Swing Stellar RS: the new star in the EN B class

Clean, narrow. The B-row, as it should be in a modern three-liner wing, rolls on a good bearing block. And this block slides on a slick Dyneema sling, which further reduces friction. Thread locks on the metal connectors are made of plastic, they hold well. Brake handles — with Swing-specific stiffeners that can be removed if desired — are attached to the back rows with convenient magnets. Neoprene covered bridge grips are present, they are quite comfortable.

I don't want to write "well thought out mix of non-braided and braided lines" again... but I have to. For some reason the manufacturer does not specify the material of the lines, but most likely it is Aramid in the lower tiers and Dyneema in the upper tiers. The number of lines is typical for EN B class wings. Lines scheme: A2A'1B4C2.

Instantly recognizable SWING! I'm talking about the shape on the plan. In that sense, the Swing is surprisingly conservative, and there is nothing wrong with that. The external geometry of the wing is also quite conservative. Elongation is just under 6, reasonable number of sections (57), moderate arch. More interesting is the fabric the wing is made of. It is not possible to find out from the Internet what kind of fabric it is, it is only clear that the "forehead" of the wing is made of something quite dense and durable, and further along the chord lightweight cloth is used. As a result, the weight of the wing is small, about 4 kg — but such a wing will obviously serve longer than radically lightened wings. An interesting feature is the RAST, which is already standard on the Swing, a transverse baffle inside the wing in the entire span, designed to increase the resistance of the wing to collapses and to make it easier to recover from them.

Nothing to talk about, easy both technically and physically. The RAST, well present here, slows down the rise of the glider, but it's not critical. Just a minimal tendency to overshoot. Maybe more A-riser pull and more effort is needed in nil or backwind conditions, but that wasn't the case when I flew the Stellar.

I'm being totally subjective here, because I didn't have a chance to fly side-by-side with any glider due to the weather. I didn't feel any limitation in terms of performance and I dare say that this Stellar has very good glide for an EN B labeled glider.

I started my measures immediately after launch, expecting a short "bomb out" flight (fortunately I was wrong). It seems that all these new generation Swing gliders have the same profile and have a similar behavior when gaining speed. The speed is stabilized for quite a long time, at least 15 to 20 seconds, and even the smallest amount of rear riser input can "kill" a lot of speed! However, the speed gains are quite impressive. The Stellar gave me +10...+12 km/h at 50% of the speed bar and quite impressive +15...+18 km/h at full speed. Not the absolute record in its class (like the Libra), but still decent!

The Stellar did not disappoint in weak weather. The glider clings tightly to narrow, weak lifts, the descent rate does not tend to increase significantly, even when spinning quite compactly. Unintentional exits from thermals are not accompanied by a serious increase in sink rate. That's great! But I don't know how it will be in stronger weather.

I liked it the most out of Stellar! It was how it should be in the high tier of the EN B class. Not too sharp and not too weak! The reactions to brake inputs are progressive, the brake load is pleasant, the glider's reactions are easy to understand, without complex transition processes. And this behavior stays the same, from gentle flat turns in near-zero thermals to steep spirals. Weight shift reactions are also nice.

Rear Riser Control. As a 3-liner, the Stellar has comfortable and efficient B-C control handles. They are lighter than usual, easy to grab, and give you a sweet "almost-two-liner" feel. I tested them both at trim speed and in accelerated flight. The difference in load and efficiency was there, but not critical. Yes, it's possible to use the B-C handles to counteract some turbulence even at trim speed!

Unfortunately, the bad weather did not allow us to properly evaluate the comfort of the Stellar. But the informativeness... A lot depends on it in weak conditions. And Stellar did not disappoint! By the standards of the EN B class, it is quite a "talkative" wing, but fortunately not too much. Noticeable (and very understandable) changes are mainly in airspeed and the associated loads on the brakes and risers. It looks like the Stellar is "jumping" into the flow core. In pitch, the wing is quite damped, and there was no noticeable surge at all. I should note that the weather was quite calm.

Wing Overs. Wohoo!! That was nice :) The gradual increase in brakes efficiency and the explicit reactions to inputs do their job. It's easy to reach 100-120 degrees of bank in 2-3 turns. The wing gains speed gradually, requiring minimal wingover skills. A great tool for learning wingovers!

Admissible for a top EN B glider, but definitely not the easiest or safest in its class. The A-risers are moderately loaded, it's not difficult to induce a collapse that immediately goes deep chordwise. The pitch/yaw surge is about 45 degrees and the course deviation is about 120 degrees before the glider returns to normal flight. The reopening is gradual, with no sudden jumps. The last 3-4 sections of the ear may remain closed, requiring a short brake application to reopen them.

Good, but not ideal. The stall takes about 25-30% of the wing span. Brake pressure drops moderately, it's better to keep visual contact with the wing during the stall. The stall develops slowly, going into negative spin in at least 1-1.5 seconds. The exit is smooth, with no significant jumps or oscillations.

Easy! The effort on the outer A-lines is moderate to light, the ears stuck under the canopy and are super stable. Horizontal speed drops only slightly (as always, don't forget to use the speed bar when flying with the ears folded). Reopening may require a few successive brake inputs. For me it's more of a feature than a bug.)