Flare

Line 8M review

I picked up this wing directly from Superfly Paragliding 

At 1.9kg the Flare Line 8m has a modest / light weight and pack volume. 

Cell count - 33

Flat aspect ratio - 4.0

High build quality are the first impressions.

The risers can be bit confusing to configure properly (Black brake bungees on the outside- free and clear, I highly recommend watching all of the Flare videos on their web page. I also recommend ground handling this setup with multiple practice runs unclipping and re- clipping in before you take it to a higher mountain launch where you are dealing with tighter time constraints.

With just a moderate raise on the A/B attachment section of the risers, the wing comes overhead with good bite force requiring just a small input on the brakes for the wing to not overshoot 

Stock from the factory the brakes are quite long. The stall point is deep in the brakes and gives a hard feeling before it enters stall. It takes an aware pilot with active piloting technique to control the wing in light or gusty conditions, but in perfect conditions with 10+ mph the wing kites overhead easily and is very stable; brake pressure and feedback are moderate and direct with enough information being translated to the pilot, it's a pleasure to kite really.

The launch on the 8m at 83KG all up (my total weight) requires a fast run as well as brake pressure to create the lift to get airborne, which is counter intuitive for most of my speed-flying career as other wings are able to generate a takeoff with a forward body position, a steep launch, and a super fast run; This is not the case on the Line 8, for example, even with these circumstances in the foot launch environment the Line 8m is SO steep hands up that it will not take off without adding more brake pressure to lift off of the mountain on most launches. I would recommend only adding this once you have fully built the speed first and in good conditions. Foot launching the smallest size works well 

Keep in mind that I prefer to hike and fly / speed-ride the smaller wings available( unless fllying XC) and this review is specifically for the 8M Line. With that said I can definitely provide some insights on how the larger sizes behave which include less dramatic dive, better glide, slower takeoff and stall speeds, but still treated with all your respect as any flying devices.

Once in flight mode theres a new feeling with this wing , first being direct connectivity with the Flare riser system, and is a new level of pure speed. The 8m flies slightly faster than my 6.5m R3X, which is quite impressive to me.

Flying hands up it's extremely steep, think descending a section of a mountain that is a 45 degree angle and you are flying at an angle which matches the terrain.

Pulling brakes moderately, equal to the black pulleys on the risers and raising the angle of attack, you translate all that speed into lift/glide and glide it does. The 8M has the ability to glide very, very well. For such a small wing it feels "turbo charged" so to speak and has dramatic differences on best glide vs max dive even when flying straight and just modulating the angle of attack between the two.

So now we have a wing that can be used to truly transport flatter sections of the your route to steep sections and stay locked in when needed without having to set trimmers; It's quite nice. It's also helping to get setup for your swoop with a bit more altitude

Speed-riding with the Line 8M

The Line ate up my skiing inputs with ease and stayed overhead well and in control, although a bit more advanced to manage overall than the R3X 6.5m. It is super fun for speed-riding environments with the right experience level. I will add that it can be a dynamic and demanding wing when conditions are deteriorating, requiring quick checks and control from start to finish. 

You need a small runway to land, and if you have it available, it's amazing to come in high above the earth; Start higher than you think you will need for a swoop on a classic speed-wing at first, set up above the landing zone and near-hands-up weight shift 270, which positions your body itself into what feels like a free-fall, time your recovery arc with just modest input to plain out with tons of energy and have an ultra long swoop.  This wing does require some 'brakes' to plain out correctly, more than a classic wing with a perfect timed recovery arc.

With practice and ninja skills, I'm sure this wing can be spot landed consistently, I just don't trust myself to test it in a real world application just yet in more technical areas. 

Conclusion - Flare has definitely created an amazing tool here. The speed flying / riding world will benefit from it in some ways and it's definitely making me think about speed in a whole new way in regards to what's possible.

With that said, I love my "classic" wing too much at this point to give up the precision it offers: lighter pack volume, easier inflation, ability to complete tighter barrel rolls, ect. to trade it out on a big mission day, unless I am really  craving that insane power and next level experience the Line 8m is providing. If the LZ is on the medium to larger side I would consider the Line 8m. The choice is yours, pick the tool for the job and definitely demo one when you get the chance. Let me know your thoughts, I'm curious about the feedback from others! 

PS. I wrote this review a few weeks ago and since then can reaffirm I still love the line series ,it's definitely ending up in my hike and fly bag more often than not. Shoutout to Super Fly paragliding for the support 

Thanks for reading and more gear reviews coming soon.