textile industry. Using this revolutionary new material AVA Sport Design and Manufacturing teams are working hard on a new weight record for this type harness 4,5-4,8 kg. This will place the TANTO in a new class of cross country harness for all Pilots wanting to minimise yet not compromise!

We are expecting full certification of this new harness around mid March. The harness comes in 5 sizes and with three different colour options. It is currently available (by special order) at an amazing weight of only 5.2 kg with the standard foam back protector, The retail price £735 includes postage.

Ava have also informed us that they are also going to produce this harness in an eye catching material which resembles the weave of carbon. It seems carbon will continue to be the talk on launch for 2010 Call for details.