We were driving back from Austria. Supposed to go back to work… but we had the new Rise 4 in our trunk! We passed by Annecy, nobody in the air but who cares? The Rise 4 was there, waiting for us. Gosh that was too tempting! We stopped the van and hiked up to the take-off. It wasn’t London’s calling, but the call of the Rise 4 instead! We were laughing like kids. Unexpected flight in sight. The excitement to have a new toy, right there.
It felt so good to have a lightweight backpack while we were walking to our improvised take-off. Christmas time was in the air as we opened up our present: a beautiful new Rise 4 made with love and passion to offer fun and durability. We felt young and beautiful, like in the song! The launch was a formality. Once in the air, the game was on. Whereas we were expecting a long and nice glide, the vario started to friendly sing and opened up our perspectives. We began to play in the light thermals. We were having so much fun and it all felt so natural. The Rise 4 was moving nicely and appeared to be totally reliable above Lake Annecy. The carve was light, smooth and progressive. Pushing the bar put a grin on our faces. What a flight! We had the Rise 4 so we went, and the day just proved us right. AirDesign Rise 4: Break your own rules.
The increase of performance was mainly achieved by a modified profile and refined inner structures.
We added some cells for more profile consistency and chose material optimized to get a light canopy resulting in a low glider weight. Still, passive safety is striking higher than you would expect in this class.
The trailing edge looks optically cleaned by adding a brake-raff system.