The Independence Speed Tandem is a German single-place,

paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

that was designed by Michaël Nesler and produced by

Independence Paragliding Independence Paragliding is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Eisenberg, Bavaria and founded by designer Michaël Nesler and test pilot Christian Amon. The company is a division of Fly-Market Flugsport-Zubehör GmbH & Co. KG and special ...

Eisenberg, Thuringia Eisenberg is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Saale-Holzland. Neighboring municipalities are Jena ( in west) and Gera ( in south east). West of Eisenberg runs the motorway A 9 from Berlin to Munich. A tradition in ...

. It is now out of production.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 20. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Speed Tandem was designed as a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

glider for

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

. The aircraft's span wing has 48 cells, a wing area of and an aspect ratio of 5.4:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider is DHV 1-2 certified. Company

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

Christian Amon was also involved in the development as well as flight testing of the Speed Tandem.

Specifications (Speed Tandem)

References

{{Independence aircraft Speed Tandem Paragliders