The Advance Alpha is a family of

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

single-place,

paragliders Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched Glider (aircraft), glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a :wikt:harness, harness o ...

, designed and produced by

Advance Thun Advance Thun SA is a Swiss aircraft manufacturer based in Thun. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paragliders, harnesses, paragliding carrying bags and paragliding clothing.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Direct ...

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thou ...

.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 10. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster, Oklahoma, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Alpha was designed as a beginner glider for new pilots. The design has progressed through six generations of models, the Alpha, Alpha 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, each improving on the last. The model sizes are each named for their rough wing area in square metres.

Variants

;Alpha 3 24 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 35 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.65:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 3 26 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 35 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.65:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 3 28 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 35 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.65:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 3 30 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 35 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.65:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1-2 certified. ;Alpha 4 23 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.75:1. The glider empty weight is and the take-off weight range is .

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 ...

is 8.3:1. The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 4 25 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.75:1. The glider empty weight is and the take-off weight range is . Glide ratio is 8.3:1. The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 4 28 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.75:1. The glider empty weight is and the take-off weight range is . Glide ratio is 8.3:1. The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 4 31 :Extra large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.75:1. The glider empty weight is and the take-off weight range is . Glide ratio is 8.3:1. The glider model is DHV 1 certified. ;Alpha 5 23 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its wing has an area of and the aspect ratio is 4.85:1. The take-off weight range is . The glide ratio is 8.4:1. ;Alpha 5 26 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its wing has an area has wing area of and the aspect ratio is 4.85:1. The take-off weight range is . The glide ratio is 8.4:1. ;Alpha 5 28 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its wing has an area of and the aspect ratio is 4.85:1. The take-off weight range is . The glide ratio is 8.4:1. ;Alpha 5 31 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its wing has an area of and the aspect ratio is 4.85:1. The take-off weight range is The glide ratio is 8.4:1. ;Alpha 6 22 :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.8:1. The take-off weight range is . ;Alpha 6 24 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.8:1. The take-off weight range is . ;Alpha 6 26 :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.8:1. The take-off weight range is . ;Alpha 6 28 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.8:1. The take-off weight range is . ;Alpha 6 31 :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 4.8:1. The take-off weight range is .

Specifications (Alpha 3 24)

References

External links

* {{Advance aircraft

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whi ...

Paragliders