The Aerodyne Blaster is a series of French 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 ' ...

s that were designed by Michel Le Blanc and produced by Aerodyne Technologies of

Talloires Talloires (; frp, Talouères) is a former commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Talloires-Montmin. Due to its setting on ...

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

Design and development

The Blaster was designed as a competition glider, with three models, each named for their relative size. The small and medium sizes were developed first and

AFNOR Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR, English: French Standardization Association) is a Paris-based standards organization and a member body for France at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The AFNOR Group develo ...

certified, followed by the large size, which was certified last. The design was certified by the French FFVl in 2003 as a competition glider.

Operational history

In the 2003 Canungra Cup held in Australia, James Lawson of Australia placed 7th on a Blaster on task one in a field of 47. In the 2003 IPC held in

Chopok Chopok (2,024 m) is the third highest peak of the Low Tatra range (just after the neighboring Ďumbier and Štiavnica (mountain), Štiavnica mountains) in central Slovakia. The peak offers a panoramatic view of High Tatra, Liptov and the valley of ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, Aleksander Talbierz competed for Poland, coming in 52nd out of a field of 53 competitors. Yoshiyuki Sato competed on a Blaster in the 2004 Pan Pacific Open in

Tsukuba, Ibaraki is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 244,528 in 108,669 households and a population density of 862 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 20.3%. The total ar ...

, Japan and also in the Japanese Spring Cup. In the Pre-Paragliding World Championships held in Sopot, Bulgaria in 2004, David Snowden competed for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

on a Blaster, finishing 15th out of a field of 106 in Task 5. Osa Kuroda competed on a Blaster in the 2008 Yoshinogawa Cup, placing 24th on task 1 in a field of 59 competitors, 26th on task 2 of 60 and finishing the competition in 45th place of 60. Blasters were flown by nine pilots in 22

Paragliding World Cup The Paragliding World Cup (or PWC for short) is a cross country flying competition for paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircr ...

competition races, between September 2002 and July 2007.

Variants

;Blaster S :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 75 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.37:1. The glider model is AFNOR Com certified. ;Blaster M :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 75 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.37:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is AFNOR Com certified. ;Blaster L :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 75 cells and the aspect ratio is 6.37:1. The glider model is AFNOR Com certified.

Specifications (Blaster M)

References

{{Aerodyne Technologies aircraft Blaster Paragliders