8.79 / 10

ParAAvis Toy: like Tango, but different

Back in the 90s, the ParAvis Tango was the unbeatable training wing for a long time. Unbeatable in the sense that ParAvis couldn't make an "even more training" wing that would correspond to modern realities. But not even 30 years later - and, finally, it happened. Meet the newest "tango substitute": ParAAvis Toy!

2022-06-20
ОбзорСпецификацииВыводы

Toy is a completely new, completely original project, and if you want "like Tango, but better," it's definitely not about Toy. It's not just better. It's totally different. New times, new trends!

9 / 10

Construction


9 / 10

Risers


Interesting. On the one hand, it is a typical ParAAvis, well-known to Russian pilots of the early 2020s. On the other hand, it's good to remember that our figure replaces the legendary old man Tango, who has been on the market for 20 years. Progress, of course, is huge. Toy's risers don't look expensive-rich, but they have everything that modern quality risers should have. And even a little more. Narrow ribbon, softlinks, thick soft brake handles. The only reason I don't give you ten points is the lack of "expensive-richness," but that's a story about other brands.

9 / 10

Lines


Well, they did, they did! It seems that Toy is a simple, "beginner" wing, but he has a very "mature" wing structure. It has a thin but strong and durable braided dyneema in the lower tiers. Thin, unbraided dyneema in the upper tiers. Twenty years ago, in the Tango era, this was the slinging that the meanest competischen flaunted. The slings are not many, partly because of the modest number of sections, and partly because the third row branches under the dome along the chord. A quasi quadruple row! No, no, don't swear. No one is demanding the exorbitant flying performance of a simple training wing. But a smoother distribution of loads along the chord certainly wouldn't hurt such an airframe. Another interesting thing is that the entire Toev's "ear" is hanging on one single B-row strap. The decision, which is typical for today's sport two-strings. On the one hand, this means that there is no "anti-tie" sling at Toye de facto: trying to pull the outer B-row sling, the whole "ear" will go down. On the other hand, is an EN A labeled wing really that necessary? All in all, simple at first glance, but impressive if you get the hang of it.

9 / 10

Canopy





9 / 10

Build quality

9 / 10

Surface smoothness

It would seem that what could be so special about the design of a school wing? And meanwhile in the previous 20 years ParAvis made at least three attempts to improve the Tango, and it worked only the third time.

The geometry of Toy does not resemble Tango at all. Nothing in common! Gone in the past is the flat, plank-like centerplane, and the radically bent downward "ears" have gone there without transparency. The shape in the plan is also quite different. A kind of neutral-smooth ellipse, which does not give any preconceptions about the wing's character. There are not many sections in Toyu, only 36. But, as with the sling, there is no need to rush to conclusions. The trailing edge of the Toei flaunts extra ribs, and the wing's "forehead" is smoothed out surprisingly well. The unstitched spans are small, with only two sections each, and yet we can see quite a few ties in the wing, which distribute the loads more smoothly and evenly inside the wing. The inner seams of the intakes, especially critical in terms of streamlining, are especially smooth - ParAvis know-how, tested on the Joy 3 and recognized as successful. Toy's nose is supported by short, almost toy-like lines, but they perform the function of maintaining the shape of the intakes quite convincingly and even form some modest hint of a shark-nose. You remember, of course, that it was ParAvis who pioneered the shark-knose-like technology long before it became mainstream, don't you? ;)

The fabric is greasy to the touch Dokdo with water-resistant impregnation. Inexpensive, but not cheap. Good choice for a training wing fabric! And at last, the back edge, equipped with the riffling, is the decision, normal for sports technique, but a little bit unexpected for obviously educational "doughboy". And this riffing is realized rather interesting - on rings, made of some very slippery plastic, like fluoroplastic. It doesn't rub the webbing and doesn't rub itself. Can not complain about the quality of cutting and sewing. Honestly deserved nine!


9 / 10

Takeoff and groundhandling




9 / 10

Groundhandling


It does exactly what you'd expect from a training wing, and at the same time it has its own twist that makes it different from other training wings. It climbs smoothly and leisurely, but it is not prone to underdrawal and locks firmly overhead. The trick is in the elasticity with which Toy "eats up" irregularities in the air in the ascent. Getting ahead of myself, I'll note that Toy behaves the same way in flight. Nine out of ten, just because of some barely noticeable, quite forgivable for a training wing, "thoughtfulness" during ascent. No, the Toy is definitely not in danger of being underpowered; it just doesn't "fire" like more dynamic, more "mature" wings. An experienced pilot will have to spend a little longer on the wing with the front rows or the body, but for a beginner, it's just fine.

9 / 10

Takeoff


Simple, reliable, understandable. As should be the case when the wing is designed for pilots who have never handled a wing in their life. What's nice is that, unlike the Tango, the Toi has a perfectly normal, not inflated balancing speed, which makes it easier to start in all conditions.


8.39 / 10

Flight

Классика без особенностей! Ну, почти. Особенности если и есть -- то приятные. Подробности -- ниже.




8.33 / 10

Turn ability



9 / 10

Brakes efficiency

8 / 10

Weight shift efficiency

8 / 10

Rear risers control

Perhaps the strongest side of our subject. And the most unusual. Actually, it's a paradoxical task to make a frank training doublet that should forgive a novice pilot all his possible and impossible mistakes. But ParAvis solved this paradox rather dashingly. In some ways, Toy reminded me of my favorite Niviuki. Brake input is almost non-existent in the beginning, but it increases quite quickly and non-linearly as you lower your hands. And Toei's brake strokes are pretty big! As a result, a scared and reverent pilot would hardly be able to make Toy to make really sharp and amplitude maneuvers, a more advanced pilot would be surprised to know how to work very amplitudinally with his hands... and a skilled pilot could squeeze out from Toi both a wingover and a really sharp spiral in a couple of turns. That said, the notorious "rubberiness" already mentioned above does not go anywhere: Toye reacts quite elastically to everything that happens around, softly changing loads on brakes and suspension, speeds, rolls and pitches. In a thermal spiral, Toi stands surprisingly well and tightly, confidently holding the intensity and radius of the spiral set by the pilot. If you want and know how, it is not difficult to make Toi rotate very compactly and with a very small (by the standards of the EN A class) decrease. In weak evening thermals Toi was confidently keeping in the streams near to the well laden tandem - quite a decent result!

Some words about efficiency of rear rows. It's amazing, but Toy can do it. Certainly, this humble toiler of training fronts has no breeches and bosses - nevertheless, the back rows are quite effective on the gas pedal and allow steering confidently, and even to keep Toy from superfluous movements forward and back... although, however, he is not very eager to do them anyway. Toy's back rows are very light. I don't know if that's a plus or a minus -- it's a matter of taste!

9 / 10

Comfort and feedback



10 / 10

Comfort

8 / 10

Feedback

This is where the notorious "rubberiness" shows itself in all its glory. And it is difficult to say whether it is good or not. On the one hand, Toy confidently and convincingly "eats up" almost any irregularities in the air, which, of course, is very appropriate and correct for a frankly training wing. On the other hand, damping is almost always at odds with informativeness. But a school airfoil doesn't need much informativeness. Toy's informativeness is basically a character of load changes on brakes and risers and airspeed changes. It's not much, but enough to start gradually, comfortably and without excessive emotions to get accustomed to air. Such jeep with very long travel, very soft, "rubber" suspension. It is quite enough for training!

9 / 10

Glide


Have you forgotten that we are talking about a wing that not only bears the EN A label, but is clearly and unambiguously designed for training from scratch? If you remember, I'm glad you did. Toy has a Glide! And not even as small as one might have feared. Of course, it's not a beast-machine for aggressive upwind flights at full throttle, but it's more than possible to fly upwind on Toy. In the early 2000's the AFNOR Performance and DHV 2 had comparable glide, now that's a decent level for a training wing. It is comparable to small commercial tandems, and certainly much better than the legendary Tango, the direct heir (but not a descendant!) of which Toy is exactly.

8 / 10

Accelerated flight



8 / 10

Speed gain

8 / 10

Speed system effort

8 / 10

Speed system travel

Примерно плюс 10 км/ч относительно балансировочного режима. И вот не надо ругаться, что мало! Акселератор у Тоя, можно сказать, учебный. Учебный в той же мере, что и весь Той в целом. Да, сильно много скорости не добавляет (хотя по меркам класса EN A -- вполне), да, полный ход акселератора заметно просаживает аэродинамическое качество. Зато акселератором можно пользоваться, что называется, и в хвост, и в гриву. Даже на полной скорости поведение Тоя остаётся почти таким же, как на балансировочном режиме. Чуть более резко и динамично начинают протекать сложения (если до них довести, что не так просто) -- и только. Акселератор умеренно тяжёлый и не слишком длинный, что приятно.

8.5 / 10

Soaring and sink rate



8 / 10

Sink rate in straight flight

9 / 10

Sink rate in spiral

Сильная сторона многих современных учебных крыльев, и Той тут, к счастью, не исключение. Учебные крылья тяжело заставить быстро и полого лететь по прямой, зато в термиках современные "ашки" ведут себя на удивление хорошо. В этом плане Той приятно напомнил мне давинчевский Rhythm2. Без большого напряжения можно выжать из Тоя очень компактный вираж, снижение в котором будет очень невелико. Отчасти сказывается немаленькая площадь подопытного, отчасти -- достаточно продвинутая конструкция. Единственный тонкий момент -- подобно крыльям предыдущих поколений, в потоках Той просит от пилота достаточно больших ходов клевант. "Не мешай крылу лететь", "одна рука на клеванте, другая на заднему ряду" -- это, определённо, не про Той. Только олдскул, только хардкор! В потоках даже внешнюю по виражу руку надо пихать относительно низко, а уж внутреннюю -- и подавно. В ответ Той выдаёт ту самую компактную спираль с небольшим снижением, которая позволяет уверенно удерживаться даже в слабых потоках. Для начинающих пилотов -- вполне, но в дальнейшем, на более продвинутой технике, придётся переучиваться на меньшие хода клевант. В целом Той (при условии грамотного пилотирования) парит в потоках не хуже типичных "бешек" и тандемов. Вполне достойный результат!

7.5 / 10

Dynamics and energy retention





8 / 10

Dynamics

7 / 10

Energy retention

What do you mean? It's EN A! Although... No, of course, the Toy has some dynamics. It can be gradually rocked in pitch, acting as a training "dolphin". You can even send it into a not-too-depth wingovers. But you can do both if you ask for it and if you know how to do it. If you do not know how to do it, most probably, you will not succeed. Toy will simply "eat up" pilot's movements, especially if he doesn't do them in time, he doesn't feel timings necessary for vigorous maneuvers. Some swoop is possible only in full calm, and it can be called a swoop only with some stretch. On the other hand, does a simple training wing need a swoop and a complex landing in general?


8.75 / 10

Dangerous flight regimes


9 / 10

Asymmetric collapse


Great! Even by the standards of the training technique. No, there is no excessive resistance to folding, it is not difficult to provoke Toy to "asymmetry" in the half-wing. But Toi's transition to normal flight is very simple - smooth, gradual, not too abrupt, but not too slow either. Heading deviation is 30 degrees, roll and pitch do not influence anything at all, at least not at less than 50% of pitch. The 55-60% crawl makes Toye lazy in roll and pitch within 15 to 20 degrees, that's all. Loved it -- as far as liking asymmetric folding at all ;)

10 / 10

Frontal collapse


It is much more difficult to provoke the Toy to a full "frontal" than to "asymmetry," and this is not because of the long lines (they are quite short in the Toy), but because of the large internal volume of the wing. When you try to break the leading edge completely, the air comes out of the Toy extremely reluctantly, stubbornly knocking the leading edge back into the flight position. Sounds like the behavior of wings with flaps -- but no such thing has been found in the Toy's design. In the end I failed to achieve 100% leading edge collapse, the outer sections of the "ears" remained open, which made the "fronts" look more like "butterflies". It opened without too much sharpness, its roll amplitude was about 15 degrees, loosing height about 5 meters. Perfect!

6 / 10

Spin out of thermal spiral


But this is not so rosy for Toy. Perhaps due to the modest elongation, a significant part of the span, almost half of the wing, is involved in the underrun. Load drop to the inner turn arm is not too pronounced, which could create unnecessary risks for inexperienced pilots. Fortunately, it was saved by the enormous brake travel and quite a big load on the brakes near the underrun. Let me note, though, that I've repeatedly come across "overshots" and even "tseshkas", which we couldn't make to have a full backlash. In general, there is room for growth for ParAvis, although in general it is not critical.

10 / 10

Full stall


I did it in the worst possible way - with the brakes released, when the wing is far behind the pilot. Tango, Toy's predecessor, flew under the pilot in such cases with 100% probability. Of course, Toy pitched well - more than 90 degrees - but it was very, very far before the pilot hits the wing. Further rocking did not last long, the wing calmed down very quickly. The loss of altitude was about 50 meters. For such a crudely and improperly performed mode, excellent.


Tango is dead, long live Toy! In fact, ParAvis has repeatedly tried to improve Tango without spoiling anything in the behavior of this now legendary wing. But it's only really worked out well now, in early 2022. The new Toy, if it is a descendant of the Tango, is only in terms of positioning. It's an ultra-simple, ultra-reliable training vehicle with no ambition (well, almost), whose main purpose is to introduce new pilots to the sky in as affordable and safe a way as possible. Affordable financially, too -- simple design and domestic production certainly mean a very reasonable price, which is important in the current difficult times. Is Toy suitable for anything other than training? Most likely yes. In serious mountains, where maneuverability and safety are often more important than high performance, it's a good glider to fly. If your aim is to fly simple XC downwind, it won't be a disappointment, either. If to compare with Tango - it got more performance, very much more control efficiency, some problems with safety on some stall conditions are gone (though the stall could be better). Let's hope that Toy will have no less long and interesting history than Tango, and let's wish success to ParAAvis and all owners of this new wing!

Плюсы

  • Simple, understandable behavior in the vast majority of normal and dangerous flight modes
  • High passive safety
  • Slow rate of descent, ability to effectively soar

Особенности

  • Somewhat unclear behavior on an asymmetrical pre-stall

Благодарности

Thank you to ParAAvis for providing the paraglider for the tests.

Копирайт

  • Photo: ParAAvis.

Модель

Year2022
BrandParAAvis
HomologationEN C
Positioningmid EN C

Условия тестирования

Flight sitesYutsa
HarnessesSky Country SeCtor Race
Total flight weight90 kg

Технические данные

Flat area, sq. m.27,1
Flat A.R.5,16
Flat span, m10,6
Projected area, sq. m.23,5
Projected A.R.4,1
Projected span, m9,53
Cells, total36
Cord min, m0,61
Cord max, m2,85
Lines height, m6,2
Lines length, m312
Lines schemeA2A'1B3C3
Takeoff weight, kg90-105
Glider weight, kg~5
SizeM

Материалы и компоненты

Upper surface, leading edgeDominico TexDOKDO-30DMF
Upper surface except leading edgeDominico TexDOKDO-30DMF
Bottom surfaceDominico TexDOKDO-30DMF
Ribs, supportedDominico TexDOKDO-30DMF
Ribs, unsupportedDominico TexDOKDO-30DMF
Diagonal ribsDominico TexDOKDO-30DMF
Lines, upper cascadesRosenberger AGLiros DC40
Lines, middle cascadesRosenberger AGLiros DC60
Lines, main (lower) cascadesRosenberger AGLiros PPSL 190 / PPSL 200 (L,XL)
Risers, webbingGüth & WolfDyneema Core 70 404−15
Risers, pulleysRonstanRF25109

Ссылки

Toy page on the manufacturer's website
ОбзорСпецификацииВыводы