Flare Bandit

Flare Bandit

It’s not the first high aspect ratio parakite, but the first one with high performance i feel. The Dunerider Scraper and Flow Albatroxx are amazing wings, but they miss some glide ratio and don’t convert speed into lift as you would expect with AR7. Plus they can’t fly slow. The Flare Bandit is different. It has a clear advantage in glide over a Moustache 2 for example. More glide means less sink, so you need less wind to soar. The windrange of the bandit is huge. It also has a higher topspeed than a Moustache and it also still dives. A parakite should not only be fast but also go down when you fly fullspeed. That what seperates parakites from competition paragliders. They mostly go forward not down. The bandit has enough dive that you can use it for speedflying in the smaller sizes. Anyone who tried speedflying with it had a huge smile after the first flight. Since the lines are longer than on a Line or Moustache, you can’t throw it left and right quickly, so you need a bit of space. But the speed is impressive. Since the wing is so efficient, your body position while speedflying has even more impact.

Where the bandit really shines is converting speed into lift. Not only with max speed, but even at low speed it still generates lift. If you make a 360 hookturn and just slightly pull the brakes you will feel the G-force and you start rocketing towards the sky. Yes of course it does loopings. They are sick with it. You go up more than on a Moustache and you are higher over the wing since lines are longer. It’s awesome and f….scarry at the same time. It reminds me of doing wingovers on a CCC wing. The technique is the same, but the consequences are higher.

The bandit also turns really nice! It has long brake travel and a very low hard clear stallpoint. But to steer you need very little input. You can fly wingovers with 5cm pull only, even on top of the brake range it works. It’s clearly more reactive than a Moustache, also to weightshift.

Compared to other parakites the slow speed is very impressive. When you think it’s gonna stall, it lifts you another meter when pulling down. Forward launching in zero wind conditions on mountains is easier than with any other parakite i have flown. If you put your hands low enough you will take off like a paraglider almost. You no longer need to look for a steep launch. 

When flying it in turbulence you get more feedback than from a Moustache. It feels less solid than a stach, but it’s just the tipps that collapse often. You will get used to and learn to trust it. The middle is rock solid, even if you just stay passively hands up without any active flying.

B-Stall using the killer Mushrooms works well as always. But it always ends up doing a 360 horshoe, which is a bit anoying as it keeps turning sometimes until you grab it. Check it carefull for lineovers bevore you launch again. The Lines are so short that it pulls the tips in when having the wing spread out straight and you are clipped in. For soaring it on the coast you need very little skills in the air. Take off and groundhandling it’s clearly more demanding than a stach. 

Don’t let that high AR scare you and give it a try, otherwise you won’t believe it.

Construction of the Bandit;

It uses the same fabrics as the Moustache but has more rods. It has longer rods at the bottoms skin, all Nitinol. But the leading edge is made with the transparent nylon rods that might remember when they get bent. So pack the leading edge nicely when storing it longer. Between flights you can squeeze it into a fastpack, that doesn’t hurt it. The Lines are Kevlar, same as every high AR paraglider has. If you put dyneema lines on those wings with such long lines, you have to retrimm them after every session almost.

Windrange of the Bandit
That’s where the Bandit really shines! It starts soaring much earlier than the Moustache 2 in the same size. But at the same time the topspeed is similiar or higher. That’s why you can compare them roughly like this; (compare them with bigger Moustaches!)

-10 Bandit starts soaring as early as an M2 13
-13 Bandit starts soaring earlier than a M2 15
-16 Bandit starts soaring slightly earlier then a M2 18
-19 Bandit starts soaring similar to a Moustache 2 22
-22 Bandit starts soaring as early as a Moustache 2 26
Obviously the Bandits will fly faster hands up then the bigger sizes Moustache we compare it here.

Bandit or Moustache? Which one is for me?
The biggest advantage of the Bandit is the huge wind range in my opinion. The bigger the wind range, the less sizes you need and the more often you get to fly. The Bandit also has a few other benefits over the Moustache; The stall speed is even lower. You can fly very slow with it. On the same size it generates more lift, which makes it very easy for no wind or even tail wind mountain launches where running is needed. The Bandit is also “very” reactive to weight shifting. Also brake shifting works really well with it, it is very responsive for the high aspect ratio it has. Obviously it converts speed even better into lift thanks to the high AR.
So what’s the price you pay for all those benefits? More aspect ratio means less collapse stability. That is mostly compensated with more reflex. But overall it still might be a bit more “collapsy” specially in the tips. For sure the high AR means if you ever have a huge collapse (maybe even a frontal) there is a bigger risk of getting a nasty cravat that puts you in trouble.
The second thing where the Moustache shines more is the inflation in strong wind. The Moustache is very forgiving inflating in strong winds. You can throw it on the ground and it comes up easy, never shoots, never plugs you, much less chance of having a cravat. The Bandit is strong wind needs strong skills and a good preparation. It doesn’t like to reverse launch, it tends to horseshoe or shoot up and plug you. It also often doesn’t inflate completely until you pull the brakes down far towards the stallpoint.
Once you are in the air, the Bandit is as easy to fly in “normal” soaring conditions where the wing doesn’t require active piloting yet, which is in most soaring conditions the case (not always obviously!)
One thing to consider as well; the Bandit offers less Go-Kart Feeling than for example the smaller sizes Moustache. Because the lines are longer on the Bandit, it does fly bigger turn-radius and it takes more time to whip it from one side to the other, specially when you compare a 13 Bandit with a 13 Moustache.

Tipps for launching:

• The Bandit doesn’t like reverse launching much, it tends to horseshoe on reverse launch. Better take time, prepare well and make a cobra on the side. Upside down cobra (wing on the leading edge) also works well, that’s what we do on snow with skis in wind.
• Forward launch; Prepare it nicely, lay out completely and very round. Make sure to inflate it symmetric with a bit of an impulse. If you drag it first before it comes up, it will likely come up asymmetric. When you inflate it with impulse, it works best when you pull some brake while the Bandit is inflating and coming up. That gives it some AoA and helps it to inflate. It’s a bit counterintuitive, but works great. If you brake it while inflating, it’s usually completely inflated once it’s on top.
• If wing is up but tipps are collapsed still; Don’t pump it, just pull the toggles steady far down until the tips inflate. Sometimes you have to pull down far!
• If you hold A and B lines to inflate it, go slowly and keep your hands above your head! No impulse if you inflate that way. Let it rise up slowly like tandem pilots do with tandem wings. Like this the wing has time to inflate. If you rise it up too fast and it’s not fully inflated yet, it tends to frontal when you are hands up.

Advantages

• Biggest windrange of any parakite
• Lowest stallspeed of any parakite
• Hard, clear well defined stallpoint
• Really fast, amazing into wind penetration
• Dives a lot in turns if you want it to
• Best glide ratio of any parakites
• Unbelievable energy conversion allows to fly the Flare Loop
• Very easy forward launch, very little speed needed
• Very agile during the whole speedrange – very little toggle input needed to turn
• Good reaction to weightshift
• Flappy tipps, but very collapse stable middle

Important to know

• It’s more collapse stable when flying hands up then when at best glide
• Leading edge rods need to be packed nicely
• Like any high AR Parakite it gets out of trim fast. If it doesn’t get as hard anymore before it stalls, time for a retrimm!

How to order

Flare has a direct Sales system. The dealers are called Pro Partners and have all Demo wings and they make sure you get the right size and knowledge. But you order directly from Flare and pay Flare directly. You will get a Discount code from us, so you get 5% discount and Speedflyingschool as a Pro Partner get’s a sales commisson for our work.

Tech specs and marketing text

https://go-flare.com/Products/