Gin Leopard: easy but smart

There's an English word for outstanding. Literally — standing outward. Out of the ordinary. I think it's Leopard. And that's because the non literal translation of the word outstanding is outstanding. Yes, this device is outstanding against the background of all other equipment of its class. And in a number of ways. Outstanding flyability - no other paraglider of EN D class that I know of at the beginning of 2020 is able to gain up to 24 km/h at full throttle and fly with a record low planning angle. Outstanding in terms of precision, comfort and understandability of reactions to choppiness and pilot's actions. All in all, the Leopard at first acquaintance gives the pilot that hard-to-define feeling of "why, was it possible to do that?". It gives a lot and gives generously to the pilot — but demands surprisingly little in return. A great wing that shatters the perception of GIN Gliders as a company that makes top wings that are very flyable, but also very demanding for the pilot. There are no competitors to the Leopard in terms of flightability among two-rowers with the honest EN D label for the beginning of 2020 — and in terms of complexity of learning the Leopard is quite comparable to the legendary in its simplicity and friendliness Icepeak 6 from Niviuk and in some respects, perhaps, even more simple and understandable.

And still — does this Leopard have any noticeable disadvantages? Not noticeable — probably not. But it should be understood that I have not studied the behavior of the Leopard in dangerous flight modes and I quite admit that such a serious device in real operation will turn out to be quite difficult when getting into really difficult situations. Also, despite all the dithyrambs, one should realize that the Leopard is a wing with an elongation greater than 7, a very small number of slings and rather sharp (in absolute terms, not in comparison with other two-row EN D) reactions to the control, which automatically creates high requirements for the pilot. The minimum flight time required for a comfortable and safe transfer to the Leopard is estimated at 300 hours, of which at least 100 hours should be flown in the year preceding the purchase.

My personal impressions of the Leopard? I would take it without a second thought! And I am not switching to Leopard right now only because there is no direct need to do so.