Where does the time go?! It's crazy that we are to the end of another flying season up here in Canada.
We've been working hard on the Vortex this year and have been rewarded with some great successes of late. It's been a tough year personally so progress with the Vortex has been slow and we only took on a couple new students this year. Both the Vortex development and these new pilots have kept us motivated to get out there as much as we possibly could!
I am happy to say that we are the point where we can take pre-order deposits for any of the 3 models of Vortexes that we now offer! We are refining some of the hardware but have some units under production now and have the ability to put more in production easier than in the past.
The flagship vx15 - we are just finishing our new level-wind system and are really happy with it. It is a mechanical level-wind that stacks up the rope way more reliably, makes the winch more portable (and thus cheaper to ship). Loose rope wraps make the turn-around between tows a problem at times (adds to delays), adds wear and tear to the tow line and all-in-all makes for less reliable and less safer system. This new level-wind system is a work of art!
We started with this new level-wind system on the vx15 first as it has the widest drum out of all the models which is what creates the demand for a mechanical level-wind.
Availability: Two in production. One spoken for. Additional lead times 6 weeks.
The mid-size vx11 has been tested and is working really well for solo hang gliders, especially in a bit of wind. As of writing, it hasn't been tested on topless hang gliders at all so we will report back on that performance when we are able to test. The vx15 has done well towing topless gliders in no wind conditions and the max rpms on the vx11 is the same so it just may not get quite as high climb rates in no wind as the vx15.
We should be able to fit the vx11 with the same sized mechanical level-wind as the vx15 but it has to be resized to fit the slightly narrower drum on the vx11. We can ship it now with a ladder fairlead that does a very reasonable job of stacking up the line nicely.
Availability: One available (with boom fairlead; possible level-wind by December)
The mini vx4 is also now ready to ship! It is our model geared towards towing paragliders but also works for slow-flying Alpha hang gliders and Falcons in 10+kph winds. It has much lower power and a lower max-rpm so it won't tow more advanced hang gliders. The drum on the vx4 is very narrow so the 4' boom fairlead is working really well. At this point we don't feel the need to re-engineer it for the mechanical level-wind but may in the future. It will be low-priority but should be able to be retrofitted in the field with little work
vx4-in-a-box (no battery or fairlead)
Availability: We will have 3 in stock before Christmas - what a perfect gift! ;) ;) The proto-type (w/10 tows on it) is available now. More in six weeks after those are sold.
vx11 (L) and vx4 (R) out flight testing
Wireless...it is the ultimate goal...but it gets pushed down the priority list as our focus is to refine the winch hardware to be as robust as it can be. We've seen what other electric (PG) winches offer and know ours is a better constructed machine than what we have seen.
We have been commended on the wired handheld controller we offer with all our Vortexes. It is more ergonomic and the max-tension limiter we do is all in hardware (not an Android app).
We have plans for a custom-engineered wireless controller but it's a lot of work as it will not depend on an Android device and be all robust, dedicated, leading edge wireless tech. We will have an RC-plane version, likely this winter, to match what other PG electric-winches are using just fine now. These won't be recommended for self-towing HGers
Payout towing Our focus here has always been static/pull-in towing. It is because where we live fields and roads are normally 1km or less before power lines so payout towing doesn't get us that high. You get higher climb rates with the higher tensions on static winches and step-towing offers unlimited heights.
We realize many want payout ability if you have nice long tow roads. We see the benefits. We have recently reconfigured our wired hand held controller to allow payout towing but we have not tested it (mainly because we have little payout towing experience) - we will report back on that when we have tested it. Electric winches are expensive forms of payout tows but we know electric winches give the smoothest tows due to their computer controlled constant tension. So we will get there...or you are free to experiment with one you buy from us (at your own risk).
We also like the idea of hybrid-towing - pull-in for launch; payout once the pilot is airborne; pull-in when the truck gets to the end of the tow road; and then step-tow. It is all possible...just takes some hardware changes and a lot of caution!