Reviews

Niviuk Peak 4 21

(27 January 2016)

Last weekend, I had the possibility to test-fly the Peak 4 21. Coming from my Mantra M6 S, I was very curious, how the wing flies in comparison. It was the first time for me on a 2.5-liner. 

With an aspect ratio of 6.8 (M6: 6.9) it is similar on top of what is allowed in the EN-D class. Since I had only one flight, I do not claim to give a full picture about the Peak 4, but I would like to write a little bit about my impression. I was flying the Peak 4 21 on top of the weight range with 90kg all in.
The weather was great with decent thermals of up to 5.1m/s, a strong inversion at 900m MSL, a regional easterly wind and a supra-regional north wind above the inversion. Good conditions to test a wing.

First Appearance:
Of course it does look amazing, like all higher aspect ratio wings. I was flying the blue version with yellow ears, which in my opinion is the nicest available standard color.
The manufacturing looks very well done. The risers are wide on the suspension point and become smaller towards the top. It was a bit difficult to attach them to my carabiners at the Supair Skypper, but the advantage is clear: they cannot move back and forth and the suspension is therewith very clearly defined.
Instead of the C-loops on the M6 the Peak 4 comes with T-shaped B-handles which are attached quite high.

Take-off:
The take-off was facing south. with the regional easterly wind, we hence had a rotor turning into the takeoff. The wind was moderate so I decided to take-off into a developing thermal with a reverse launch.
The wing came up nicely and thanks to the rotor turned immediately towards west. It was very easy to control it on A and B lines and so I took off seconds later.
On the next day even in super stable zero-wind conditions, where a friend was flying the wing, it was easy to do a reverse launch.
We didn't try forward.

Normal Flying:
Coming from the M6 which is known for quite high brake pressure, the brakes felt quite wobbly to me. There is not much pressure on it and it is barely increasing. With a quite short brake travel, the point where the wing starts to turn negative is reached shortly below breast hight. Something you have to get used to, when you come from a wing with higher brake pressure.
What is amazing is, how stable the wing is.

Thermalling/Turning:
While the M6 tends to strongly jerk into thermals, which can come surprising, if you're not used to this behavior, the Peak 4 turns into the thermal just smoothly and nice while still giving enough feedback to control it. Altough I had the impression that not much control is necessary. A really relaxing wing.
The turning is wonderful. The Peak 4 can turn really flat while turning really narrow. It climbs easily and fast, but also turning on the wing tip is easily possible. A real blast. Even later in the day, when the thermals got less strong, it climbed smoothly and it was easy to take every little climb.

Accelerating:
Again a real blast. On half bar I have 15km/h more than on trim. It accelerates nicely and maintains the glide well. Nothing to complain about, really.

Landing:
The landing is easy, it flares nicely. I land with a big smile and am also confused. Never did I think I would like another wing than my M6 so much.

Overall Impression:
As mentioned before, I was only flying the wing for one day, to really be able to say something about it, I would require 20 hours or more. But in the quite bumpy conditions with the strong inversion that we could barely get through, it really was a relaxing and fun wing to fly. I hope I can have more chances to fly it in future.

Picture from www.niviuk.com

More information:
http://www.niviuk.com/product.asp?prod=JNMPIRC8

----------------------------------------------

Ozone Forza Harness

(15 December 2015)

I had the chance to test fly the new Ozone Forza harness, thanks to Flugschule Hochries (http://www.flugschule-hochries.de).

I'd like to summarize my impressions a little bit here. My normal harness is a Supair Skypper.
My wing was my usual Ozone M6 S.

First Appearance:
The harness is looking great with a quite heavy neoprene pod that can be exchanged relatively easily in sizes and also to the lighter pod that is attached to the Ozium harness. There are quite a lot of bags on the pod and the cockpit offers finally sufficient space for instruments and storage! The foam protector is thicker than that of the Ozium. The rescue system is attached on the lower part of the back but also protected vs your back with foam. The rescue cords are stored behind a zipper instead of Velcro, which should make the opening much easier.
There's a pretty small ballast compartment under the seat.

Practice test:
The rear compartment is pretty small and even without bringing my usual 3 liter drinking bubble, it was tough to get everything (concertina back, mantra 6 stupid protection pillow, backpack) inside. It is not obvious how to get the hose from the drinking bubble attached but I later found out that it has to go through the right shoulder strap, which makes it nicely stored.
With nice magnetically closed bags on the pod, I even found a great storage for my camera.
The closing of the pod is quite a hassle since it's not done with clasps but with loops and beads. But once you figured it out, it's ok.
What I like is that there are no extra leg straps but only a double-t-shaped strap system with two clamps. Makes it less likely to forget something.

In flight:
Getting into the pod requires some fishing, since I'm used to flying pod harnesses, I managed to get in easily. A friend who also tried the harness, which was his first flight with a pod, didn't manage to get in without the aid of hands at first. But thanks to a rubber band which is attached to the pod and can be tied under the shoe lazes, he also managed to get in easily finally.
The pod closes nicely thanks to a magnetic plate.
Compared to the Supair Skypper, which does have a seat board, this harness (without seat board) reacted quite differently in the first flight. What I realized immediately is that turbulences are felt much more in your bit than without seat board. Something you need to get used to, but which I think is a great feature.
The instruments are very well readable and just in the right angle to see everything.
The fact that the rear compartment was very full made it a bit uncomfortable on the back, I guess proper packing is required here.

Overall:
I think it's a wonderful harness which is nice and cozy, just a little more storage in the rear would be nice. There will be a lighter pod version (but thicker than that of the Ozium) available for it in the next months, which will make it lighter and easier to carry.
I liked the feeling after some flights a lot and it is great fun thermalling, wing overing and spiraling with it.