The Spear inflates easily, even with no wind or slightly over the back, without overtaking the pilot. With much stronger conditions (more than 30 km/h wind, and a steep takeoff slope), it comes up powerfully and pulls the pilot off the ground. Care is needed, therefore , to slow it with a gentle pull. First few meters of flight, and straightaway the impression of a good glide, and manoeuvrable to the point of becoming unstable in roll. After readjusting my chest strap, the roll was less, and the docile wing banks up to order, very precise and light. Hands up and wingtip to wingtip with a Vision Classic and a Swing Ventus for a series of photos : the Spear is slightly faster at 37.5 km/h. As for the glide, it is comparable to the Ventus, but glides a bit better than the UP. Pull in the ears to come back level, one line to pull, it comes in easily and it needs to be held in, otherwise it reopens immediately. The wing turns very well with the ears held in, by weight shifting, and the sink rate is -3.5 m/s. To pull in more big ears, you have to pull down the same line, but more. In a B-line stall, the Spear is a piece of cake, easy to pull, easy to hold, without a parachutal stall when releasing, even released slowly. The descent is like going down in a lift, choosing your speed and floor at will! Spiral diving is also extremely effective. The entry is very quick, by weight shifting with the glider. Given the bank angle and the speed of descent, I stop after -10 m/s because my head is spinning ... go steady on this manoeuvre. The glider comes out of the infernal spiral by itself, with a surge and an instant of weightlessness. The pitch stability, worthy of a beginner wing, allows an easy exit, without much input.
There follows 5 hours of flying, in varied conditions.... strong winds mean using the accelerator to the maximum, and discovering its limits. At the limit of the pulleys, the particularly solid wing sometimes folds under a little in the centre, reopening on its own instantly.
A Thermalling machine
The Spear shows its character in the thermal : I noticed by letting it do its own thing several times, that it banks in the right direction all by itself, accelerating the turn for a quarter circle. Absolutely brilliant! It becomes easy to to accompany the movement of the Spear with pilot input, adjusting the radius of the turn with the outside brake. The sink rate is good, the turn is easily coordinated. The manoeuvrability and the light brake pressures predispose the Spear to long cross-countries.
The performance figures indicate a very flat polar between 30 and 38 km/h, with a glide ratio rising from 7.6 to 8.1.
Going into the leeside, following a half-hour stuck in a dead end valley with a 40 km/h headwind, pinned against a slope with no lift and standing up on the speed bar, confirms the wings solidity. The wingtip closes very rarely, and reinflation is very fast. This nasty moment over, I realise just how restful a glider like this is : enjoyable to fly, trimmed fast, with the ability to bank at will. The Spear allows the pilot to forget about it, forgiving errors and inviting you to travel. Leap frogging from cloud to cloud, scratching up from very low down, feet in the bushes, the Spear knows how!
A few top landings in a laminar airflow, also show the wing's capability to fly slowly. Hands between thigh and seat level (not lower!), the wing mushes readily, clearly showing the onset of the stall. Doing wingovers and throwing it into sharp turns fail to surprise. The Spear remains stable, the wingtips just softening a little.
Reading these lines again, I realise how much I liked this wing, its turn, its hands-up glide. Nothing but good, not to say excellent. Pity that the accelerator flat out demonstrates a moderate top speed (42 km/h measured), however it is fully usable even in very strong conditions.
Difficult to make a more user-friendly glider. Test-flying it is obligatory if you want to change your glider and you have a minimum of 50 hours experience. I did say 50 hours and not 50 flights!