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Nova RA and Airwave Mustang 2. Both DHV2, both very new on the scene.

Tester: Mike Willig.Experience: flying regularly for over 10 years on sites all over the UK, also Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France

The task for the day was for myself and my flying buddy Mike Flannery to choose a replacement for our aging, but still remarkably good DHV 2 Swing Astral 2 wings.

The Astrals have been great wings, very solid in the rough but very able – regularly keeping us at the top of the stack.  Even now, at six years old, they’re often a match for all but the hottest DHV 1/2 wings but newer DHV 2 wings were now starting to show us up, so their time was over. Our requirement was to find a wing that offers performance but with a measure of safety, something that would give us some serious sport flying and XC ability on our trips abroad, but not be overly twitchy when the going gets rough. Hence I guess, our choice of DHV 2. Location: Wether Fell.

Conditions: light at first, becoming stronger later with the occasional spring thermal.

Harnesses: Woody Valley X-Over and UP Teton.

First out of its solid, well designed bag was the Mustang 2, very well made wing, a great looker too.  Set up easy, magnetic break catches perhaps a little weak. Wall easy to build in lightish conditions, but I found the breaks a little long when the wind picked up later; needed a few wraps to keep it down. The wing came up from the ground without any difficulty, no real tendency to overfly – take off straight forward.

In the air the Mustang handled predictably, feeling very solid and safe, better I think at scratching in the light conditions than the Mustang 1 I tested 12 months ago. Felt comfortable but maybe slightly dampened in turns. Overall handling really good, but perhaps not quite the hike in performance that I’d hope for over my old wing. My friend Mike experienced a couple of asymmetrics during tight 360s, we’re not sure why!?

Nice wing, but we felt no great leap forward over our old wings – probably not really given time to prove itself, the usual problem with test flying in the UK. Time for the RA, no bag supplied for the test, but I’ve since seen one and it too looks well made and generously sized with plenty of extra storage pockets.

Once set up the first thought you have is ‘where did all the lines go?’ The three line set up is quite strange at first.
Handling on the ground again straight forward, brake travel felt better than the Mustang and was easier to control when the wind picked up. Take off was again easy, settling itself into place slightly further forward than the normal position for a wing, but easy to ground handle.

Take off was uneventful and once in the air the handling seemed solid but responsive, stunning looking wing above you too. It didn’t take long to get the feeling that the RA is a very fast wing and easily out-paced the Mustang 2 in a straight race along the ridge. Turns were sharp with very little loss of energy, found I didn’t need to weight shift as much as I was used to, to get the wing around. This was definitely the wing I was looking for. Really sporty, sharp handling - incredibly responsive, but not the slightest sense of twitchyness.

Big ears required quite a bit more effort than normal to apply and needed good solid pumps on the brakes to re-inflate the tips, I think the ears would stay in indefinitely until pumped out. The speed bar easy to apply but wing tucked on me when fully on, producing a big front tuck which popped out almost instantly with no input from me – very reassuring. Wing-overs and spirals, felt electric but safe and predictable.
Our unhanimous final opinion was that the RA was the best wing we’ve ever tested, a genuine leap forward in wing design and handling. In a word, stunning.

Not to say the Mustang 2 wasn’t excellent by any means, if we’d tested it in isolation we’d probably have bought it. Perhaps we were just looking for more of an obvious jump in handling and performance from our old wings, which the RA gave us in spades.

Both wings thermalled effortlessly getting us to the top of the stack on the day.

Result: both of us chose the RA and the orders were in the next day with Neil at Northern, can’t wait for delivery.