Apco Bagheera v FreeX Mission

The progress made by sports/intermediate gliders over the last few years has been huge, but what sort of pilot is a DHV2 paraglider aimed at? Are they really for the serious pilot or do they give too much away to the "Serial Class" racers. Maybe they're bomb proof gliders which just bob around benignly in turbulence no matter who is at the controls. We shall see!

Its worth remembering what DHV2 means: " Paragliders with demanding flying characteristics and potentially dynamic reactions.." Add the words "very" and "violent" and you've described a 2/3 glider. It certainly refocuses my concern about pilots flying gliders close to, even beyond, the limits of their ability. The overall DHV grade for a canopy idenitifies its worst rating achieved in any test manoeuvre and of course takes no account of the likelihood of instability, so don't assume that same rating equals same canopy.

Prejudices are interesting things until you are on the receiving end and there always seems to be some one ready to spread bad vibes. When it comes to Apco, the word on the hill is of gliders which perform well and are built to last but handle about as nippily as a cross channel ferry. FreeX's offerings are also reputed to be well built and combine design flare with performance but are certainly not for the nervous! So just how does one of the best DHV2 gliders of 1999 stand up to FreeX's new contender?

Apco Bagheera

So much for reputations! Within seconds of taking off on a well loaded small Bagheera, I found myself turning into a tight thermal core and then quickly repositioning to climb with a Hang glider. As the spring time bullets came through the glider responded well. Although tightening up the turn requires a little more effort than the most nimble gliders, it really is pretty good. Wing overs and spirals are easy, controllable and fun. On crowded ridges I appreciated the manoeuvrability but got a bit hacked off with the sink rate, while trying to find the space to turn in lift. Once a climb is established, all the stress can be forgotten and a good pilot would climb with the rest. This glider is quite pitch stable compared to some of the most sporty gliders, but this seemed to lead to less feedback. In badly broken air it felt twitchy and nervous, compared to a typical DHV 1/2 machine, without actually moving around too much or collapsing. I didn't find it quite as easy to actively fly the Bagheera as the Mission. Brake pressure is fairly light and linear though my short arms needed a wrap to get a good sharp stall on the ground. Other aspects of ground handling are vice free once you get used to its general liftiness and are prepared to stop it overflying during inflation

Just as I was wondering when I would get to try a Medium Bagheera, Mark of the Southern club offered me his, (sorry Mark, I didn't get your last name!). The difference was amazing. Now towards the bottom of the weight range, I was very soon above everyone and climbing away in clear air. Handling was another matter though. There was non of the twitchiness of the heavily loaded small, but a soft wobbly feeling. Turn initiation was really slow and 360's took longer to build up. Once banked up, tightening the turn was much easier and it thermalled very efficiently, though lacked the precision of the Mission. Wing overs were a big effort and felt like slow motion. The general wisdom is that the Bagheera is best flown well loaded and I agree whole heartedly!

Glide performance was impressive on the medium, although the small lost out by a narrow margin. Both sizes are excellent on the speed bar and although they may give away a few km/h top speed to the top serial racers, they are stable and achieve a DHV 2 rating on accelerated asymetrics. Bar pressure is suitably light but needs a massive 53cm of leg push for full speed ‚ fine if you're Naomi Campbell! I know that the Nationals pilots on Bagheeras felt they were very competitive on this glider, though the tasks were not flat out races.

Deliberately getting the Bagheera out of shape was interesting. 50% collapses gave quite a drop followed by a gentle turn. Course correction took more effort than the Mission, but was not a problem and pumping out the deflation was easier than flushing a toilet. Pulling a bigger collapse, or delaying reaction led to a faster acceleration of events and this really puts gliders like this into perspective. They are fine only in the hands of the pilot with the experience, coolness and ability to react quickly and correctly.

And what about the much hailed Apco quality? Empty the Bagheera onto the floor and the highly respected materials are immediately evident - it is clear why Apco gliders last so well. As far as I am aware Apco were the first to offer a 3 year guarantee and I applaud them, although I have to say that the details of the build lacked the exquisite neatness of the Mission. The fading wing tip logo on a 30hr glider, the upper brake cascade line assembled with twists and some slightly crude stitching took the shine off an otherwise well built product. The most unusual feature is the short unsheathed upper lines, stitched straight into the under surface. A nice drag reducing idea, but replacing one of these would be a bigger job than normal. Being so short they should not be too vulnerable and Northern Paragliding have had to replace two in all the years that Apco have been using them. The work is equivalent to changing a line attachment tab on any other glider. The magnetic keepers for the brakes worked. I would appreciate slightly shorter risers for the purposes of pulling big ears. The bag was easy to use and reasonably comfortable. The single compression strap helps keep the weight close to the back.

FreeX Mission

For some one of my weight, the medium Mission is a completely different beast to the medium Bagheera. Turn initiation is immediate and the glider is constantly feeding back information about the air. I found it much easier to feel for the best cores than even the small Bagheera. In well formed thermals there seemed little to choose between it and the Bagheera m, but I always felt it had an edge in messy lift. Trying to centre the strong cores exposed the only small foible in the Mission's turn behaviour. The brake lost its linear feel and pressure increased. Giving it a little bit more made the turn really tighten up and the more ham-fisted pilot may tend to over bank and loose some efficiency. I detected no tendency to spin at this point and in fact found it easy to build big wing overs or spiral dives; great fun! Overall I would say that this is a very smooth handling glider and carved beautiful, constant turns even in lively air. Flying with an extra 10kg didn't alter the feel dramatically although, as you would expect, a little extra height is lost as turns are started.

Glide performance is again excellent and it was so thermic every time I flew that it was hard to establish any difference between it and the Bagheera. The speedbar is light but needed good bit of the 46cm travel to really pick up speed. Again, like the Apco, it maintains a good glide through out the speed range. Flat out there was a tiny vibration from the under surface, but as I charged through the turbulence it remained solid.

There shouldn't be huge differences between DHV 2 rated gliders during instability and this is the case here. The Mission turned slightly quicker than the Bagheera but the glider would straighten up with weight shift alone, even with 50% of the wing gone. Scanning the DHV report reveals that the Mission achieves 1-2 rating in most tests, which is in contrast to the Bagheera which predominantly gets straight 2's. In terms of the demands made on the pilot the Mission is the more lively of the two in turbulence, but should be less demanding as the limits of normal flight are explored.

On the construction side, everything about the Mission oozes quality. All of the stitching on the wing is internal and beautifully finished. The material is tried and tested Carrington nylon. Its great to see manufacturers offering 3 year guarantees and FreeX have joined the fold. It's an attractive and distinctive glider, although I'm not sure that white is the best colour for a trailing edge, since its spends most time in the dirt! FreeX have always put a lot of thought into their bags and this one is loads better than their old ones. It is big, robust and is VERY comfortable since multiple compression straps keep the weight up and in. It is bulky however, so the purchaser may also be changing harness! Finally, can any one tell me why the lines have a sheath over the stitching? I have never had a problem with the stitching on any lines without them and the sheaths always work their way up the line!

Conclusion

So there you have it; two cracking gliders. Both offer excellent performance and only in top speed do they loose to the racers. Both have loads of resistance to collapse and provide their performance without stressing the experienced pilot. They are significantly more lively than the "fresh out of school" glider and are definitely for the confident and capable pilot with something like a hundred hours in a range of conditions. They offer a level of fun and responsiveness that the 1-2 gliders generally don't and after approaching 1000 hours on all sorts of gliders, both had me reaching for my cheque book! If you are an ambitious pilot, keen to move up, book yourself an SIV course and give yourself a work out on one of these babies! It's a close contest, for me the FreeX won by a short head because of the extra feedback and responsiveness, but I'm sure there will be plenty of people who'll disagree!

How they score: