Ziad Bassil gives his take on the new AirDesign VOLT 2

Ziad Bassil has been flying paragliders for over 20 years. He flies the mountains of his native Lebanon and provides the paragliding community with independent and unbiased test reports on the latest product releases. His opinions and comparisons can be found on his blog called Dust of the Universe.

Air Design VOLT 2 SM

After test flying the Volt 1 and the Rise 2 from AD, here’s the Volt 2 in SM size .

The Volt 2 has many features, a shark nose profile, all unsheathed lines, vortex holes, adjustable brake handle, there’s 2 lines per side, and on each line level there are 2A, 2B, 2C. The C lines are split into a fork for a C and D attachment on the glider.
The construction is very neat, and it looked very robust down to the last detail.

Launching the Volt 2 is as easy as any moderate aspect ratio C glider, with no tendency to overshoot and an immediate take off.

The Volt 2 SM at 92kg all up, has moderate brake pressure, coupled with a direct, precise steering power. The Volt 2 has superior agility over the Rise 2 and the Volt 1 can be described as fairly agile. Coring thermals are really pleasant as precise turns can be adjusted with each pulled centimeter.

I believe the Volt 2 is the first improvement in Air Design gliders, that goes in the right way concerning agility and pleasurable feel.

The second major improvement flying the VOLT 2 is the climb rate !

Well, I can tell you, that team Air Design has this time outdone themselves with a glider that can climb in weak conditions very efficiently, in my opinion putting it right up there next to best of the climbing glider in the C category !

Stephan Stiegler’s gliders for the B and C class have a reputation of being comfortable to fly. And flying the Volt 2 in moderate conditions felt quite comfortable, resembling the Elan, Sigma 9, and other moderate aspect ratio C glider.

The trim speed is around 39 km/h at my loading and the top speed in the first part of the 50’s .
The glide ratio is good and on par with those C gliders mentioned above.

Big ears are efficient , stable, and a good way to get down. They open smoothly .

The Speed bar has a moderate pressure and the speed is fully usable in moderate turbulence.
The handles on the C to control the pitch in accelerated flight is very efficient. In fact AD has the most efficient C steering capability among many gliders i have tested. If you have flown a Rise 2 you will know what i mean, and the Volt 2 C steering is as efficient and usable !

Conclusion

I always favor climb capability over glide capability.
It is always better to arrive “comfortably” 10 m lower and still flying, rather than 10 m higher and not being able to catch that low save.

For me the VOLT 2 SM will be an Air Design success by the amount of coring pleasure, comfort, and climb capabilities.
It gave me a feeling of a tough, well built, reliable C glider any good pilot coming to the C category would be satisfied flying it !

TAILLE	XS	S	SM	M	L
SURFACE A PLAT (m2)	21,2	23,07	24,79	26,39	28,58
ALLONGEMENT A PLAT	6,2	6,2	6,2	6,2	6,2
CELLULES	59	59	59	59	59
POIDS (kg)	5	5,3	5,6	5,9	6,3
V-TRIM/V-MAX (km/h)	37/55	37/55	37/55	37/55	37/55
Catégorie LTF/EN	C	C	C	C	C
PTV (kg)	60-75	70-85	80-95	85-105	100-125