[edit 31.07.2008: The text below was written right when we got the first batch of production gliders from the factory. We were all pretty stoked that the wing was finally ready to be introduced in front of a wider audience, but we were also a bit worried that this new and somewhat radical design would prove to be a handful for many pilots, so we wrote a very cautious introduction. In the mean time the Edges have been flown for thousands of hours all over the planet, and to our knowledge noone has discovered any freaky tendencies so far. The UP Edge is, believe it or not, a baby to fly! Check out the "Pilot Feedback" section for unedited feedback emails from Edge pilots around the world]

 

Where the Targa family was always the ultimate comp wings for a very wide audience, the Edge is more of a purebred race horse - not for everyone, but for the pilot with the skills to handle it an unbeatable racing machine.

We always felt that the Targa wings were a great entry into the world of Open Class wings - they handled like Intermediate gliders, yet they had the performance it took. But nowadays the race for performance has gone into a new stage, and something more radical was needed to take the UP pilots back onto the Open Class podiums. This doesn't mean that the Edge is unflyable for all but the most seasoned test pilots, it is not, but it is surely not a bad thing to have flown Open Class wings before.

The return of the bargain is a wing that will outclimb and outglide anything out there at the moment, right up to its incredible top speed of around 70km/h. It does so with effortless ease, is super simple to fly, solid like no other on speed bar - but when it goes you need to be on the ball.

Getting to the stage where we are now has taken far longer than we wanted it to. But getting it right means getting it right in so many different, and often mutually opposing, aspects that it is a process that just cannot be rushed.

The glide performance of the first prototypes, internally known as the XD50, was already impressive when they came off the prototype building line. But the climbing and the handling still wasn't right, so a number of further wings were built. From the XD55 we knew it was close - climbing, handling and glide was perfect, yet the character of the wings was such that we didn't feel it was a commercial UP product like you have come to expect from us. Several revisions of the XD55 didn't produce the desired trademark UP predictability of the wing when subject to aerological disturbances, so the XD56 was built - and the Edge was born. It combines the performance figures of the earlier, but meaner, proto's with an extreme flight behaviour that satisfies our R&D guys and is in fact the exact wing we were hoping to build for all those months.

• Trim speed from 37 to 43km/h, variable through the new riser system
• Top speed well over 65km/h with very high inherent collapse resistance and an impressively flat polar curve
• Very high stability at all speeds
• Astoundingly easy launching in spite of the radical aspect ratio
• Superior climbing ability in all conditions - trimmers for refining the climbs in weak conditions
• True 3-liner technology for improved performance
• Entirely new riser system make using the speed bar light and VERY efficient
• Ultra Riser: 12mm Kevlar Race risers with exclusive King Snaps line maillons
• 8 sizes (!) to choose from for perfect wing loading regardless of your hook-in weight

Delivery: Ergonomic Backpack, Inner Bag, Compression Tape, UP Gift, UP Sticker, Repair Kit

SIZE	XS	S	SM	M	ML	L	XL	XXL
FLAT AREA (m2)	23,36	24,47	25,52	26,53	27,50	28,43	29,31	30,16
PROJECTED AREA (m2)	19,72	20,66	21,55	22,40	23,22	24,00	24,75	25,47
FLAT SPAN (m)	13,23	13,54	13,83	14,11	14,36	14,60	14,83	15,04
PROJECTED SPAN (m)	10,25	10,49	10,71	10922	11,12	11,30	11,48	11,64
FLAT ASPECT RATIO	7,5	7,5	7,5	7,5	7,5	7,5	7,5	7,5
PROJECTED ASPECT RATIO	5,32	5,32	5,32	5,32	5,32	5,32	5,32	5,32
TOP SURFACE CHAMBERS	75	75	75	75	75	75	75	75
BOTTOM SURFACE CHAMBERS	75	75	75	75	75	75	75	75
WEIGHT (kg)	5,9	6,2	6,4	6,7	6,9	7,1	7,4	7,6
Vtrim (km/h)	41-42	41-42	41-42	41-42	41-42	41-42	41-42
Vmax (km/h)	>65	>65	>65	>65	>65	>65	>65	>65
DHV category	BEP*
OPT. TAKEOFF WEIGHT (+/- 3 kg)	83	89	95	101	107	113	119	125
*) BEP="Breitenerprobung" means the wing design has been load tested

DESCRIPTION: COMPETITION