Ozone Ultralite 5

Ozone Ultralite 5 Review – first impression 

Ozone says you can pull a lot on the A’s on launch without collapsing the leading edge. This often seems the be problem with many ultralite wings without pilots noticing it, that they are giving too much input on the A’s and then blaming the wing. Performance and topspeed is also well increased says Ozone. Crazy is that the UL5 19 is for example 220g lighter than a Pi 3 19. You think it must be a lot less durable…? Well it’s made from the same fabric, the D10. Same as the Bantam oder also Kode P and many of the modern X-Alps gliders are made off. Check out the weight, it’s impressive light!

Take off
Obviously it take off super easy, it also doesn’t hang back or fall down again when you release the A’s too early. It also comes up nice and easy if you don’t hold the As at all. It can come up a bit fast in strong wind when you pull a lot with your hips, so you have to stop it active to stop it from overshooting. But nothing crazy. Overall super easy to start. It also generates a lot of lift, you take off easy, even with a 13m.

Flying
We compared the UL17 with the Kode P 16 with the same wingload and the UL17 had a clear advantage in glide ratio in trim. Fullspeed the UL5 was also noticable faster, maybe 3-4km/h but then loosing a lot of glide and sinking more then the Kode P. However when we compared the UL5 15 to the Kode P 16 with same wingload the Kode P 16 hat a clear advantage in glide. So we think the wings overall have quite a similar glide.
It has quit a lot of roll, the smaller sizes keep rolling by itself a bit without stopping by itself, very similiar to the Kode P. We assume the karabiner distance of the harness used will make a difference here as well, since the lines are rather short. (the smaller the karabiner the difference, the more roll you have to expect). We like it that it has some roll, it makes a more fun wing than the UL4 was.
In Turbulence the UL5 feels solid and well dampened, but with the short lines you still feel the wing moving a lot. Compared the Kode P 16 the UL17 was much more calm in turbulence, it moved noticeably less.
Brake travel is rather short and rather hard, but it’s progressive, so becoming a lot harder towards the stallpoint. Even on the 13 the braketravel is long enough, but nothing compared to a Bantam 2 which is even in size 12 (14 flat) very hard to stall. The brake lines are attached further in, not on the trailing edge, that is to increase the brake pressure. Only at the tipps it is attached on the actual trailing edge.

Extrem flight
We pulled some collapses with all sizes and did a Fullstall with size 17. The UL5 opens again quickly after any collapse. A frontal is super gentle and reopens very quickly. Also asymmetrics open again very quick, but the wing turns quickly towards the collapses side and can shoot forward. Here the Kode P seems more gentle. However we think the UL5 is very collapse stable, so chances you get a big asymmetric are rather small. We don’t recommend to fullstall your UL5. It really wants to start flying again and it does it f….quick. Expect the wing to shoot forward very quickly. Anyway we never recommend stalling wings with short lines!

Landing
It doesn’t flare like a Bantam 2, but it flares better than a Kode P. Even a 13 is easy to land and slow down.

Weight and packing volume
The data from Ozone is true, it is f….light. We measured even 10g less than their website says. And it packs down really really small, and its easy to pack it down so small, because it’s not as slippery as other gliders! Is it durable? Ozone used also Domenico 10D, so in theory it should be as durable. If you look inside the glider, it’s a masterpiece of a paper cut. Better don’t look inside, there is not much fabric;-) There is also not a single tension-band in there, obvious to keep weight down.
The risers are made out of this white bands as usual. They are quite fiddly and like to twist a lot. We recommend you to stay attached to the glider, that helps not having too many twists. We prefer the risers of the Kode P, they are as thin, but stiffer, what makes things easier.  The UL5 has no more velcro attachment for the toggles, but a proper small clip instead. It’s the tines clip we have ever seen, but it works great.

Last but not least: It’s not just a claim that Ozone offers market leading quality. You can see this well on the UL5. The topskin is very wrinkle free, what a superclean wing. Amazing with this weight!

What we like about the UL5

• Super low packing volume
• The lightest double surface glider
• It glides well
• high topspeed
• It’s Ozone built quality
• Easy take off, flying and landing

Good to know

• Doesn’t come with a small compression bag only with a bigger bag and compression strap
• Risers are fiddly
• More expensive then others

Technical Data and Marketing texts

https://flyozone.com/paragliders/de/products/gliders/ultralite-5