______________________________________________________________________________
7
Development of
paragliders
Admitted; we're proud of our history. No
other company in the free flying world can
look back on such an expansive history as
we can. The UP story started back in 1970
when Pete Brock graduated from the Art
Center, a world famous school for design
and engineering in Pasadena, California,
and promptly created some of the most
legendary race cars ever
– the Daytona
Coupe 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
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 is 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
homologation testing with the testing
houses. 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 Kibo was built to fulfil the
expectations to a modern, safe and
fast Intermediate wing. The launching
is excellent and the performance
figures impressive.
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.
