Flight
Yes, this is definitely not a weapon for future victories at competitions, but the strength of Smart Progress is not in its super performance at all. First impressions are that this is a very docile, kind, understandable machine, which has its own original mood, unlike other "post-schoolers".
Maneuverability. The most striking impression of Progress is certainly its ability to quickly change roll and get into roll. No, of course, all kinds of EN C and even more so EN D are capable of more in this respect — but among quiet "after-schoolers" Progress has few competitors in this specific criterion. The machine doesn't throw into roll — it changes roll with calm but quick movements, reacting clearly and obediently, but without excessive sharpness, to brake and weight inputs. Especially interesting is the subject's reaction to weight transfer. In the first fraction of a second after the pilot's body is tilted, nothing happens — but then the Progress almost instantly jumps sideways in one elastic movement. A bit like the behavior of some mini-wings optimized for vigorous handling of narrow and complex flows. The Progress is also good at this, "jumping" into a narrow stream is not a problem. Of course, strong flows throw the Progress slightly outward, but the control efficiency allows you to confidently and without much strain to keep the wing exactly where it should be. Pleasantly loaded, backlash-free toggles contribute to this. The Progress' reactions to the linkage are similar to its reactions to weight — quick and quite "hot" at the first 30-40% of the stroke, but without excessive sharpness at longer strokes. The load on the toggles, as it should be in the "post-school" class, smoothly grows at long strokes, unambiguously warning the pilot that it's time to lift his hands up.
And if it is more energetic? Here, too, there are interesting effects. It would seem that such a quick device should go into roll more than 90 degrees with a single movement of the arm and body — but no, dashingly shifting to 60-70 degrees, Progress then vigorously reduces angular velocity, as if remembering its post-school purpose. To get to a roll of 90 degrees or more, the pilot will have to show some persistence combined with well-practiced piloting skills. A less experienced pilot will be delicately restrained by the Progress, not letting it rock itself to insane rolls and pitches.
Does Progress follow the hand? Yes, it does! Now this pleasant effect is not found in 100% of wings, but Progress is definitely among the wings that "follow the hand". The lag in the wing's re-positioning to work with the pincers is very small for an "after-school" wing, and the control accuracy, on the contrary, is noticeably above average in this class of technology. In short — will not scare the beginner, will not instill wrong skills, and will be quite enjoyable even for the experienced pilot. Bravo!
Flyability. And here everything is not so optimistic. In the process of test-drive I managed to fly tightly next to such wings as very famous first and second Joy from ParAavis, Axis Vega 5 (EN C) and with different "after-school" wings of different degree of moral and physical obsolescence. It quickly became clear that in terms of the combination of speed and quality, our figurant, as they call it, "does not rake" against Joy2 and with great difficulty can compete with the older Joy. By no means I can accuse Progress in lack of performance - it quite allows to go routes and even to fly slightly against not strong wind. But it should be clearly understood that this wing is not a competitor to more ambitious "post-schoolers" like Joy, Axis Comet or Skywalk Chili. Safety, comfort and maneuverability are the strengths of the Progress!
Some formal numbers. IAS on balancing mode — 34-35 km/h, maximum speed — about 45 km/h, which gives a speed gain on the gas pedal of about 10-11 km/h. Quite normal values for a "post-schooler" without great ambitions.
Comfort and informativeness. The comfort of the Progress is very good. In pitch our skater is damped, as they call it, tightly, reminding a little bit in this respect the AirDesign technique. Even quite brisk thermals can hardly rock the Progress in pitch by more than 20-30 degrees. In roll, the Progress is much less damped, so it has nothing wrong with the informativeness of the load on the free ends. But the most interesting thing about Progress is airspeed changes: it "walks" smoothly, leisurely, but within very wide limits, and together with it "walks" and loads on the clevants. It is just right for thoughtful and attentive work with flows.
Asymmetrical folding
Excellent. It is quite hard to develop the folding more than 10-15% of the chord — the load on the front rows is very high, and the opening occurs almost instantly, in one jerk. The apparatus twitches as if tripping, but does not have time to change its trajectory much. Loss of altitude on the mode — about 5 meters, course deviation — less than 90 degrees, oblique claw — degrees to about 30. The airspeed does not change much, which makes the mode comfortable for the pilot.
Front folding
Between "excellent" and "impossible to execute". The load on the A-rows, again, is very high, and the stacking is very reluctant to develop more than 10-15% of the chord. Exit — instantaneous, virtually no altitude loss, with minimal roll and very little change in airspeed.
Thermal spiral liftoff.
Good with a minus. The mode can be called (which is not so common), while the load drop on the inner arm is rather weak, and almost half of the wing span is involved in the stall. But the exit is excellent, quite in the spirit of Progress: instantaneous, but without strong movements in roll and pitch.