01 - What's the use ?
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- Fly in stronger conditions,(thermals, soaring, heavy winds). Ground handling in stronger wind thus meaning : ease of use, accessibility, less power, success situation, discovery, school use).
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Flying in calm air on regular site, (ease of inflating, small gear volume, light gear, improved pleasure of a simple sled, ease of making more flights in school repeating more often take-offs, approaches and landings. High speed sensations, on site thermal and soaring flights, easier approaches due to the lower glide ratios, all of that making the learning of standing-up during take-off and landing.
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Hike and fly (lightness, arriving at summit with better strenth, easy inflating, possibilities of taking off in stronger winds than expected so fewer times needing to hike down by foot. Handling more basic than a standard paraglider. Low speeds, less tricky or useless for this kind of flight. Wing more pitch damped. Higher speed potential.

02 - Differences from a classic size paraglider
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Smaller area (about 12sqm to 19sqm) meaning higher wing loads.
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Faster wing, more control reactive in turns and asymetrical stall more difficult to obtain than on a standard size paraglider (25sqm and up)
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Faster inflating so you'll need less space to run even with tail wind conditions.
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More basic streamline, smaller aspect ratios than a regular paraglider (between 3 and 5 max), meaning a more accessible wing.
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Shorter line lenght (6m) therefore easier to rig up in smaller improvised take off areas.
If the wind is strong enough (20k and up) it's always possible to inflate just by throwing the glider downwind.
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Trim speeds vary from 40 to 50 km/h, glide ratios vary between 4,5 and 6,5. Fully untrimmed, speeds vary from 50 to 60hm/h.
Minimum speeds vary from 25/30km/h and 35km/h.
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Since the wing is more reactive, the response is immediate from the beginning of the braking and the action stops right away when we let go, there is no inertia. This offers us a great handling precision. These factors allow us to easily adapt ourselves to higher speed flying.
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The speed wing dives more when turning, has less glide ratio and flies faster in a much smaller turn radius. We can thermal and soar like a regular size paraglider but in stonger conditions. This will all depend on the skill of the pilot to handle a speed wing.
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Like a standard paraglider, the sail can be equipped with trims on the rear risers ( trim down to slower the speed, minimum sink rate, and untrim to achieve full max speed ). Some speed wings can be equipped with trims on the front risers (rarely), those are only used to accelerate the wing. We can also see speed wings equipped with a standard speed bar thus pulling down the « A » risers. Speed wings can be designed with either 2,3 or 4 risers.
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The smaller the speed wing is(18 down to 12 sqm) the higher the flying speed will be.In flight with a standard size paraglider (around 25 sqm) there are long moments that the pilot has nothing to do, the flight is contemplative, the pilot is mostly waiting for a thermal or suffers the consequences of turbulent air.
Flying a speed wing demands a bit more from the pilot, especially close to a ridge, he needs to be permenantely active and attentive, there are no phases where he feel the consequences of the air mass.
This really makes the flight very pleasant, the pilot is the one in control of his displacement and trajectories. He is in total control of his flight !
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This reactivity and and way of handling prevents the pilot from thinking to hard and beeing scared.

03 - Flight incidents and adapted piloting
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The wing load beeing a lot higher (5kg/sqm) than on a regular size paraglider (3,5kg/sqm), the glider is less likely to collapse. This solidity is increased by the type of streamline chosen and shorter aspect ratios.

We are leaning towards a very high level of passive security. The speed wing is quite self auto-get out of this trouble situations! Depending on the models, we can have fast pitch and roll movements on very short amplitudes.
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Due to the fact that we can fly in stonger thermal and stronger wind conditions we can still be confronted to frontal or asymetrical collapses. However these situations will remain exceptional. Of course, a pilot flying in conditions way over his capacities and technical level at times like these will be at risk. It would then be easily comparable to flying in strong conditions with a standard paraglider!!!
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In the case of a big asymetrical collapse the wing will have a tendency of turning faster towards the collapsed side but will get back to its normal flight behaviour without the pilot's input within 360 degrees. With good active handling a glider has not much chances of collapsing. The line cone beeing short and the wing load substantial, the pendulum effect (pilot beeing automatically replaced under the glider in case of an outbalanced situation) is stronger thus reducing the shooting of the glider.
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Fully engaged 360's are very easy to obtain, less technical than a standard paraglider. There are less chances of getting an asymetrical stall while inducing the spiral dive, the speed wing will get immediately in the spiral just by pulling down the inside brake, no weight shifting necessary. The angle of the glider while in the dive is less pronounced than with a normal paraglider so giving less centrifugal force, this allows the pilot to obtain very high sinking rate with more ease and with less loss of exteriror references.
The spiral dive behaviour( neutral or stable) will depend on the model used. Just like a 26sqm paraglider.

04 - How do I choose my size?
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Differently than with a regular size paraglider, we have the choice between about 12 to 19sqm. The most common size of foot launch speed wings is around 15/16sqm flat. (Around 12/13sqm projected).
The choice is not made regarding the hook in weight but rather for the use you're going to make out of it (a bit like a kite). With a naked pilot weight of 75 kg we can fly from 12sqm to 18sqm all of it in function on what we are looking for : speed, sensations, mountain, sites...and also in function of our technical level : the smaller the glider is the more you'll need to run at the take off, the more it will sink in turns, faster flying speed and will need longer to land.
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We can also aim on light versions. A lite version of a 14sqm weighs about 2kg with a folded volume of about 15 liters. That makes anyone dream when thinking of climbing and fly down. There are some harnesses that weigh around 300gr. That leaves you with a complete kit at less than 3kg!!!
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Therefore it is best to determine what will be your main use, aeology, flying site before choosing a model and a size before the try out.

05 - How to try a speed wing, cautions
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A first contact and briefing with a professional can lead you off to a good start. A few good tips according to your expectations,technical level and flight experience can save you time and avoid common errors.
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For your first flight choose a flying site that you know well. Take off and landing zone should be big enough to allow room for mistakes.Avoid cliff take offs and LZ in a parking lot between 2 buildings...
The process should be the same as when trying any new paraglider. So think about the choice of the site, the wind speed at take off and at the LZ. All of this will make it easier for the discovery of the speed wings. A bit of ground handling will rapidly make you comfortable with your new toy. All around, everything is easier and with more speed, so don't sit to quickly in your harness and think of standing up before landing. The lift ratio will be obtained at higher speed so don't panic, you just have to run faster to get in the air safely. As for the flair, it will be done just before touching the ground. Avoid wing-overs just before the final approach since you'll be surprised by the high sink rate out of each turn. Opt for a long final, the approach is easier since those wings have less glide ratio, hands up and start with a first low amplitude braking than flair completely to land on your feet, prepare for a few fast steps.
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The speed wing needs an adaptation from the pilot to get used to those new air speeds.It will take a bit of training to get the good feeling out of it. It normally takes a very short period of time to understand how it all works.
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A speed wing has less inertia when you pull down the brake control, it is more reactive, but in the mean time as soon as you lift up the brake the glider will get right back into straight flight.
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Compared to a standard size paraglider, the brake travel is shorter on these wings and the speed wings are not adapted to very low speeds. Put aside your references to accept this new movement.
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Make your first flights with your trims at neutral position, (all triangular maillons equal), use the trims to speed up a few flights later.

06 - Harness types to be used, reserve, back protection and personal gear
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According to the model of speed wing that you choose, you can use a standard harness or a no-seat plate harness with independent leg support. Harnesses with seat plates are not essential because weight shifting is not a matter when beginning a turn. The action of the brake control alone creates a good roll of the wing. More so, a seat plate harness can increase the inverse roll factor when flying at high speed.
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Like on a paraglider, it is your choice to fly with or without back protection(Bump'Air or AirBag).The choice of an airbag follows the thinking of flying light and has less volume when packing up.
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When flying on a busy site it is advised to be equiped with a reserve chute. There are very light and small certified reserves on the market. Be aware that line lenghts of speed wings can be shorter than the lines of a standard Pull Down Apex reserve, you may have to adjust the lent of your reserve risers.
It's important when buying a reserve that you buy a certified one and one that suits your all-up weight. Bigger is better than too small.
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The personal gear( helmet, gloves, clothes,glasses...)remains the same as what you already use with your standard equipment. If you're rapidly hyped by the speed of these new gliders than you should opt for a set of ski goggles.

07 - Chosen materials, strenth, certificatons, flight test
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The materials used (coated ripstop nylon, aramide or dyneema, stainless steel maillons, webbing pulleys...) are all of the highest quality and respond by their sizing and their choices to all the strains that the speed wings can undergo.The different brands of equipment and materials used the make regular paragliders are the same as used to build speed wings.The units of productions are also the same (France, Europe, Asia, South Africa, South America). In most cases it's paragliders and kite companies that conceive and produce the speed wings.
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The speed wings are load tested ( 8g or 6g minimum), this validates the constuction and conception strenght. This load certification will also give an all-up maximum weight regarding of the surface area. There are no flight tests for speed wings, they don't fit in certifications EN (a,b,c and d) or LFT (1,1/2,2,2/3).A speed wing builder can, if he wishes, present his glider in the quest of a EN or LFT certification. Nevertheless, the flight tests will be performed by test pilots of their own brand, (full stall, asymetrical and frontal collapses at different speeds, spiral dive, deep stall...) as well as other tests such as ears, B stall ...this all depends on the requirements, goals and conception of the model.

08 - Acro flying and speed wings, different practices
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To be seen by the recommendation of the designer. It is certain that experienced acro pilots will try specific manoeuvers with speed wings. (SAT, wing overs, loops and spiral dives). We are not sure that the behaviour of these speed wings (quite damped) are compatible of what acro pilots are looking for. Acro wings range between 18 to 22sqm and have very dynamic behaviours. Acro gliders are more demanding from the piloting level and don't have the same target as the the speed wings. We think that flying with speed wings will lead to different orientations : hike and fly, strong thermal flying, soaring, near ground evolutions (slalom, flair, high speed waymark courses), basic on site flights because they are simple to play with and assured fun is on the way !!
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Of course we can use speed wings with skis in a mountain hike, in this context you have to take consideration the flight regulation rules (national parks,..) At ski centers, ask before flying about the authorized flying zones. With the arrival of speed riding, numerous ski centers propose specially paragliding, speed riding and speed flying adapted zones (take-offs, flying zones and LZ's). The handling remains the same as with a paraglider except for higher speeds at take-off and landing.

9 - Speed riding and speed flying
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The gliders used for speed riding (on skis only) are smaller (from 8 to 12sqm), and have very small aspect ratios ( usually less than 3). The speed riding wings are designed with a very steep angle of attack and have a very small glide ratio (2 to 3). The goal of speed riding is to be able to glide close to the slopes at high speed switching from riding to flying. The good handling of the glider when riding is essential and very technical (slalom for example). The speed riding competitions are either oriented towards free ride down steep back country hills, the quality of the ride is judged like a back country ski free ride, or riding in snow parks, slalom courses, riding and flying zones.
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The speed wings are bigger (12 to 18sqm), have a slower speed range and a better glide ratio, closer to a regular paraglider. They can be foot launched and the main goal is flying in any kind of ways. Since this is a new flying activity, there are no competitions beeing organized yet. The actual work now is to create new objectives for schools who wishes to teach speed flying.

10 - Type of progression, paraglider pilot,public with no flight experience
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A good paragliding pilot that can take his own decisions, that is able to fly in various site will easily fly with a speed wing after a complete briefing about the characteristics of these new engines. A ground handling session in strong and low winds to learn about the different reactions of these small wing as well as a few take offs and landings off a training hill is necessary to obtain new references on the vivacity, damping, brake travel and different reactions with different trim adjustments.
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For a beginner that has never flown before, it is very possible to start learning how to fly with a speed wing when taught accordingly to the specificities of such gliders.
In both cases it is essential that the site and aerological conditions are adapted for speed flying wings. Large take off and close LZ.

11 - Speed wing and paramotor = Sparamotor
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It's new but some paramotor pilots fly with speed wings. It is strongly suggested that only very experienced paramotor pilots fly with speed wings.

12 - To find ourselves in these different activities, sizes, mode
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8 to 12sqm Speed Riding
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Mostly used with skis in big ski centers offering back country slopes and with more skiing than flying. The wings are normally made with only 2 risers with or without trims. Best glide ratio is obtained at around mid brake travel, the glide ratio is between 2(hands up) and 3,5 to 4. The size is chosen in function of the skill level of the pilot. Speed riding wings are tested in load test only and are not « in flight » certified.
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NB : Speed Riding wings are also used in foot launch take offs by very experienced pilots searching for adrenalin rushes soaring in very strong winds or just wanting to fly down very fast with top notch precision landings.
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14 to 18sqm Speed Flying wings
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This new sport is closer to traditional paragliding but with smaller wings. Foot launchable, larger wind conditions usable (from nil wind to quite strong ), thermal flying, soaring and some acro manoeuvers. We can find these gliders with glide ratios ranging from 5 to 7.5 and higher flying speeds. The type of flight varies regarding on what we are looking for,(flying on site, mountain,soaring). The choice of the surface area, model and brand (aspect ratios between 3.5 to 6) depends essentially on the technical level and experience of the pilot, ask your professional flying Guru for directions. The advantages of speed wings are numerous : easy to handle, small volume, total weight, sensations, flights in stronger aerological conditions are now possible, easy groud handling and training in stronger winds...Speed Wings from 15 to 16sqm in light versions make hike and fly very easy since the super low weight ; 2.0kg!! A 16sqm seems to be the best choice for this kind of activity, up to 5000m of altitude.
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NB : These wings can also be used for speed riding but since they have higher glide ratios it makes it more technical to stay near the slopes.
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18 to 22sqm paragliders
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In these surface ranges there is a wide choice of models. We can find 18sqm acro gliders also certified in load tests. Freestyle wings is now a new trend, freestyle acro access gliders, easier to fly around 22 sqm and mostly certified in flight.There are also x-small gliders that can be certified as beginner to intermediate gliders for very light weight pilots ; 45 to 60kg with in flight certification. Also competition wings with 7 to 8 aspect ratios are found in very small sizes, only certified in load tests with an all up weight uo to 105kg. In this size bracket we can include mountain paraglider as well aiming for easy handling and take-off with light weight and small volume with a larger all up weight range. They are in flight certified and their weight varies between 2,5 to 3,5kg.
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Over 22sqm
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Here we find the complete line of paragliders, from beginner to competition. The choice is then made according to the skill levels and goals. We will also find tandem gliders ranging from 36 to 42sqm. The glide ratios are between 7.5 up to 11, aspect ratios from 4,5 to 9,5 and trim speed from 33km/h to 60km/h with speed bar.

13 - Progression type
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For a large paragliding public the learning of speed flying will go trough a normal training process like in every paragliding school.
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In conclusion a good paragliding pilot will only have to be helped out by a local professional to guide him properly in the access of this new activity and choice of equipment.
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For a total beginner, learning will go trough normal paragliding instructing process but simply adapted to the differences of the speed wings compared to normal paragliders.

14 - Notices
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The use of a reserve is not a really good idea when flying in strong winds or coastal soaring. Pulling out the reserve can be very risky when it's blowing 40km/h. A quick release system could be an option.
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The same option can also be used for your speed wing carabeeners because top landings in strong winds can also lead to the same problem ; beeing dragged violently. Releasing only one side will be enough.
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All other kinds of protection is strongly advised (helmet, back protection, gloves) since hitting the ground or any other obstacle happens at very high speed and thus exposing yourself to serious injuries.
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Speed riding handling beeing quite simple in normal conditions, they also allow to fly in much stronger winds than with a normal paraglider. So flying safely in strong winds requires good handling techniques, good analysis of the air mass and a good physical and mental shape when flying.