The Viper 2 wing, Wow! Enough said…

Well I will give some input to my small amount of flying under this wing.
Now I know why a lot of acro type high ‘G’ pilots like the Ozone wings. The Viper 2 responds to every little input you ask it to give.

I received a very bright wing, the new blue, white and Green colour scheme. I was very happy to note there are wing-tip steering toggles on the risers, something Ozone had never had before. I had to tie up the loose lines on all the control handles so the lines stayed clear of my prop during flight. I clipped into the higher clip in point on the risers, my harness has a high attachment point. The A risers are split into two and clearly marked with Grey tabs. I pulled up the wing in a reverse launch and the wing came straight up and just stat in the flying position. The light pull-up is a big bonus and the easy handling of a competition wing on the ground is like a breath of fresh air. Once I was ready to turn I did so and slowly added power to see how the wing responds to movement, It just moved into position with out any trouble. I climbed into the air after about 6 steps at my 4600ft ASL and a wind of about 8km/h. I flew straight out and then got seated. The wing responded to tiny brake inputs, just the way I like it. The trims were configured for slow flight and also a small amount of offset for the power. The climb rate was very good for a high aspect ratio wing. I started to play. The wing handled beautifully and I found it rather hard to just fly straight and level. Carving through the the air is what this wing is designed for. Trying to keep a straight line was hard work because I just wanted to spiral and do wing over’s and big swooping diving reversal turns. I felt more at home on this Viper 2 than on the original Viper. This wing is stable over ones head and does not move around quite as much as the previous Viper.

On its second flight I took the wing through its paces in the clover leaf and it handles like a dream and can make those tight turns with ease, even thought the Viper 2 is one size bigger than I should be flying it really can turn and responds well to pilot input. After playing again it was time for a X-country flight, I decided to take a student on his first distance flight away from the field and because he is flying the nDiza XL I needed speed to just stay with him and the viper really did come into it’s element. I opened the trim and the wing flew straight with the slightest correction for the torque every now and again just by using weight shift for this correction.

On the flight we had a near miss with a Helicopter who flew over us at about 50ft and I was quick to grab the controls and waited for the hit from its rotor. And nothing happened. For some reason the rotor was dissipated before it got to us. Once we turned and headed home I opened the trim again and pushed full speed bar and the viper 2 responded. I started putting some ground behind me and I also noted that I could fly all day like this because the speed bar is quite light. I never had to use full power either for full bar so that means I could fly really far and not worry about burning my motor up in the flight. So full speed all the way can be good for racing in comps of just really flying huge distances with out hurting your motor. What a stunning wing OZONE have produced very nice work to the team.

I can honestly say I really liked the Viper 2 and its only vice that I found was the fact that the trims are still hard to pull in. You need to really get a good grip on them to close them. I don’t believe my wife will pull them closed. The tip steering is fantastic and the wing is responsive to the tip steering inputs, very nice.

Once the weather improves I will fly the Viper 2 on the Trike to get a feel for its response in this configuration.

Tony Gibson
www.ppg.co.za
tel: 0829482001
Email: tony@ppg.co.za