SKYMAN CrossAlps 2: A Light EN-C That Tames Its Aspect Ratio

The achievement of the CrossAlps 2 is that it leaves the 6.5 aspect ratio untouched while shedding a great deal of the piloting workload. The brake authority has become smoother and less sharp ("The authority on the brakes is also smoother, less sharp, more forgiving."), and the result is longer flights at some 60% less workload than the first version. This is not a wing softened by giving up performance. It keeps the same C-class performance intact and only reduces the effort it takes to use it, carrying that across a generation. The cost shows up in the descent. With only two A-risers, the big ears taken on the outer A open wide and unstable, and are hard to hold ("unstable and a bit difficult to maintain"). On a wing aimed at alpine and cross-country flying, a rapid-descent tool that has actually gone backwards is not a detail to wave away. In the end the CrossAlps 2 offers a clear reward to the pilot who stays up long and flies far, but leaves a moment's burden when altitude has to be dumped in a hurry.