The Europe Sails Independent is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing co ...

, single-place,

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame cover ...

, designed and produced by Europe Sails.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 43. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Independent was introduced in 2003 as a "topless" competition design, lacking a

kingpost A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above f ...

and top rigging. It is available in two sizes. The aircraft is made from a combination of

7075 aluminum 7075 aluminium alloy (AA7075) is an aluminium alloy with zinc as the primary alloying element. It has excellent mechanical properties and exhibits good ductility, high strength, toughness, and good resistance to fatigue. It is more susceptible to ...

tubing and

carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

, with the wing covered in 170g

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 ...

sailcloth. The wing nose angle is 132°. The wing features carbon fibre tips to smooth airflow and improve handling. The model number indicates the approximate wing area in square meters.

Variants

;Independent 13 :Small sized model with a wing area of and a wing span of . The pilot hook-in weight range is . This model sold for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

5084 in 2003. ;Independent 14 :Large sized model with a wing area of and a wing span of . The pilot hook-in weight range is . This model sold for

5168 in 2003.

Specifications (Independent 14)

References

{{Europe Sails aircraft Hang gliders