The Astral 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 and produced by

Swing Flugsportgeräte Swing Flugsportgeräte GmbH ( en, Swing Air Sports Equipment Limited, italic=yes) is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Landsberied, west of Munich, near the Bavarian Alps.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure ...

Landsberied Landsberied is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after R ...

. It is now out of production.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 32. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003.

Design and development

The Astral was designed as an intermediate glider. A two-seat

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 ...

version was also developed 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 Astral Twin. The design has progressed through seven generations of models, each improving on the last. The models are each named for their approximate projected wing area in square metres.

Operational history

Reviewer Noel Bertrand described the Astral in a 2003 review as "a very good DHV 2 lider.

Variants

Astral 2

;Astral 2 24 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 58 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.3:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is Deutscher Hängegleiterverband e.V. (DHV) 2 GH certified. ;Astral 2 26 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 58 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.3:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV 2 GH certified. ;Astral 2 28 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 58 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.3:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV 2 GH certified.

Astral 3

;Astral 3 22 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 66 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.5:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 2-3 certified. ;Astral 3 24 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 66 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.5:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 2 certified. ;Astral 3 26 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 66 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.5:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 2 certified. ;Astral 3 28 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 66 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.5:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 2 certified.

Astral 4

;Astral 4 22 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.55:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified. ;Astral 4 24 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.55:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified. ;Astral 4 26 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.55:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified. ;Astral 4 28 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.55:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified.

Astral 5

;Astral 5 22 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 53 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.7:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified. ;Astral 5 24 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 53 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.7:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified. ;Astral 5 26 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 53 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.7:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified. ;Astral 5 28 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 53 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.7:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 certified.

Astral 6

;Astral 6 22 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 and CEN C certified. ;Astral 6 24 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 and CEN C certified. ;Astral 6 26 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 and CEN C certified. ;Astral 6 28 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF 2 and CEN C certified.

Astral 7

;Astral 7 22 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF C and CEN C certified. ;Astral 7 24 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF C and CEN C certified. ;Astral 7 26 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF C and CEN C certified. ;Astral 7 28 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 57 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.4:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is DHV LTF C and CEN C certified.

Specifications (Astral 3 24)

References

External links

* {{Swing aircraft

Astral Astral may refer to: Concepts of the non-physical * Astral body, a subtle body posited by many religious philosophers * Astral journey (or ''astral trip''), the same as having an ''out-of-body experience'' * Astral plane (AKA astral world), a ...

Paragliders