EN-D
High performance
Reviews of EN-D class gliders.
NOVA Xenon 3 S — A Racing Machine in Light EN-D Clothing
The Xenon 3 S comes into sharpest focus inside strong lift. A climb that springs upward as if a coil were released, and a glide that forces the class table to be rewritten — the moment those two overlap, the wing crosses over from light XC tool to racing machine. That performance, though, isn't handed to you for free. The quick responsiveness is a double edge that amplifies the pilot's input as-is, so the potential only opens up if you have the hands to drag the wing along with brake and weight. The Xenon 3 S is a wing for the D pilot who has reached the stage where it's piloting skill, not equipment, that decides the result.
Supair Wild 2 — A Racing Heart with a Balanced Touch
This is an uncommon canopy of balance — top-of-the-D glide that still holds on to the feel in weak lift right to the end. That it sacrificed neither performance nor handling for the other is the one line that explains the Wild 2. But this balance isn't open to everyone. Only experienced pilots who can read a two-liner's behaviour and refine it at the fingertips will enjoy both the racing heart and the balanced touch at once. To those pilots, the Wild 2 is the glider that pays back most honestly.
Skywalk Poison 4 — Peak 6 Glide, With a Gentler Touch
A two-liner that flies like the Peak 6 yet asks for less hand than the Zeno 2. That is a rare combination. Remember just one thing: this glide and this climb only wake up when the wing is loaded well. For a pilot who can fill the all-up to the top, the Poison 4 lets you handle top-end performance with a far easier mind.
Skywalk X-Alps 6 (95): An Approachable Lightweight Two-Liner D
The X-Alps 6's strengths are clear. It has few sudden movements, and from launch through acceleration it never puts the pilot on edge. For a C-class pilot setting foot in the two-liner world for the first time, a wing this manageable is rare. Still, "approachable" does not mean "go ahead and rush." The pilot who reads this wing's behaviour and banks the flights — rather than climbing the grades quickly — is the one who ultimately flies farther. The X-Alps 6 is a glider that lowers the threshold into the D class; it is not a glider that fills in the skill you're still missing.
AirDesign X-Ped XS — A Lightweight Hike-and-Fly Two-Liner That Plays Like a Swallow
The X-Ped XS's strengths are unmistakable: the immediate feel of a light canopy in the hands, and the nimble turn that bites into a thermal core. What it is not is a glider that builds distance through glide. The responsiveness and portability won by lowering the aspect ratio are, by the same measure, efficiency given up. So the X-Ped XS belongs less to the pilot who wants to go far, and more to the experienced pilot who wants to walk to the summit, float the wing up lightly, and play with the air like a swallow. For the person buying feel rather than distance, this wing is the exact answer.