The Offpiste Discovery is a series of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, single or two-place,

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

s that were designed by Bill Pain and produced by Colin Lark's company Offpiste Aviation Limited (Off The Beaten Track) of

Dursley Dursley is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in southern Gloucestershire, England, almost equidistant from the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe#Stinchcombe Hill, Stinchco ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. Now out of production, when it was available the series of aircraft were supplied complete and ready-to-fly.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 47. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003.

Design and development

The Discovery series was designed as a ''Super Floater'' glider, for fun, local flying and an emphasis on lightness of weight, ease of rigging and simple handling requirements. It is made from

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

tubing, with the single-surface wing covered in

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...

sailcloth. All models were

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association The British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA), based in Leicester, is the governing body in the UK for hang gliding and paragliding. Association details The BHPA is recognised by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the R ...

certified. The series have been frequently used in conjunction with a powered harness, as

powered hang glider A foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG), also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang gliding, hang glider harness with a internal combustion engine, motor and propeller (aircraft), propeller in pusher configuratio ...

s. By the mid-2000s the series had become the best-selling hang gliders in the UK.

Variants

;Discovery 160 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing is cable braced from a single

kingpost A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above fro ...

. The nose angle is 125°, wing area is and the aspect ratio is 5.6:1. The pilot hook-in weight range is . ;Discovery 195 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing is cable braced from a single kingpost. The nose angle is 125°, wing area is and the aspect ratio is 5.6:1. The pilot hook-in weight range is . ;Discovery 195S :Reinforced 195 model for much heavier pilots. Its span wing is cable braced from a single kingpost. The nose angle is 125°, wing area is and the aspect ratio is 5.6:1. The pilot hook-in weight range is . ;Discovery Bi 210 :Model for dual use. Its span wing is cable braced from a single kingpost. The nose angle is 125°, wing area is and the aspect ratio is 5.6:1. The pilot hook-in weight range is .

Specifications (Discovery 160)

References

{{reflist

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

Hang gliders