The Firebird Choice Zip Bi is a German two-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

Firebird Sky Sports AG Firebird USA LLC (formerly Firebird Skydiving GmbH and Firebird Sky Sports AG) is an American parachute manufacturer based in Eloy, Arizona. The company also has locations in Germany, Sri Lanka, and the Czech Republic, and was formerly based ...

Füssen Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau ca ...

. It is now out of production.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 16. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Choice Zip Bi was designed as a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

glider for flight training and as such the Bi designation indicates "bi-place" or two seater. The "Zip" name indicates that a

zipper A zipper, zip, fly, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device for binding together two edges of fabric or other flexible material. Used in clothing (e.g. jackets and jeans), luggage and other bags, camping ...

is included in the wing to reduce wing area when required. The aircraft's span wing has 54 cells, a wing area of and an aspect ratio of 4.95:1. The pilot weight range is . The glider is DHV 1-2 Biplace certified.

Specifications (Choice Zip Bi)

References

{{Firebird aircraft Choice Zip Bi Paragliders