Hannes Papesh of the PMA (Paraglider Manufacturers Association) has released a further explanation of the changes that are set to be put into place in January.
The EN Standards 926-1 (for flight tests) and 926-2 (load tests) will remain unchanged, though some comments have been added to the documentation to clarify some points and correct some translation errors. The standards itself will evolve over time as experience of the existing ones is gained, and a new version will probably not appear before 2011.
The reason for the move is to attempt to standardise testing across all of the test houses. The EN system is tightly controlled and documented, and there is much less room for the test pilot’s own interpretation to affect the certification a wing achieves. Each time a wing is tested the results should come out the same, regardless of which pilot flew the tests. This also benefits the manufacturers, who can have flown the tests beforehand and therefore predict the results before submitting the wing to a test house.
Hannes would like to thank all members who have made this step forwards possible.
-
- Paraglider Manufacturers Association
