TARGET

The Anda was developed as a lightweight EN-A wing that’s beginner-friendly. It’s a hike-and-fly wing that anyone can fly, and packable for travelling with. It has good performance and fun handling, so you can ride the early-morning thermals, soar the sunset cliffs or launch from a high mountain safe in the knowledge you have a good reach to the landing. It would be a good first wing for a careful new pilot who enjoys hiking, but as with all lightweight wings, it needs to be treated with care.

DESIGNER’S NOTES

It’s been quite a journey for the R&D team, exploring materials and techniques to make a wing that is light, easy and safe, with soaring and thermalling performance. All the materials were selected so the Anda has the best balance of light weight and usability; we kept it light, but a little extra weight was accepted if we felt it really improved handling or durability.

The sail is double-coated Porcher Skytex 27, with now-proven longevity. The unsheathed Kevlar lines are the latest Edelrid Pro Dry, whose new treatment makes them 60% more water repellent.

The Anda comes with softlinks as standard – they are strong and light and avoid the hard points in the link between pilot and wing. Maintaining flexible materials from the riser through to the lines and up to the wing simply makes sense. It is both lighter and more elegant. It’s not often you’ll need to undo the soft links, but we made a video to show how quick and easy it is if you need to. (Just to the right of this text, or below on mobiles)

The risers are easy-handling 12mm Kevlar with lightly-padded handles and our snap locks for the brakes. Snap locks have now become industry standard since BGD introduced them back in 2016. Like the Base 2 Lite, the speed bar attachments are Universal knots rather than Brummel hooks. They are universal so attach easily to either loops or fist knots or Brummell hooks and they don’t come undone when you don’t want them to.

Launch on the Anda is outstanding in all conditions, from tailwind to strong wind. Our testers particularly commented how easily the Anda sits above your head on launch in light winds, and we’ve made sure it’s forgiving of over-zealous pulling on the A’s to make the launch super easy for beginners. the Anda’s slow stall speed and hard brake pressure as you approach stall are real safety assets. It would be difficult to accidentally spin or stall the Anda, but if you do manage to, it will fly again very quickly.

We are fans of stress-free packing, so we made a smaller compress bag just for the Anda. It means the glider is very easy to pack, and you always end up with a sleek and compact package that slides into your rucksack of choice.