AirDesign Volt 4 (PAST MODEL)

Technical data

DHV test reports include EN C certification with folding lines. All tests carried out using these lines are automatically classified C, even if less demanding.

Colours

Standard colours: Sky, Lime

The colors presented in the pictures and in the movie are not definitive. Above are the final color schemes.

Custom colours: Choose your colours and email us the colour reference with your order. Include a screenshot if you can. Full payment required upfront to confirm your order after which it cannot be cancelled.

Package

• Glider
• AirPack 50/50
• Repair Materials and AirDesign Stickers
• Goodies

Options

• The Volt 4 is delivered with 12mm aramid risers (recommended) as standard. Superlight Dyneema (spaghetti style) risers available upon request

AirDesign Volt 4: #speedmachine

Archie was tense. His hands were sweaty, and his tie was too tight. He could feel the electricity in the air while staring at the door in front of him.

Being recruited by Stellar Cooper Advertising, New York’s biggest advertising agency, was an opportunity as unexpected as it was providential. He was convinced that his thirteen years of teleshopping on the local Wisconsin channel had been a big plus on his resume.

The door opened, he took a deep breath and entered. He recognized the famous designer by his mustache and the agency manager by his resemblance to John Hamm.

It was his moment. So, he started:

“You lack some fresh air? Wanna escape? Do you feel the need for performance? Let’s be honest, you fear that you will no longer be respected on your own local hill; you wanna be the one they are all lookin at, but you don’t want to buy a Submarine for that.”

He paused then resumed his speech with a funny glint in his eyes:

“At AirDesign, we got the solution that will make all the pilots in your club jealous. The new Volt is the fourth of its name but the first of its kind. It’s more beautiful, more streamlined and more performant than ever. And why is that? Because it’s a 2-liner! For the first time in history, you will benefit from the passive safety guaranteed by the EN-C certification and at the same time the almighty pleasure of flying a 2-liner!”

Archie was totally ecstatic and had to catch his breath. He remembered all these years spent selling coffee machines and professional vegetable cutters and all the enthusiasm he had to put into it. However, this time was different, he really was enthusiastic. The young publicist was about to start again but he was interrupted by the boss.

- Thank you, Archie, we will call you back.

The designer waited for him to leave the room then turned to the agency manager:

- Man! Are you mad? Isn’t it a bit too much?

- Sir, for the first EN-C 2-liner on the market, you need to give it all!

Volt 4 – electrifying performance

AirDesign Volt 4 pilot level guide chart:

How to describe the Volt 4…

…in one word?

…Pioneer

…in one image?

The power you feel when witnessing a thunderstorm.

…in one dream?

Flying with a 2-liner is not a dream anymore! Go for it!

Designer's notes

“For every AD wing, we use a claim and a hashtag. For the Volt 4, we chose to stick to Electrifying performance and #speedmachine because it suits this fourth generation so well! It took us several years of development to finally design a package that fulfills our own requirements within the EN-C category. It’s not only the allowance to use folding lines in the EN-C-Class that made it possible to certify the Volt 4 in that category – there is much more than this to make a good EN-C glider. We are rather looking at the pilot demands and then trying to make the glider following them. Fulfilling the norm is just the final act.”

- Stephan Stiegler, Designer, AirDesign

Did you know?

So far, 2-line glider technologies have been only used in advanced or competition gliders. With the Volt 4, AirDesign brings the benefits of the 2-liner to another level of pilots. With the passive safety of the EN-C class, the Volt in 2-liner brings you another level of performance with a new style of piloting. A far more stable leading edge will push you to use the bar even more, with a level of comfort, safety and confidence not known in the 3-liner brothers. Enjoy!

Construction & Features

• Double coated Skytex, doubled seams and etching tape on edges: robustness is the key
• Unsheathed but color-coded lines (Aramid, Edelrid 8000U)
• The Volt 4 is delivered with 12mm aramid risers as standard. Superlight Dyneema risers available upon request
• Full chord Nitinol rods not only saving weight and increasing robustness, but also allowing a super compact folding
• Seamless razor edge trailing edge: all seams are internal for a cleaner surface

Did you know?

AirDesign has been using double coated light clothes since the very beginning with awesome durability feedback. Combined Nitinol rods have shown their benefits for durability and folding, the exemplary aging of the Soar has proven it. The Volt 4 is a light glider but its durability is expected to be comparable or even better than many other heavier gliders.

Features

• SUPERLIGHT
• WINGLETS
• VORTEX HOLES
• CROSS SHARK-NOSE *
• NITINOL RODS
• FLEX-RODS
• 3D-CUT
• MINI RIBS
• RAZOR EDGE (Full Internal Seams**)
• UNSHEATHED LINES
• SUPERLIGHT DYNEEMA RISERS
• BS PULLEY CONNECTOR

* The Shark-Nose is assembled with crossed Nitinol rods, for the highest structural stability at all angles.

**No external seams on canopy. No hooking risk.

Technology details

Materials

Sail

• Top Sail: Porcher Skytex 27 classic II
• Bottom Sail: Porcher Skytex 27 classic II
• Ribs: Porcher Skytex 27 hard

Lines

• Top lines: Edelrid 8000/U-070, 090, 9200-035
• Middle Lines: Edelrid 8000/U-130, 190
• Main Lines: Edelrid 8000/U-190, 230, 280, 360

Risers

• 12 mm Aramid Strap
• 3.7 mm Dyneema Rope Edelrid Taurus

Maillons

• 4.3 mm JOO-TECH/Korea

Flybubble review

“I'd say it's really a glider not aimed for begginers and  intermediate pilots, but for 100% advanced pilots. The standard Aramid risers are recommended both by AirDesign and by Flybubble, and that's because they're easier to manage, to handle and more dimensionally stable than the alternative. If pilots really want to save every gram, then there's an option of the 'spaghetti style' Dyneema risers.

On the ground, I find Volt 4 nice to manage and nice to handle. I prefer to launch using just the inner A's, on any gliders pretty much. A little criticism - The brake travel felt like it was quite long. But what I worked out was, they'd been designed to just take a classic half wrap, and then that was a good position. AirDesign have said that the first part of the break doesn't do very much. I've found you can do little fine tuning with it, but it doesn't do too much. The actual workable travel is relatively short, probably fairly typical for a sports class glider. Then the range I was working with to turn glider to get it round in thermals and soaring tight turns was relatively short. I found the brake pressure moderate to slightly on the firmer side. It's not a very agile glider but not a bus either. So it's that kind of, somewhere in between those two things.

The Volt 4 is very solid and reassuring, and the brake pressure and the handling is very direct feeling. So I'd definitely put it in the high C category and maybe even, trying to compare it with other gliders and the high C to low D kind of stall point.

On the Volt 4, big ears are very easy. Just reaching up using the outer A line. And it worksVreally well with the speed bar, so that's good. A plus compared to some other 2-liners. The B3's are more physical to pull in and more physical to hold. They work very well and give you a good descent rate. With the B3's, quite a lot more physical to pull in and hold and, but the advantage of them is when you let go of the B3's, they just go straight out.

In terms of climb rate, I felt the Volt 4 was climbing really well. So I was probably flying the glider around 101-102 kg, all-up/ heavier loaded. Before, I was flying up with my LIGHTNESS 3, so I was probably flying it then at 97-98 kg. I wanted to fly heavier loaded to see, not only how the climb rate was, but also the handling. And flying it heavier loaded with the IMPRESS 4, to be honest, I'd like it to turn a bit tighter and be a bit nippier on the handling. So, that's my personal preference. And I was definitely having to push the glider harder, nearer its point of spin to get it to turn in some of the really small little cores we had that day. In the air, the Volt 4 is more stall-resistant and spin-resistant. So the spin point's pretty obvious, but I'd still say that compared to some other mid C's and especially the low C's. The pilot demands are still a bit higher than they are for the mid C, so I still put the Volt 4 in the high C category.

Overal, I think it's a really good Sports wing and I think it's definitely gonna have a great appeal to some pilots looking  for top performance in the sports category and particularly pilots who are looking to move on to their first 2-liner. I do think now it's the most accessible 2-liner, closely followed by the Phi SCALA light, and Advance Omega XA3,  that I've flown so far.”

- Carlo Borsattino, Flybubble

Watch the Flybubble video review

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Downloads

Brochure - Certification - Lineplan - Manual - Testreport FTR