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11 April 2021

Warp review

In the German language magazine Paramotor (www.thermik.at), our Warp test appeared. It is reliable and factual so we encourage you to read it 🙂

Original version in German

English translation:

Dudek Warp

As the eleventh model in the current Dudek paramotor product portfolio, this high-end canopy combines the efficiency of the Hadron XX with the maneuverability of the Snake XX. PARAMOTOR had the opportunity to compare the Warp in two sizes.

After the 2015 firework festival, featuring Nucleon XX, Snake XX, and Hadron XX, Dudek took almost four years with its new paramotor high-performance glider. The fact that this is not just the next generation of some previous model was made clear by Dudek with a new name and the at least provisional retaining all current models in production. The Warp is a thoroughbred power wing with a high aspect ratio (6.0), dedicated for the sensitive hands of experienced, frequent flyers and competition pilots. Since the author of this article has regularly been in the air with the Hadron XX over the past three years, that paraglider will be used as a reference to the two Warps tested.

Design and construction
The Warp is manufactured in eight (!) finely scaled sizes covering standard weights from 75 to 145 kg. Additionally, Dudek also offers an extended weight range for very experienced competition pilots. It starts with the tiny surface of only 14 m² for 120 kg take-off weight and ends with 24 m² lifting 165 kg at launch.
We have tested the Warp as a foot starter in sizes 16 and 18 at a take-off weight of about 103 kg, thus being in the middle and upper ranges of the certified payload. Great performance of this canopy is based on the relatively high wing aspect ratio of 6.0.
Compared to the Hadron XX, this aspect ratio is slightly reduced. At the same time, the canopy is slightly less curved than the “high arc” the Hadron XX. As with all new Dudek paraglider models, the Warp features the “Shark Nose” patented by Ozone. In contrast to Hadron XX, the slightly rearwardly offset inlet openings keep their concave shape employing only one rod instead of two crossed. This ensures an almost constant internal canopy pressure over a wide range of angle of attack and at very different speeds.
As for the line scheme, Dudek returns to the proven hybrid three-liner setup, thus requiring a few extra line meters than the Hadron XX. According to Dudek, this enables optimal shaping of the profile over the entire speed range, so that long C-wires of the Hadron XX are not needed any longer. This reduces the weight noticeably, plus the Warp is easier and smaller to pack compared to the Hadron XX. The actual performance conclusively proves the designer’s decision: Warp stays on par with Hadron XX in terms of fuel consumption.

The risers are the control center of the Warp and have not much in common with the risers of a traditional free-flying or hybrid glider, considering all its attachments for 2-D steering, accelerators, trimmers and lots of various pulleys. Nevertheless, the designers intend to reduce the complexity and thus the risk of piloting errors. Compared to Hadron XX, the TST control handles have been omitted and the controversial “Aerodynamic Flap System – AFS” featured in that wing has been removed too. The Warp, on the other hand, is equipped as standard with the “Power Attack – PA” control system, automatically opening the trimmers when the accelerator is pressed. On delivery, the PA control is deactivated by loops on the risers. Each riser has seven (!) high-quality Ronstan pulleys for the accelerator (2), trimmer (3) and PA control (2). Besides, there is an eighth roller for the 2-D steering. Simultaneously, the designers managed to reduce the weight of the risers (at 385 grams they are significantly lighter than in the Hadron XX). The free ends of the exchangeable trimmer straps can be fixed to the riser by small magnets, better at preventing the airstream fluttering than the elastic straps of earlier Dudek paramotor wings. The brake handles are held on the risers by well-proven neodymium magnets. All in all, the materials used for the canopy and lines reflect the high-quality standards of the manufacturer. As usual, Dudek underlines this claim with exemplary workmanship in every detail.

Starting behavior
Preparing the Warp for launch is very easy. For each riser, the twelve sheathed main lines plus steering lines have to be sorted, which is actually very easy by their standard colouring. The gallery lines are unsheathed. Overall, the line setup has been slightly reinforced compared to the Hadron XX in order to maximize its lifetime and to avoid
damage caused by small branches or knots in the gallery.

Even with little wind, the Warp can be easily inflated in reverse and the take-off is simply child’s play. The trimmers can stay in the “closed” position even in stronger winds, as the small and very flat profile produces little resistance. The foot launch with zero or weak winds from varying directions is a big highlight of the Warp! While the Hadron XX tends to „hang“ behind the pilot when the AFS flaps are closed and conversely, it likes to overtake the pilot with open flaps – launching the Warp is exemplarily easy. The canopy inflates with very little pressure on the A-lines, climbs quickly and then waits in zenith for the pilot’s take-off run. This, as well as the friendly trim speed of 38…41 km/h (depending on the size of the glider), result in a spectacularly easy take-off run (for a high-performance wing, of course). Even when corrections are necessary during the take-off run, the demand on the pilot is significantly lower than with the Hadron XX, although the Warp directly reacts even to fine control inputs. Possibility of precise adding some brakes is a significant help in the moment of lift-off. Then, the Warp’s powerful profile demonstrates its very good climb values immediately after take-off.

In flight
The Warp maintains its good climb values at higher altitudes too. Our flights took place in northern Germany during winter and spring conditions. We took care to standardize the determined speed values according to temperature, air pressure and altitude along with the ICAO standard. As already very clearly visible during launch, both Warp sizes cruise somewhat slower than the Hadron XX. The hourly consumption was about the same, which results in a slightly higher fuel use per distance. This is, however, a very group flight friendly behaviour since the Warp pilot does not have to circle constantly when flying with friends in order to stay with the group.
Nevertheless, in such flying the Warp shows its best performance. This would make the Warp ideal for small power units, were it not for the tempting trimmers and speedbar. This paraglider can be accelerated enormously. Like the Hadron XX and in contrast to all other
Dudek paramotors, it demonstrates a clear reflex component even when the trimmers are closed. This allows pressing the speedbar without previous moving the trimmers. Operating the speed system requires similarly low forces for the Warp as for the Hadron XX, so that it can also be flown with speed bar engaged for a longer time without any problems. On our flights, we were able to increase our speed by almost 20 kph with the accelerator alone, even though we could only barely use the entire 35 cm long accelerator travel. With the trimmer alone, a speed increase of about 15 kph is possible; accelerator and trimmer together gave maximum speeds of 65…66 km/h on our flights. This is remarkable but still slower than with the Hadron XX. The 80+ km/h mentioned by the manufacturer can only be imagined with an extreme payload of the extended weight range and flights at high altitudes.

The asymmetrical opening of the trimmers is quite dynamic with the Warp. However, while the Hadron XX immediately turned into a dynamic steep spiral during this error, the Warp can be held on the right course with the 2-D control even with a half-opened trimmer, while the matter is being resolved. Experienced pilots recommend to simultaneously open both trimmers in full, and then adjust them symmetrically with the small loops. With the trimmers open, the brake lines become reflex-hard. Since the Warp has no TST handles for the wingtip control, the 2-D steering must always be used, whereby the wingtip line should be grabbed at the side. This allows the Warp to be flown very agilely even at high speeds. Because the brake handles slide up when the trimmers are open, grabbing the outer steering lines is less comfortable than the TST control of the Hadron XX, especially for smaller pilots. For groundhandling, the 2-D control is much better anyway, so than you can practically run with your glider around corners. The oscillating roll of the Hadron XX was not experienced at any speed with the Warp. This makes flying “hands-off” in calm conditions very pleasant.
Turbulences in the air are directly communicated by the Warp, but without excessive diving or shooting forward. The canopy remains extremely stable, as it impressively demonstrated during the cross-country flight in North German spring thermals with climb and sink rates reaching 6 m/s. While with the Hadron XX the AFS flaps were needed to bring the glider into the thermal mode, the lower trim speed of the Warp helps the pilot a lot to actively use the thermals. Due to the permanent reflex of the Warp, thermal flying is somehow “choppy”, as compared to the Hadron XX with activated AFS. However, its undeniable risk of large collapses in the event of accidental misuse stand in the way of longer use in the air, so that the modification introduced by Dudek as AFS2 de facto prohibits using it while flying.
In groundhandling the Warp is as dynamic as the Snake XX, with clear advantage over the Hadron XX. The maneuverability left nothing to be desired both in case of Warp 16 with its higher load, and the Warp 18 flown in the medium weight range only. Here the possibility of using the speed bar to the full without previous opening of the trimmers is of special value. This way, the dynamics of the high-banked turns can be perfectly translated into speed on a straight course and then re-used when initiating the next turn, without overtaxing the power unit. Very experienced pilots can activate the PA control, too. Then the trimmer is opened when the accelerator is operated, further extending the speed and dynamic range, including wing-over and acro maneuvers.

Rapid descending
The manual quite rightly points out that good flight planning and execution is the best way to avoid the need for rapid descent procedures. Nevertheless, Warp provides its pilot with all the usual descent procedures (e.g. big ears, B-stall, spiral dive). However, just the use of trimmers and accelerators already offers descent values corresponding with „big ears“ descent of free-flying canopies, but with much higher stability and lots of forward speed. By putting on the ears, sink rates of around 5 m/s can be achieved. The trimmers must be closed for the initiation, otherwise the high reflex stability makes it difficult to pull the ears down. All the same, after initiation the trimmers can be opened and/or the speedbar activated to reduce high angles of attack. The B-stall is possible but was not tested by us. According to the manual, also here the trimmers should be closed. A real firework of dynamics explodes when the Warp is brought to a deep spiral. The pilot instantly experiences full sink rate, which has to be carefully controlled and the spiral actively stopped at speeds exceeding 16 m/s. We only flew gentle spirals up to 8 m/s, and with the release of the inner brake, there was no tendency to continue spinning.

Landing
The Warp takes much less space to land than the legendary flare of the Hadron XX.
This helps enormously in small landing fields. In order to avoid too early stalling the canopy, you can open the trimmers by a few centimeters to use some more speed for the final flare. Already a light wind was enough to land with just one or two steps.

Conclusion
With the Hadron XX experience in mind, with the Warp Dudek chose to demonstrate that a high-performance glider can also be very friendly. It must be clearly said that this glider belongs in the hands of very experienced pilots with above-average flying experience and possible competition goals. In the area of take-off, landing and agility, the designers of the Warp have done a great job and even managed to reduce the canopy weight by half a kilogram. Although the Warp was slightly slower during our flights than the Hadron XX, it offers a speed range of well above 200% between the minimum and full speed, at the same time retaining stability and high dynamics of all maneuvers.
The sensitive and light handling will certainly make the hearts of the pilots beat faster and fly to many a victory.

Pilot’s comment
“After my experiences with the Hadron XX, I was very curious how the Warp would be different. From the very beginning, the Warp reminded me of the friendly behaviour of the Dudek Snake that I flew some years ago. I was particularly impressed by the launch characteristics, but flying with friends is also much easier due to the lower trim speed. The Warp offers in many ways the performance of the Hadron XX and even goes beyond it in some respects. Efficient, agility at sufficient speed and lots of flying fun”.

Jörg Maaß (D-MAAS)