Credit photo : Pierre DUCAROUGE
La Mutant is the speed-riding wing of Flying Planet, a brand that closed its doors in September 2016. We decided to dedicate an article to a mythical wing, designed in collaboration with Antoine Montant.
It is intended for ski and foot flights, depending on the PTV and pilot level.
It comes in 3 sizes:
9 m² – 11 m² and 15 m². The behaviour remains almost identical if the wing load is increased, the nervousness and reactivity are increased in proportion to the load.
The 9 m² will concern experienced riders only, whose main vocation is to ski steep slopes.
The 11 m², more versatile, can be used for beginners and intermediate levels for speed-riding. For speed flying, it will be of particular interest to experienced pilots, because this is not its vocation and there are now more suitable wings.
The 15 m² is equivalent to the 11, but for heavier pilots.
Design
With an elongation of less than 3, the pitch is practically non-existent.
Its profile is different from all current speed wings, of a design strongly inspired by parachutes, one recognizes it at first glance by its rectangular shape.
The construction is good and robust, it is a wing made to last.
Its 2-line elevators in 11 m² and 3-line elevators in 9 m² are virtually untangled by themselves.
Behaviour
Take-off requires a good dose of speed and control. No need of big tempo, the wing does not stick out and refocuses easily on its own.
On the other hand, the support is less good than the last generation wings, it is not its strong point.
The glide is bad, but it’s not part of its program; on the contrary, you clearly feel that its purpose is to stick and not to fly.
In flight, the deflection of the controls is rather good but they appear to be soft. It’s rather blurry for a speed wing, it really corresponds to a mix between a wing and a parachute.
Driving in the fifth wheel is surprising, Valentin Delluc gives us a little demonstration of wrinkle “without hands” (see at the bottom of the article), i. e. if it is easy!
The loss of altitude in turns is important, and because of a bad glide, the resource is timid, it takes a few runs to apprehend the phases of flight.
The ease of driving on the ground makes it possible to maintain the speed and therefore the energy required for safety. Moreover, it is a wing that rides with speed, but tolerates low speeds. Be careful even if you are flying at full trim, the stall point is really close, it’s better to keep a margin by not pulling it all the way down.
The roll is very important and it will be the difficult point for novice pilots.
(Note of our friend Kaloo from the Aero-bi Morzine school:”It is enough to dismantle the line that connects the two brake beams by passing through the rings at the trailing edge to calm down the beast greatly”)
Fully deflected, it is the ultimate weapon for steep slopes, the controls harden, give a more direct response and therefore more precise steering.
The dive is very important, which makes the Mutant very interesting to tackle on the slope.
We pose depressed with ski without difficulty, but watch out for the roll anyway, on foot it will require a good level of practice and a lot of attention because the crater is never far away!
Skills
Style
We like
- Robustness
- Easy skiing
- Dive
- Different profile, whether you like it or not
We like less
- Roll for beginners
- Footlaunch
- Inaccuracy of in-flight controls
