Because of the optimized internal structure and well places air inlets the Hopper inflates very easy. In both strong wind and no wind. A slight pull on the A’s will bring the glider gently above your head.

The brake range of the Hopper is quite long and linear. Before you stall the wing the brakes become very hard and it gives you a lot of warning. If you do happen to stall it by going hands up it will quickly start flying again.

The Hopper has a remarkably good glide. What’s also noticeable, is the low speed performance. If you go deep in the brakes the glider will fly at minimal sink and just float up. Then by putting your hands 5-10cm higher you will start going forward at a very good glide angle. This is very nice for doing barrel rolls or other maneuvers at the dune. You can float up at minimal sink and then glide forward without losing much height.

What I think is also worth a mention is the accessibility of the performance. With the Dune Rider Scraper you need to fly properly with your body, hands and everything combined to get the maximum performance. With the Hopper it’s much easier. You can just put your hands at neutral and enjoy the flight. I think this makes it a lot easier and more carefree experience for both the beginner and experienced pilot.

Perhaps on of my favorite things about the Hopper is the playful behavior. Because of the short lines, the excellent low speed performance and the tip steering you get a glider with very snappy, fast and responsive roll.

Deeper in the brakes you can float around at one place and just roll left and right playing with the dune without actually going forward much.

At the same time if you fly a bit faster the roll becomes super charged and you can race ass to grass over the dune doing stabi touches left and right.

The Hopper truly feels like an extension of your body that does exactly what you feel like.

Want to cruise and chill? The Hopper has excellent low speed performance.

Want to race? Because of the direct handling and large range you can place the Hopper wherever you want.

The Hopper has quite a large range. Depending on where you put your hands it does behaves differently. If you put your hands 5-10cm up from the neutral point you will notice you’re accelerating forward without losing much height. If you continue to put your hands up you will notice you start descending rapidly.

The Hopper does level out after a certain amount of dive and if you go hands up very slowly it dives a bit less than if you do it sudden.

This behavior opens it up to also more novice pilots but also holds more options for the experienced pilots wanting to push forward faster.

At the dunes I’ve personally not really missed the continued dive because we only have limited height anyway.

If you do want more dive I’d suggest playing with the roll. If you roll it will going hands up you will fall out of the sky near vertical.

The Hopper is a parakite with reflex. It can fly solely on the A’s. In our testing we never had any big collapses with it and the smaller collapses we did experience were non-events where the wing quickly reopened.

Besides being stable it also communicates what the air is doing with you. If you don’t feel comfortable flying the wing in certain conditions that is a sign you should probably land.

In the end you as a pilot are responsible for your safety. With parakites it’s very easy to become overconfident. Be aware of this and don’t push it too much!