Sep 01 2007

Airwave-Skima

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Submitted by kitesurfa on September 1, 2007 - 12:58pm.

Airwave - Skima

SPEED FLYING MADE SIMPLE - It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s the latest sport to evolve from paragliding. Just like a paraglider a speed flying wing requires a specific design to reduce the risks and make it accessible to us all: the Skima does just that. Airwave - By throwing all their paraglider design knowledge into the design of a speed flying wing they managed to overcome many of the problems that some of the current speed flying wings are suffering from. The result is a very user friendly wing in three sizes that is perfect whether you’re just learning the sport or someone looking to take the sport on to the next level.

Skima 16 - Smooth, controlled and manageable, this is an ideal introduction to the sport.
Skima 13 - An intermediate all rounder, perfect once you’ve mastered the controls and are ready for more speed.
Skima 10 - Turbo charged for blistering speeds and flat out speed flying. For experts only!

Design Notes: There is so much more to making a speed flying wing than just knocking out a tiny, low performance paraglider. Many of the latest speed flying wings on the market have serious issues with both roll stability and deep stall; on top of that some of them have internal pressure problems that cause the wings to wobble like jelly when loaded. By building in technology learnt through recent developments of our lower level wings, like the Gecko and Wave, we were able to overcome the oscillation problems that many of these short line designs often have. Then by bringing over some of the tricks we’ve learnt over the years to control the sail deformation we eliminated the ‘jelly-like’ wobbling and settled the sail down. Once they were conquered the deep stall issues were easy, after years of designing paragliders we knew innumerable techniques to ensure the Skima wouldn’t deep stall no matter how the glider is handled. The Skima is a fascinating blend of all the new avenues of design that speed flying is taking us down, and represents Airwave’s commitment to this new direction.

Manufacture Web: Airwave Gliders

Technical Data

Model	Skima 10m²	Skima 13m²	Skima 16m²
Area (Flat/Projected)	10,00m²/8,17m²	13,04m²/10,80m²	16,77m²/13,85m²
Wing Span (Flat/Projected)	6,39m/4,87m	7,20m/5,60m	8,17m/6,42m
Chord (max/min)	1,83m/?m	2,11m/?m	2,40m/?m
Aspect Ratio (Flat/Projected)	4,09/2,97	3,97/2,91
No. of Cells	20	22
Wing Material
Weight (kg)	?	?	3,2
Glide Ratio	?:1
Trim Speed ~ Top Speed	60km/h ~ 90km/h	50km/h ~ 70km/h	40km/h ~ 60km/h
Recommended Fly weight (kg)	Expert (60-120kg)	Intemediate (80-100kg)	Beginner (60-120kg)