Skywalk Mint

Skywalk Mint Review – Our opinion

We were very surprised of the Mint! It’s very agile, has a very intuitive handling and feels very solid on Bar. The brake pressure is rather hard, especially lower down very hard, but you don’t need much travel to turn. It has a lot of roll, specially on Bar, but it’s easy to control with the B-handles. The pressures on the B’s are moderate, not as light as on a Photon, but not as hard as on a Bonanza 3.

It has a nice feedback, you can feel it well and stop it well with the brakes or the B’s. It warns you before it want’s to collapse. Like all skywalks it’s not pulling forward much, it sometimes rocks back when entering lift. It feels like it does „yaw“ a bit in turbulence. It really feels a bit difference in turbulence like others. It’s not bad or dangerous, you just have to get used to.

We think the Mint is a great wing if you are stepping up from the B class. It doesn’t feel like a wing with aspect ratio 6.4, it feels more compact. It’s surprisingly easy to fly! In normal thermals you don’t have to fly very active. The leading edge is very solid and hardly ever gets soft. Only in rough air you start feeling oh i have to catch it now. It’s the easiest 2-Liner we have ever flown.

If you are afraid it might feel like a Cayenne 6 or Spice; Don’t worry, it’s not an adapted Cayenne. It’s a completely different wing. It’s genes come from the X-Alps 5. If you look up, they look very similar. We are keen to put them on top of each other ones…

Interesting is its choice of lines: The top lines are unsheathed dyneema, which are very thin and help reduce line drag. Since it’s only the very top, it shouldn’t loose trim because of this too quickly. All other 2-Liners only have Kevlar lines apart from the brake lines. And it’s the first Skywalk wing that comes without the ugly wholes in the back:-)

One thing that is different from all others: The brakes are only attached to the trailing edge on the wingtips. Towards the center they are moved forward and they have a raff-system. We think this is to increase the brake pressure towards the stall point.

What we like about the Mint

• very collapse stable
• very easy to fly
• very agile, very nice to thermal
• feels very solid
• very accurate feedback
• only short brake travel needed
• rather light pressure on the B’s

Good to know

• No Nitinol rods, you need to pack it neatly

Tech specs and marketing text