The Apco Presta is an Israeli 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

Apco Aviation Apco Aviation (usually styled APCO), is an Israeli aircraft manufacturer based in Caesarea and founded in 1982 by Anatoly Cohn. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paragliders and at one time also made hang gliders and u ...

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

. It is now out of production.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 12. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Presta was designed as an intermediate glider, to fit in the company's line between the Apco Allegra and the

Bagheera Bagheera ( hi, बघीरा / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in ''The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and ''The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who ...

, with higher performance than the Allegra. The sail is made from 46gr/m2 "Zero Porosity" ripstop

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 petro ...

. The design uses an ''Active Double Valve System'' to allow closed cells to be easily inflated on launch. The four models are each named for their relative size.

Variants

;Presta XS :Extra small-sized model for light pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.3:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is AFNOR Standard certified. ;Presta S :Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 39 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.4:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1-2 and AFNOR Standard certified. ;Presta M :Mid-sized model for medium-weight pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 41 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.6:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1-2 and AFNOR Standard certified. ;Presta L :Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its span wing has a wing area of , 43 cells and the aspect ratio is 5.8:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider model is DHV 1-2 and AFNOR Standard certified.

Specifications (Presta L)

References

External links

* {{Apco aircraft Presta Paragliders