Flow Freedom 2 Review

The Les Grands Espaces instructors had the Flow Freedom 2 on demo for a few days in April 2023. It's a great discovery for a wing with solid arguments for earning its place in the category of EN B wings designed for cross country, also known as B+.

Design and materials of the wing.

This wing immediately places itself in the B+ category given its 5.75 aspect ratio, without being at the extreme high end of the category either. The materials used are solid and suggest a long lifespan. The fabric is entirely Porcher Skytex 38 and 32. The line layout has been carefully worked out like a modern wing, with a "3-line" design at the center of the wing and "2-line" at the wingtips. The front line includes a pyramid right at the top of the fan (the A's and A prime's). According to Flow Paraglider, this system provides better leading edge hold in accelerated flight. The risers are well built, with a bridge between the B and C risers wrapped in nice foam for very comfortable rear riser piloting.

Takeoff

Untangling the lines is simple thanks to good line flow. Inflation is easy in a moderate breeze, the wing rises well, cleanly, and will need some brake control to stop it overhead.

In thermal flight

In flight, the Freedom is very comfortable for its category, with remarkable stability in both pitch and roll. Necessary corrections are minimal, and it makes you want to let the wing fly itself. The turn is nice and consistent, giving good precision to position yourself wherever you want in the lift. No issue restarting turns, as soon as I pull the brake, the turn tightens exactly as I want. I didn't feel the need to wrap the brake around my hand to tighten the turn in a strong thermal. The only downside is somewhat heavy brake pressure. A lighter brake feel would have been appreciated for long flights.

On transitions

On transitions, you find the wing's general comfort, not moving around too much but still giving indications on the air. Accelerating, you easily reach max speed and the wing keeps building the pilot's confidence. The speed bar travel isn't very long but is fully usable. Rear riser piloting is very comfortable and has nothing to envy the category's benchmarks, like the Rush 6 for example. Just like the brakes, the speed bar is a bit heavy underfoot compared to other wings in this category.

Maneuvers

For descending, ears work well, as do big ears (with 2 lines in each hand). However, the wing does pick up a bit of roll easily with big ears, and in this configuration, it's more comfortable to add a bit of speed bar to maintain good speed.In stall and spin phases, you can tell this is a B+, the wing is more agitated, it picks up a bit of yaw in backfly and dives well when recovering into flight. It's certainly a bit more delicate to manage than a mid-B wing.In an asymmetric collapse exercise >50%, the wing can dive fairly quickly into rotation if you let yourself fall into the harness on the collapsed side, but the high internal pressure forces a very fast reopening.

In conclusion

This Freedom 2 has strong arguments to compete, its strengths being comfort on cross country, a very consistent turn, and very easy rear riser piloting. It's a product worth considering if you're looking for a B+ wing mainly for cross country flying.This wing is available to order here in our shop