SAFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 23 May | June 2020 For nearly a decade, the Ion has been like the Swiss Army Knife amongst paragliders: you can do ‘everything’ with it and very few people actually need ‘more’. The spectrum ranges from relaxed local soaring to over 200km FAI triangle – and all with a very high degree of passive safety and relatively low demands on the pilot. This has not changed despite the complete redesign. So, what is new? Line length and thus distance between pilot and canopy is significantly reduced, resulting in more direct handling in the air. It requires less room to lay out and the wing inflates quickly and reliably. The curvature of the wing has also been reduced, meaning the canopy is ‘flatter’, increasing roll damping and ensuring stable flight. Due to the shorter lines, and despite the high roll damping, the Ion 6 reacts precisely to brake inputs – the pilot can feel what is happening above without delay. A further result is the increased projected aspect ratio (3.84) in comparison to the Ion 5 (3.52). The flat aspect ratio was only increased by 0.6%, the projected aspect ratio increased by more than 9%, meaning more performance. Ion 6 features risers with optimised wing twist. The A3 line is shortened less during acceleration than the A1 and A2 lines, increasing stability during accelerated flight. Apart from that, the risers are standard and very user-friendly, coloured markings for right and left are continued on the brake handles and attachment points of Nova harnesses, making it easy to check one is hooked in correctly. ION 6 comes in four standard colours and five sizes, with a weight range from 60 to 130kg. Detailed info at [nova.eu/ion-6 ]. Till Gottbrath