Swing Libra RS: in search for balance

Neat, narrow, there is nothing to pick on. One of the interesting features is the split rear riser which uses a ceramic ring instead of a block. The handles on the rears are bright orange, cheerful, 3D-printed, and can be moved up and down along the webbing. I found the size of the handles a little small. I have a big hand, and would have been a little more comfortable with wider grips. Acceleration system has an adjustable overdrive, you can flexibly balance between more gas pedal travel and more force on the gas pedal. The brake handles are quite large, nice, with swivels, attached to the risers on very nice magnets molded in rubber-like plastic. This solution was very popular 10-15 years ago, now it is less common, but I like it. The quality of workmanship does not cause any complaints.

Once in the air it was a different story. The brake handles have rigid inserts inside, and the only comfortable way to use them is to clench them tightly in your fist. Trying a half-wrap was a delicate operation for me; my gloves refused to slide into the handle. Transitioning from the brakes to the rear riser handles was also a bit tricky. Swing was kind enough to provide the handles with small holes to remove this rigid insert. I suspect the brake handles will be much more comfortable without their rigid parts. The rear handles, also nice and trendy, are not very easy to grab in flight because the rear risers are slightly twisted by line tension. The speed system is long and heavy, almost tiring my legs after a few hours. Not bad, but there's room for improvement!

Brightly colored, with anti-UV impregnation. The manufacturer did not specify the materials of the lines, but it seems that the lower tiers are made of aramid and the upper tiers are made of dyneema.

An interesting mix of the new and the familiar. The plan form is classic Swing as it was 10 or even 15 years ago. Very recognizable are the rather wide, roughly cut "ears". The internal structure is quite complex, especially by EN C class standards. There are several horizontal braces and of course the trademark RAST - a vertical baffle across the entire span. The aspect ratio is impressive: exactly 7! Only a few EN C wings have such an AR. The ribs are reinforced with Nitinol wires. In the front part of the wing they are protected by an outer plastic coating. There is a lot of nitinol, covering almost the entire chord. This is probably the reason why the upper surface of the Libra is quite smooth. The fabrics used for the wing are not specified anywhere by the manufacturer — but it can be seen that a mix of relatively durable fabric is used on the "forehead" and something quite light further along the chord. The weight of the wing turned out to be a compromise, around 4 kg. Not the ultra-light Niviuk Klimber, which weighs less than 3 kg in some sizes, but the Libra is not heavy.

Intrigue! On the one hand, RAST wings (and the Libra RS is such a wing) tend to come into the flight position a little slower. On the other hand — lightweight wings tend to lift very easily and tend to "shoot" when launched in strong winds. Which trend wins? Balance wins! I didn't notice any sluggishness in the process of lifting the wing, and in strong winds the Libra RS "shoots" no more than my familiar Niviuk Klimber 2P, which is also light with an aspect ratio of about 7. Cobra launch and other such activities are not a problem due to the low mass of the wing and its good control response. The takeoff run is a bit longer than expected and the wing does not take the load immediately.

Flew around 1-1,5 hours close to a Mantra M7, and in general we had similar glides at 0 to 50% of speed systems. Decent result for EN C labelled glider!

And here's where the Libra really impressed! The gas pedal is long and heavy, although the overdrive allows you to choose between "long" and "heavy". At 50% of the speed system travel, the Libra showed about +15 kph of speed gain. The Libra takes a long time to reach and stabilize speed, at least 10 seconds. Quite a decent number by EN C standards, but no miracles. The miracles start at the second 50% of the accelerator. I did not get it right the first time, at first I could not push it all the way out, I did not have enough leg room. But when I pushed it at 100%, the speed increase stabilized around +23...+25 km/h! This is the first time I have seen such numbers in the EN C class. At high speed, Libra is a little more stable, with less snaking and wobbling than in trim speed mode.

On a very respectable level! Of course, I take into account the fact that I flew a large Libra. Nevertheless, even with the corrections, the Libra soars very convincingly, with very little sink on turns of very different radii. I flew for several days in different weather conditions, from mild to strong, and the Libra did not disappoint me once in thermals. Nothing to be surprised about, though - high aspect ratio and low lines drag, as they say, make all the difference ;)

What a strange impression! This Libra can make really tight and efficient turns, but you have to ask it a lot! The brake loading is definitely on the heavy side. The glider responds to small and moderate brake inputs, but if you want more, you really have to apply the brakes hard and long. It's also not easy to maintain the desired bank angle in turbulent lift. In such conditions, the Libra is moving a lot on its own, and a lot of control input is needed to keep the turn nice and smooth. Weight shifting helps a lot, but the reactions to weight shifting are not too sharp either.

Comfort... To be honest, Libra didn't shine here. It's very wobbly! A rare case for an EN C wing. Some wobble can occur even during transitions in almost calm air, and when things get rough, there is a lot of wobble. Like many light and semi light gliders, the Libra likes to move around a lot in both pitch and yaw. These jumps are fast, but small in amplitude, and do not pose an additional risk of collapse, but can require a lot of pilot attention, at least during the first few hours of flying the Libra. In thermals things get even more complex. The Libra is a very "talkative" glider, giving lots of feedback through brakes, risers and airspeed changes, but it's not so easy to separate the useful feedback from the less useful data. The brake and riser load changes are large and fast, easy to feel but less easy to understand. Fortunately, there's some "2-liner magic" that makes things easier. Libra can "sniff" the thermals, it tends to drift into the core when it's a few hundred meters ahead. Near the core, the Libra gets too "excited" and can overload its pilot with tons of feedback. After the first hour, I felt a bit more confident and started to ignore some unnecessary feedback. The simple fact is that Libra generally gets thrown out of the tight and strong lifts, and a heavy dose of countersteering will get you right into the core!

This is about what you would expect from a wing with an AR of 7, which is slightly above the EN C class standards. Due to the high aspect ratio, the Libra stores energy more slowly and smoothly than wings with a lower aspect ratio, but releases it more powerfully. Wingovers are excellent, only hampered by the need to brake heavily. The landing swoop is also impressive: comparable to the EN D class. Not for everyone — but those who are ready for it will definitely like it!