Overall conclusion: Good, safe and stable wing. It was everything that I expected from the wing.
I had the pleasure of testing out the MAC PARA Charger Paramotor glider.
The Glider I used was 25m2 for weight range 100-137kg. It an EN B wing, so I expected it to be quite easy to handle.
I was testing the wing with HRP220 engine, High hangpoints and All-up weight was around 120kg.
The overall construction for the charger seems really solid. Also it has leading edge rods for easy inflation.
Lines are nice and thick, risers are also on the wider end of the scope, but everything seems and feels very solid. Wing itself is in the middle weight range - not heavy, not light.
Tip steering toggles are placed nicely in the bottom of the risers, just above carabiner connection, so even with high hangpoint, they are easily reachable.
There are 2 pulleys and 2 magnets for brake setup for pilots to choose accordingly for their hangpoint.
Initial inflation was very easy. With wind round 2m/s, the Charger just wanted to pop up and stay there. Even with smaller gusts, the wing felt really good and while kiting, the brake response was smooth. It does not react as rapidly to initial brake input as higher performance wings, so it makes the Charger suitable also for students to learn kiting.
On forward launch, the Charger came nicely up. The wing gives sufficient feedback to the harness, to know exactly where wing is. Just a small pull on the A’s and the wing just popped up in low wind conditions.
Reverse launch was also just a pleasure. Wing came up nicely, stayed stable overhead. Brake input again is nice and smooth and wing does exactly what is told, without overreacting.
There is not much difference getting wing up with fully closed trims or slightly opened. The wing just comes up anyways.
When already running, the wing just wants to lift you off the ground. On a slight brake input, I was off the ground, fast.
To get a bit acquainted with Charger, I first it For a XC Flight.
Takeoff was easy, doesn't need much power to get off the ground. Same goes for climbout.
The trims give Charger a healthy speed range and while using the speedbar, the wing has a very decent penetration ability even with light to moderate headwind.
In the afternoon thermals, the wing was very stable. With trims closed to neutral, the wing has very good sink rate, so thou the thermals were dying off, I still managed to get some lift from that.
On a cruise with the tip-steering, I can just sit back, relax and enjoy the flight - all turbulence was handled by the glider and not much input from me was required.
After the XC flight was done and the thermals had died off and air was stable, it was time to try a bit more active piloting, slalom around the hay-balls and test different aspects of the glider.
On both sharp and smooth turns, the brakes give good feedback. The turning is smooth and on exit, the glider achieves straight stable flying path fast - not much roll while exiting turns.
With trims-out using tip-steering fast and relatively (for the wing this size) sharp turns can be achieved.
For slalom flying, I would prefer a smaller and more agile wing.
Doing spirals, the exiting is spontaneous. Very fast and no input required.
Big-ears is easy and on release, the wingtips recovered fast without needing brake input.
B-stall was easy and stable. WIng didn't turn mutch and recovery was spontaneous and fast.
Landing the Charger could not be much easier.
Coming in for a straight landing, trims in, the landing and flare was very easy and soft. Brake feedback is excellent.
Executing a short dive, to build up energy before landing ,gave excellent, long flare that needed surprisingly little input from my side. - After initiating the flare, it almost felt like wing was saying “just sit back, I got this”.
Charger is a excellent wing for someone who is just starting to paramotor, or who is looking for a good wing for nice calm flights. The wings agility and speed range insures that pilots don't grow out of this wing too fast. The wing has very good stability and feedback, making it just enjoyable to fly.
Overall conclusion: Good, safe and stable wing. It was everything that I expected from the wing.