The Windtech Nitro is a Spanish 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 ' ...

that was designed and produced by Windtech Parapentes of

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

. It is now out of production.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 36. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed as a competition glider. The models are each named for their approximate wing area in square metres. The design was optimized for

glide ratio In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio (or L/D ratio) is the lift generated by an aerodynamic body such as an aerofoil or aircraft, divided by the aerodynamic drag caused by moving through air. It describes the aerodynamic efficiency under giv ...

and maintenance of

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

pressure to prevent collapses. The glider wing is made from Porcher Marine Skytex 44 g/m2

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...

fabric. The rib reinforcements are 310 g/m2

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 foo ...

, with the

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 199 ...

reinforcement fabricated of 175 g/m2 polyester. The lines are all sheathed

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

of 1.1 and 1.7 mm diameter or, optionally 0.6 and 0.9 mm micro unsheathed lines. The risers are made from 20 mm wide Polyamida strapping.

Operational history

Reviewer Noel Bertrand praised the glider in a 2003 review, saying, "the flight qualities of the Nitro are explosive!"

Variants

;Nitro 24 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 79 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.35:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is not certified, but was load tested. ;Nitro 26 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 79 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.35:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is not certified, but was load tested. ;Nitro 28 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 79 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.35:1. The take-off weight range is . The glider model is not certified, but was load tested.

Specifications (Nitro 26)

References

External links

* {{Windtech aircraft

Nitro Nitro may refer to: Chemistry *Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed: **Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2 **Nitroalkene, ...

Paragliders