Paragliding EN C 2-Liner Comparison 2023

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Paragliding EN C 2-Liner Comparison 2023: Bonanza, Mint, Artik R, and Photon in Flight

Spring 2023 saw the arrival of several remarkable innovations in paraglider wing design, with a large number of internationally renowned manufacturers producing EN C certified, 2-liner wings. Quite an evolution for this category!To learn more about where these new wings came from, go read the very interesting article written by Olivier about EN C 2-liner wings, which explains, among other things, how these wings came to be designed.To help make sense of things, or get an idea of the differences you can expect between these newcomers, here's a short article based on the experience and impressions of Robin, an instructor at Les Grands Espaces for 8 years, and a cross country and competition pilot for 14 years.I had the chance to flight test a large number of the latest arrivals on the EN C 2-liner paraglider market: Ozone, Niviuk, Skywalk, and Gin. This let me write this EN C 2-liner paragliding comparison article for 2023.Among other things, I had the chance to accompany a group of pilots on a cross country course for a week, during which we flew about twenty hours in varied conditions. What was really interesting was being able to vary the wings I flew, while the pilots I was accompanying kept the same wings all week.During that same week, we flew at different sites, in different conditions: Annecy, Chamoux, Grand Bornand.I flew the start of the week (Monday and Tuesday) with the Mint in size S, loaded at 86kg (for an 85kg max). It wasn't intentional to be slightly above the max AUW, it's just that I didn't get the chance to switch harnesses to optimize the AUW. The harness I used was an Advance Impress 4, very comfortable, slightly less stable than a competition harness like the Exoceat (Ozone) or XR7 (Woody Valley).For those interested, the flight tracks on the Mint are here:https://www.sportstracklive.com/fr/scene/8a27ea6b-6122-41bf-9e41-01edf9d5e965/https://www.sportstracklive.com/fr/scene/93131a4e-fdbf-4445-80ea-cbea4789394b/I then flew two days with the Photon in size S, loaded at 86kg (for an 85kg max).The flight tracks on the Photon are here:https://www.sportstracklive.com/fr/scene/ce491e89-918d-4c6d-831c-3c5aae58fb6e/https://www.sportstracklive.com/fr/scene/e0a900d5-c27a-4504-a3be-204c80cf00d3/And I finished the week with the Artik R in size 21 (thanks to Les Passagers du Vent for the loan!), also loaded at 86kg for an 85kg max.The flight track on the Artik R is here:https://www.sportstracklive.com/fr/scene/bc488d09-4558-4128-80c7-acd1e985bba2/I didn't test the Bonanza that week, but I've already had the chance to try it many times this season.

Overall:Fairly used to flying 2-liners (Enzo 2, XC Racer 2, Zeno 1 and 2, Zeolite GT, ...): what a joy to rediscover the pleasure of flying this type of wing: the gliding sensation combined with using the rear risers, which is extremely effective, the speed even in unaccelerated flight, the speed range, turning while gliding...I enjoyed each of these wings, which are all a bit different from one another and ultimately don't target exactly the same type of pilot. This diversity should satisfy most people, depending on individual expectations and tastes.I mainly liked the incredible performance of the Photon, the "easy" turn of the Bonanza and the Mint, and the speed of the Artik R.In terms of performance, I think the Photon is a notch above the other wings, but you pay for that performance with a higher piloting skill requirement. We've internally categorized this wing as C++. Suited to pilots very comfortable on 3-liner Cs like the Alpina or Bonanza 2, or pilots used to 3-liner EN Ds like Ozone's Mantra or 777's King 2, who want the same performance (if not a touch better) for a similar required piloting level. Of course it'll also suit pilots on higher performing 2-liners who want to step down in required piloting skill while keeping very good, or similar, performance.My impressions are based on the fact that, on many occasions during my cross country course, flying transitions alongside my student pilots, the glide was visibly different from one wing to another. Including early in the speed bar range. Fairly clearly, the Photon regularly outperforms its rivals.To compare the Photon's performance with the Bonanza, I had already flown alongside a colleague on a fairly technical, windy flight, starting from Annecy and heading to visit the Aravis. I had the Photon and he had the Bonanza, and we're at roughly the same piloting and cross country level in general. I was surprised to regularly be a bit ahead, a bit higher coming out of the thermal, and to generally stay higher on transitions, even coming back down to his altitude at times to compare.In pure speed, the Artik R seems able to go faster than its rivals. But I couldn't compare full speed bar performance, as that would require flying at the same time with the different wings, similar harnesses...On the turning side, the Bonanza and Mint seem easier than their rivals. In the sense that the turn is very intuitive and kicks in right from the start of the brake travel. The turn is very easy to adjust without needing to pump too much with the outside brake, and without needing to restart the turn (quickly raising the inside hand to give speed back to the slowed half-wing, then quickly reapplying brake to restart the turn without ever really having exited it).The Photon, for example, requires more active piloting in turns to get a consistent turn, and it also needs to be loaded near the top of the AUW range for the best possible turn. The other wings seem less sensitive to this, especially the Bonanza, which I also flew at the very bottom of the range, and the turn remained very pleasant, simple, and effective.The Artik R is a bit less easy to turn, in the sense that the brake pressure is fairly physical right from the start of the travel. That's my impression anyway. After 8 hours of flight on this wing I was quite happy to land, my arms a bit tired from the noticeable tension on the brakes. I found a bit of this on the Mint too.In terms of accessibility, behavior, and in-flight reactions: the Photon feels a bit more lively than the others, I found, followed by the Artik, then the Mint and the Bonanza.Worth noting, the Mint sometimes slides fairly sharply on the roll axis. I was caught out twice in fairly strong conditions (powerful thermals mixed with weather wind), I was busy talking to my pilots and watching them below me, and the wing ended up to the side in a fairly pronounced pure roll motion. Without collapsing, it's rarely happened to me to experience such a sudden, wide movement on this axis.Rear riser piloting seems fairly similar across all these wings, perhaps a touch more supple on the Photon. Very effective in any case!Takeoff with all these wings is fairly similar: a fairly pronounced shark nose, aspect ratio... make them wings that need to be well prepared on the ground (in an arc/banana shape) before starting to move. The first steps with no wind need to be fairly dynamic to initiate the scoop. I didn't notice any particular difficulty with inflation if the wings are well prepared.On the finish, profile look, materials... I won't venture into comparisons, we're talking top-of-the-line gear, latest generation design, selected materials...Summary:

Bonanza

Intuitive turn, easy to adjust/varyEasy" behavior, accessible C

Mint

Intuitive turn, easy to adjust/varyFirm brake pressureSlides easily on the roll axis

Artik R

SpeedPhysical brake pressure

Photon

PerformanceSpeedTurn a bit demanding on pilotingHoping this "Paragliding EN C 2-Liner Comparison 2023" article was useful and can help you with a possible choice! We're available to advise you if needed, in person at our shop in Talloires (Annecy), or by email and phone.If you'd like to try one of these wings, don't hesitate to contact us, we have most of these models available to test in various sizes. Also available for purchase (new or demo).PS: We got to test, with Alain, the new Zeolite GT 2, the new version of Ozone's Hike&Fly competition wing, which raced the 2023 X-Alps with Max Pinot among others...! A really nice improvement to the turn, which was actually the only minor criticism you could make of this wing in its first version. The turn is now smoother, easier to adjust to center a thermal. On the performance side, it seems to be all good, as usual for Ozone, for whom that's argument number one!Maybe a follow-up article on this topic: a comparison between the Omega ULS and the Zeolite GT 2? Who knows...