The Supair DELIGHT 2 is one of the most popular pod harnesses, offering lightweight comfort with good protection at a reasonable price. It includes all the essential features of a modern harness, but what is it like to use? To find out, I conducted our lowest flight test ever: about 10ft above a frosted British hill. At this time of year, any flying is good.
The first thing you notice is the shaped flight deck, which looks fantastic. It has an additional top deck (with a fairing) which you can easily remove at the end of a flight, keeping your instruments out of harm’s way. In flight, the instrument panel is outstanding, being close to your face, protected and shaded, without ever being in the way. A bit of care is needed when packing, to unzip the panel to flatten it neatly and so avoid bending it out of shape.
The harness as a whole compresses nicely and will easily fit a standard paragliding bag. It’s more of a challenge in a lightweight hike-and-fly backpack.
The storage space is limited but adequate for normal XC flying. The integrated reserve pouch is moderate (large for a lightweight harness) and the deployment system is easy, but it has a slightly elongated reserve handle strop due to the reserve being placed to the back. Good foam protection is positioned under your seat in the most likely impact area, but you should note that if you deploy your reserve there’s a gap in the harness at your back.
Above the reserve is the rear storage compartment, which I found adequate but rather small. Having said that, it could not be any larger vertically, as it was pressing gently against the back of my helmet during kiting. There’s another storage pocket under the seat which is ideal for water ballast or heavy supplies. Zipped pockets on either side of the pod are easily accessible during flight and provide enough space for snacks, gloves and assortments. There's also a tapered pocket within the flight deck.
The fabric and construction appears durable, if anything I thought the finishes could be pared down in places with no penalty.
The legstraps are secured by push-through buckles, the chest-strap gets a lightweight clip-in system with an easy adjustment. There are no fiddly bits to set up, closing the pod is simple.
Getting into the harness after launch requires careful attention to prevent the harness riding up slightly during takeoff, limiting the pod length. With a bit of practice and good technique it shouldn’t be a problem.
I had the benefit of a Flybubble fitting session so the harness was spot-on for my first flight, but the position is easy to adjust if you need to do so in the field. In particular, the pod adjusters are simple buckle devices which offer four points of control.
The harness provided great support all the way up my back, and the harness felt compact. It hugged my body, offering an aerodynamic profile. It was very pitch stable, as well as being roll stable and yaw stable, making me feel comfortable in the air. Some weightshift freedom is available, but if you roll beyond a certain point (40 degrees?) the geometry of the legstraps prevents dramatic movements.
As with any pod harness, it takes some time to develop the feeling of the right body torsion to generate a good turn, but the stability of the harness is great for low airtime pilots and also for experienced pilots who prefer the harness to be calm. Harnesses with excessive freedom can lead to muscle fatigue from the continuous stabilising movements required; you won’t be getting that with the DELIGHT 2. This was my feeling using it with the removable seatboard in place. If you take it out, I'd expect you would get a softer, less responsive harness with an even greater feeling of stability.Â
The harness was noticeably warm in the air (on a 4 degree flying day).
Coming in to land, I found the transition to an upright position really easy, and as comfortable as I could hope for, making slopelanding and running upslope a completely welcome experience. I could see that with this harness, I’d soon forget it was there. It allows you to focus on the flying.
Supair DELIGHT 2: who's it for?
The Supair DELIGHT 2 is best suited to regular cross country pilots, and is also particularly good as a first pod harness for pilots coming from a traditional upright harness and wanting to make the transition to reclined flying without compromising on the feeling of security. The DELIGHT 2 can be adjusted to offer a fairly upright back position, which enhances safety and makes it feel familiar.
It is very stable in flight, offering limited weightshift capabilities, but this helps to remove inefficient rolling movements of the pilot and can be a great help to build confidence in rough conditions. Pilots with a more ‘acro’ style who like to really whip a wing around with heavy weightshift input might find it slightly restrictive, but it offers enough freedom of movement for the majority of pilots to feel good contact and wing control.
Warm, comfortable, stable and lightweight, it’s a great all-rounder for most pilots.
Find out more about the Supair DELIGHT 2