Alex tests out the BGD Luna...

Alex has graduated and is now in the market for gear. He’s been flying the MacPara Charger since day one, which is an awesome and very popular wing. I use them exclusively for training, safe, full featured, stable and very easy to launch and kite.
​However, there are a lot of really nice wings on the market now. One of them is the new Luna 2 by BGD, the replacement for the much loved Luna. As the local BGD rep, Mariyan just happened to have a Luna available in the appropriate size for Alex to try.
Tuesday evening Alex and I met Mariyan in Sauk City. Not to worry, we all drove separately and stayed 6’ apart when on the runway. Alex first flew the Charger to see what the sky felt like with the wing he was familiar with. Then he clipped into the Luna 2 and gave that a go. Being a higher performance wing, it’s a high B, the take off run was noticeably faster. Not an issue for Alex and his long legs. Once in the sky the differences were noticeable too. The trimmers were labeled more clearly, the speed was faster, the breaks were rock hard when held in neutral but didn’t require much additional effort to induce a turn. It’s a semi-reflex design so has some of the benefits of both classic and full reflex wings like the Charger. All in all a fun wing to fly. Too advanced for a training wing but a fun choice for after. Probably more similar to MacPara’s Colorado.
Alex and I took the opportunity to fly over the Wisconsin river and enjoyed then sunset over the driftless area’s rolling hills.
In other news, Nick’s Atom80 Miniplane arrived by UPS around lunchtime. I volunteered to assemble it for him since I’ve got time available now that Madcity Paragliding is closed for a little while. It’s a pretty sweet machine. The Atom80 is like on modern take on the Top80. Shortcomings have been cleaned up and the look and design updated. Can’t wait to get this thing airborne!