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7
Daytona Coupé from General Motors was
one – and then went on to become
fascinated by the emerging sport of hang-
gliding – at that time probably the maddest
pastime of them all. After founding Ultralite
Products in 1972 he introduces his first
wing, the Dragonfly, and soon the new
company becomes known under the UP
acronym.
Pete Brock’s spirit survives to this day in
everything we do at UP International – we
still have our very own way of seeing
things and designing things. This entails
building paragliders that are not only as
safe as they come, they must also meet
the very high standards we set ourselves.
Among these are the continued use of the
most advanced technology available both
in the designing and manufacturing
process, but also the feel, the handling
and the performance of the finished
product. All this because we're addicted to
building wings that will fascinate you. A
good paraglider is comprised of a number
of interacting factors of which looks, feel,
handling and performance are but a few.
Only when all these come together in the
final product can we claim to have built a
wing that is homogeneous and
pleasurable to fly; and only then we're
happy, and ready to introduce our new UP
baby to the free flying world.
Our gliders are developed using state-of-
the-art CAD software. Our programs allow
us to do the initial flight testing in a virtual
environment where we can simulate a
great many things before even assembling
the first prototypes.
Once we're happy with the new
prototype’s behaviour in the virtual
environment the program generates the
templates after which the glider is sewn.
When a new prototype arrives from our
proto-building experts everyone at UP is
excited about the prospects of trying it out
in real life. The practical tests may
show that further modifications are
needed – these may be carried out on
the existing wing, or a new prototype is
built with the mods already
incorporated. In exceptional cases this
may continue through several
prototypes, for only when we're 100%
satisfied do we submit our new wing to
testing by the DHV. We owe it to our
customers, and to our own history, to
be particular about which products
earn the UP badge.
Technical description
The UP Trango X-light² was developed
by UP according to the special
demands to a powerful high
performance glider. It has inherited
many character traits from the UP
competition prototype wings, meaning
the UP Trango X-light² is not only a
wing of exceptional performance, but
also a very agile and playful toy.
As with all UP products, the materials
used have been carefully chosen for
their outstanding quality and strength,
to guarantee a long and trouble-free
service life.
Further construction details, including
line lengths, are included in the
certification specification sheets, which
form part of this manual. Any technical
changes will appear in the appendix.
Certification class
The following recommendations from
the DHV safety officer serve to aid the
pilot in identifying the right class of
wing to fly for their skill level. They are
based on years of analysing accident
statistics, and on the collective