Top Gun Flight School

At iParaglide Top Gun Flight School, we take pride in having taught over 1900 paragliding students in our 26 years of operation.

We are the the longest running school based in Metro Vancouver. Due to our central location, we are the only school that flies all of the relevant kiting parks, training hills and mountains within a 3 hour radius of Vancouver.  This empowers pilots to get to know the key training and flying spots early, optimizes and accelerates learning, and allows them to grow into great future pilots.  

We have the reputation of being an industry leader with an emphasis on engineered safety systems, quality instruction, the finest equipment and a positive learning environment for fun and empowering flying.

We offer the highest level of accreditation, with Senior HPAC and Advanced USHPA paragliding instructors, who coach from first flight to expert paraglider pilots and teach and qualify new paragliding instructors.

Top Gun References

We recently graduated a CF-18 Hornet Pilot from our Top Gun iP2 Novice Paragliding Pilot program.  Read about his impressions of iParaglide.

Social Links

iParaglide Location

Located at 962 - 51st Street Tsawwassen, near Vancouver, BC, Canada, for all your paragliding needs. We are ideally situated just minutes away from the finest training hill at Diefenbaker Park.

iParaglide Flying Sites

We are central to paragliding sites in the Vancouver, Chilliwack, Pemberton, Whistler, Bellingham and Seattle area so students enjoy maximum variety and we can work with weather to optimize selection of the best location each day.

Right Stuff Equipment

We regularly test fly the latest paragliding gear and select only the very finest for our iParaglide Right Stuff Paragliding Equipment Store. This ensures our paraglider pilots enjoy a state of the art performance and safety advantage to accelerate their learning curve.

Paragliding Webcams/Wind Stations

Vancouver Paragliding Webcams - get a view of cloud base to plan your paragliding cross country flight adventure.

Woodside Mtn Webcam

Woodside Wind Station

Bridal Webcam

Bridal Wind Station

Chilliwack Webcam

Hope Webcam 

Pemberton Webcam

Tsawwassen Webcam

Bellingham Bay Webcam

Tiger Mtn Webcam 

« 1) Swing Apus RS, Mini-wing | Main | 3) Swing Spitfire 3 > Speedriding »
Tuesday
Feb222022

2) Swing Mirage 2 RS - Speedflying

 Purchase Inquiry Price Quote (Click Here): Swing Mirage 2 RS Speedwing

 

 

Extended range and better performance, without sacrificing the proven all-round characteristics and nature of the Mirage series – that was precisely Swing's goal in developing the Mirage 2 RS!

The new, lightweight risers, equipped with Split-A Riser and a C-Bridge, give you maximum control and precise steering over the entire trim range.

 

 

Through meticulous R&D over a period of two years, Swing's development team of passionate speedflying and speedriding pilots, has succeeded in extending the scope of the glide from “extremely steep” to the best glide performance, as well as the usable speed range, while retaining the character and safe feeling of its predecessor.

 

 

 

 

This is mainly made possible by a new, very stable performance profile, with Nitinol-reinforced leading edge in combination with Swing's patented RAST system, which has been optimally adapted to the Mirage 2 RS.

  • Extended range and glide performance for extremely steep lines and long swoops
  • High stability over the entire angle of attack range, thanks to the new performance profile with RAST
  • Maximum control and precise handling thanks to a new riser concept

 

 

Important information about the glider sizes:

In order to make it easier for you to compare the wing area of Speedwings across manufacturers, Swing has calculated and specified the area laid out, with one of the most common development programs. This sometimes results in discrepancies between the size information in the glider name and the wing area specification in the technical data. Swing has decided not to adjust the size information to the new area calculation, so that you know which size of Mirage 2 RS is suitable for you, based on your experience with one of the previous models.

 

 

 

Ram Air Section Technology (RAST)


 

On paragliders with RAST® the canopy is divided into different internal pressurised sections by one or more fabric panels, some with valves running crossways to the direction of flight. This makes it possible to influence the air flows within the canopy.

With RAST, the air equalisation flows within the paraglider canopy can be regulated through defined openings. This applies both when filling (during take-off), and when emptying. In the case of pressure loss, e.g. caused by canopy collapse in turbulent air, the relative internal pressure of the CORE section increases, while the BUFFER section absorbs the introduced energy by deformation. Furthermore, RAST can be used as an additional support to the leading and trailing edge, which has a positive effect on flight comfort. As RAST connects the ribs over the entire profile height, the construction has a stiffening effect and reinforcements and/or stiffening elements can be saved or even completely replaced by this special construction method.

In the Mirage 2 RS, RAST© has been optimised to enhance the following characteristics:

  • More canopy stability and performance at high speeds and in turbulent air
  • Maximum control over the brake and the C-Bridge

Tip: You can close the RAST valves by abruptly applying the brakes, thus provoking a very direct and agile reaction from the Mirage 2 RS. If you pull moderately on the brakes, the RAST valves remain open so that you can control your glider precisely and intuitively.

 

 New Wing Profile


 

For the Mirage 2 RS, Swing has further modified the well-proven profile of its predecessor. Thanks to a new, aerodynamically optimised leading edge, you now have access to significantly more performance over the entire angle of attack range. The Mirage 2 RS is faster, has better glide performance and flies steeper than ever before with open trimmers.

The new profile filters feedback in turbulence to the bare minimum, giving you highly precise and intuitive handling in any trim position, without being overwhelming.

The new profile and trim have been adapted to significantly improve the Mirage 2 RS swooping ability. It quickly builds up a lot of speed in the dive and converts this into powerful swoops with a medium recovery arc.

Together with the shortened line lengths and the new Valentin Delluc inspired brake spider trim, you can easily control crisp barrel rolls snapping back into place at the end of the manoeuvre.

The long progressive brake travel and low speed stall point make launching easy and give you maximum control during manoeuvres or proximity flights.

 

 

12 mm Webbing Width 

For an improved feel, Swing has reduced the webbing width to 12mm and reinforced it with a Kevlar core. In favour of a reliably working trimmer with enough “bite”, Swing has kept the width of the trimmer strap.

 

 

Split-A Riser

What has long been standard on paragliders has also proved its worth on the Mirage 2 RS during testing. For an optimal angle of attack of the outer wing in any trim position, the A risers on the Mirage 2 RS are now split. This allows for better handling when using the brakes and a has a positive effect on performance when the trimmers are open.

 

 

C-Bridge

One of the top priorities in the development of the Mirage 2 RS was to improve the steering behaviour via the rear risers. To enable you to steer as efficiently and fatigue-free as possible via the risers, Swing has adopted the C-Bridge from paraglider development. This feature allows you to use almost the entire glide angle range with open trimmers.

 

 

Trimmer

After an extensive test phase with numerous pilot discussions, Swing decided to equip the trimmer of the Mirage 2 RS with a loop to close it. To ensure that you can grip the loop quickly in any situation, even with thick gloves, it is permanently held in shape by Nitinol. An elastic chord, which is connected to the carrying strap, prevents the trimmer band from flapping.

 

 

Details

To prevent the lines from getting caught in the brake handles during transport in the Swing Speedbag, you can fix the handles in the suspension loops of the riser. 

If you would like to connect your brake handles to the riser with an elastic chord for more control in flight, you will find a loop for this purpose at the hang-in points of the risers.

Swing has responded to pilot feedback and now use plastic inserts for the line locks, instead of O-rings.

Snow and dirt that may collect inside of the canopy are automatically transported to the stabilo via a channel. The large dirt outlets make it easy to remove anything you’d rather not have in your Mirage 2 RS. You can choose to close the dirt outlets with a Velcro fastener, or keep them open during flight with a flap.

 

 

 

Nitinol is a high strength, temperature and corrosion resistant, shape-memory alloy. The name Nitinol is an acronym for Nickel Titanium Naval Ordnance Laboratory. Swing has long been one of the first paraglider manufacturers to use this material, mainly known for its use in medical technology, as a nose reinforcement in paraglider construction.

For optimum dimensional stability of the Mirage 2 RS profile, Swing has sewn the Nitinol battens into narrow Mylar strips. This makes the Mirage 2 RS extremely efficient in flight without being too aggressive when riding in deep snow. The Nitinol memory material is kink-resistant and keeps its shape even at very low temperatures or in wet conditions.

 

 

Tech Specs


 

 

 Colours


 

 

 

Purchase Inquiry Price Quote (Click Here): Swing Mirage 2 RS Speedwing

 

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