Test of the Flow Freedom 2
The instructors of the Grands Espaces had the Freedom 2 from Flow on trial for a few days in April 2023. It is a great discovery for a wing that has arguments to make its place in the category of EN B wings designed for cross country, or B+ as they are also called.
Wing design and materials.
This wing is immediately placed in the B+ category due to its aspect ratio of 5.75, without being at the top of the category either. The materials used are solid and suggest a long life. The fabric is entirely Porcher Skytex 38 and 32. The lines have been worked on like a modern wing with a "3 line" design in the centre of the wing and a "2 line" design at the wing tip. The front line incorporates a pyramid at the top of the cone (the A's and the A prime). According to Flow Paraglider, this system allows a better leading edge hold in accelerated position. The risers are well constructed with a bridge between the B and C risers and are covered with a nice foam for a very comfortable backside handling.
Take-off
Untangling is easy thanks to the smoothness of the line. Inflating is easy in a moderate breeze, the wing rises well and cleanly and will require brake control to stop it upright.
In thermal flight
In flight, the Freedom is very comfortable for its class, the pitch stability is remarkable as well as the roll stability. The necessary corrections are limited and make you want to let the wing live. The turn is very homogeneous and gives a good precision to place yourself where you want in the lift. No problem with the turn recovery, as soon as I pull the control, the turn tightens up as I want it to. I didn't feel the need to turn the brake to tighten the turn in a strong thermal. The only downside is that the controls are a bit heavy. We would have appreciated more lightness on the controls for long flights.
In transition
In transition, the wing's general comfort is not too great, but it still gives indications of the aerology. When accelerating, you can easily reach maximum speed and the wing continues to give the pilot confidence. The speed bar travel is not very long but fully usable. The rear steering is very comfortable and has nothing to envy to the references of the category like the Rush 6 for example. As for the controls, the throttle is a bit heavy underfoot compared to other wings in this category.
Manoeuvres
To descend, the ears work well, and the big ears too (with 2 lines in each hand). However, the wing rolls a bit easily with the big ears, and in this configuration, it is more comfortable with a bit of speed bar to maintain a good speed.
In the stall and spin phases, we recognise that we are in B+, the wing is more agitated, it yaws a bit in back flight and dives well on recovery. It's certainly a bit finer to handle than a mid-B wing.
In an asymmetric collapse exercise >50%, the wing can dive quite quickly in rotation if you drop into the harness on the collapse side, but the high pressure in the structure forces the reopening very quickly.
In conclusion
This Freedom 2 has some good arguments to face the competition, its strong points are the comfort in cross country, the very homogeneous turn and the piloting at the back which is very easy. It is a product to be interested in if you are looking for a B+ wing for cross country flying.
