NOVA Paragliding (Shockwave)

Design and Development:

Primarily, the Nova Shockwave, was designed to best meet the requirements of the "Red-Bull Dolomitenmann" competition! These requirements include having a light glider with excellent take off handling. However, high speed and a very good glide are also necessary!

Certainly, this performance and speed need to be flown in practice. The glider must remain manageable even in turbulent conditions.

To combine these properties it wasn`t enough to just scale down an existing glider, due to these circumstances the Shockwave is a completely separate construction. Alone because of using a special designed airfoil there is an articulate difference compared to the other Nova gliders.

In common with the new generation of nova wings is the very efficient line geometry. With just three attachment levels and two main lines each side, the shockwave cuts through the air more efficiently. This low line drag, is the key to the glide rate at high speed flight, furthermore this geometry guaranties a consistent load distribution to antagonize extension and high G-force.

The first prototype alone exceeded our expectations! The Test pilots made more then one hundred flights in various conditions with this glider. The performance was better than we thought. This glider has the potential to astonish every good pilot.

When other pilots would not otherwise consider the conditions safe for flying, pilots flying the shockwave can be seen soaring, flying in strong thermals or even making acro flights. Due to the superior glide, and low sink rate, the shockwave is able to stay in the air in weaker conditions too.

Based on our experience we decided to produce the Shockwave in series.

But there should be no doubt, that this is a glider which is far from receiving a certification and only very good pilots can handle the Shockwave, especially in extreme situations.

Experience:

Not many NOVA Prototypes had as many test flights as the shockwave, before they become serial gliders. NOVA Test pilot Mario Eder made the first flights with the shockwave, after which, he reported having an adrenalin overdose! One of the reasons for this is the high speed, the other, perhaps, is the extremely sensitive handling.

Simply a little steering impulse is all that is needed to propel the shockwave pilot into a steep curve without any delay. However, after only a short acclimatization period, this undamped handling will present a lot of fun which you couldn`t have with an ordinary glider.

One of the most surprising aspects for us was the relatively easy take off which the shockwave offeres: The raising up phase with this glider is much shorter than with other wings. Even with a tailwind you only need a couple of quick steps and the canopy is above the pilot.

Of course, the shockwave has been tested in thermals too; it has spent many hours in thermal flight. Even in very rough conditions the glider never collapsed. The profile we used seems to work like anticipated, which enables this glider to possess such a collapse resistant behaviour. In very turbulent air the lines on the glider would momentarily slacken, but the SHOCKWAVE would just fly on unaffected.

The provoked collapse reopen very fast. However, even at trim speed the 12m² glider reacts by shooting forward very far. A provoked full speed collaps did not miss our tests either. The glider opened fast but shot straight underneath the pilot without any energy loss and absolutely taught lines, enabling the pilot to fly a second time over the glider! Without any pilot reaction the glider would probably have stayed in a clean tumbling.

So should a collapse occur in turbulent conditions, the pilot should be very clear about the possible consequences.

Toni Bender has flown many hours with this glider in the past months in every conceivable condition. He has been able to keep up with all the other pilots in the air. (Though we have to admit that Toni is a brilliant pilot and he doesn't weigh 60kg on a good day.)

But with all his experience Toni still felt the SHOCKWAVE to be a totally demanding glider after longer thermal flights. As an ambitious rider of very fast motor bikes he compaired the SHOCKWAVE with a race bike. You have to be very aware of the fact that you have a direct responsibility for yourself every time you fly this glider. To be an inattentive pilot, or to be of a little exaggerated opinion of oneself can have frightful results.

The SHOCKWAVE has been in action on the dunes for a week. With this glider the possibility of flight is enormously extended. Correspondingly, for Christian Gruber, it was then, when the other pilots would pack up their gliders thinking the wind to be too strong, that the fun began.

This high powered race glider enables expert pilots to enjoy dynamic experiences, which have never been seen before. For example, at ground level soaring: the SHOCKWAVE conserves the energy for speed extraordinarily well, and regains its height after a deep and fast overflight. The extremely direct brake handling, in conjunction with the incredibly sensitive steering impulses which are necessary for flight, pose a danger of an addictive type whereby users can overdose on the adrenalin this dynamic and agile glider provides.

Christian Gruber has accumulated over a hundred flights with the SHOCKWAVE. So after a flight on a 16m2 acro glider it was not surprising to hear him moan that it had given him the same impression as flying solo on a tandem glider. It is hard to describe the feeling one gets, while flying the SHOCKWAVE, but this incident should give you an insight into the shockingly different league of paragliding that the SHOCKWAVE can provide. After only a few flights, your expectation of speed and dynamics will certainly be recalibrated!

We are curious to find out how the SHOCKWAVE is received by the pilot community, especially if this concept will grow into a new dominion of paragliding. Of course, such a device will never benefit amateur pilots, but aside from concentrating on the certification market, the allure of a glider that is light enough and small enough to almost fit into your pocket for the most extreme and technically demanding alpine ascents, for pilots seeking pure adrenalin and a raw sense of flying, the SHOCKWAVE will be a thoroughly satisfying glider.

However, we must appeal to all pilots who choose to fly with this wing, you must critically ask yourself; are you able to handle such a glider? Can you really handle turbulent, strong wind situations or if it is in fact your current glider which has the characteristics to handle them for you? Putting aside all that, we wish all of you expert pilots out there as much adrenalin loaded and addictive fun with the SHOCKWAVE as we have experienced!

Technical Characteristics:

The Nova Shockwave has a special airfoil, that is why it is such a stabile cannopy which is very resistant to collapsing. A very high wing load is required for such a concept to work, which in turn produces the static stiffness of the profile.
With only two mainlines per side and three line - levels (a,b,c) the shockwave has an extremly reduced line concept that specially benefits the performance at high speed.
The chosen line geometry is a guaranty for an equal load distribution on the whole wingspan.
The construction allows a very low minimum speed, which makes the take off and landing a lot easier. Also is the lower flyable minimum speed an easement in thermal flights.

Technical Data:

Here you will find the technical data of the SHOCKWAVE compared to others.

Photos:

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Manuals, lineplans, ... :

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