New breed of EN D comp wings ‘don’t belong’ in EN system say testing houses
A statement on Air Turquoise’s website reads:
“We have come to the conclusion that we will not certify high-end performance
gliders in the frame of EN standard. This kind of glider doesn’t belong in (the)
EN philosophy. It doesn’t matter which brand the tested glider was. It is not
only because of this accident that we wish to get out high-end performance
gliders of EN standard, it could have been any of them. Also we want to point
out that we have had other type of gliders in the past, where the pilots have
felt black-outs and the g-force. It happens that the glider fails the tests, it
is a test pilot’s job to find out the glider’s behaviour.”
The Swiss national association the SHV have backed Air Turquoise. It is also
understood that the all the other testing bodies are also in agreement.
So far no two-line glider has passed certification. The Ozone Enzo and a handful
of others have passed the tests, but “certification is only 40% flight
tests” according to Randi Erikson. “The rest is legislation and strength tests,”
she said, which the latest crop of wings had never completed.
In the wake of CIVL’s decision to ban uncertified paragliders from Cat 1 level
competitions and now the testing bodies refusing to certify top EN D, the
competition paragliding world is left bewildered. What constitutes a “top-end EN
D wing” and what doesn’t has yet to be decided.
