Review of BGD Base 2 M 75-95kg by Down Under Paraglider Reviews
Posted by Martin Havel on
BGD Base 2 Size M 75-95 kg EN B
It's been a while since I've posted anything due to the lack of flying with the weather in the Canungra area. Hopefully the weather gods will be kind over the winter months this year. The Base 2 is only the 2nd BGD wing I have owned.
I did fly the original Base for a couple of hours a few years ago and was impressed with the handling of the original version. I have now flown the Base 2 quite a bit and had many xc flights of around 3-4 hours which has given me a good feel for the wing. I flew this wing around 90-92kg in the 95kg weight range. I think you could fly this wing in the middle and not miss out too much on the handling. After flying the BGD Cure 2 I could see the similarities of the this glider with the handling of its bigger brother. On launch the glider comes up nicely with no surprises given the relatively high 5.7 aspect ratio. It comes up evenly with no issue with the tips coming in. I didn't find any issues launching in nil or strong conditions. In the air I found it very comfortable for a high B glider to fly. With the high aspect for a B glider it certainly was a surprise to see the calm behaviour of this wing. The wing is very pitch stable for the class with no unwanted surprises even going pulley to pulley in thermic conditions. It seems that designers have changed the pitch behaviour of gliders considerably from what they were 15 years ago. 
No more having to catch those forward surges. Most of my xc flights have been in the company of C gliders including the Cure 2, Alpina 3, Skywalk Spice and Flow Fusion. The handling for its class is top notch and up there with other recent high B gliders like the Chilli 5. As I've mentioned in other posts, a big tick for me is a glider that holds the turn in a thermal without getting pushed out of the core or wanting to flatten out. The Base 2 certainly does this. It has excellent agility without being too tiring to thermal. It turns nicely with the first part of the brake travel or you can really crank it in tight cores without it wanting to dive. The wing climbs nicely and is up there with the Current C gliders. The only advantage I could see with the C gliders was their slight advantage in light lift. In normal thermal conditions I had no problems keeping up with climb. On glide it certainly holds it own against the C gliders. I have done some long glides with C gliders and have found myself pulling away and flying faster on bar as I go pulley to pulley a lot on this wing. At the same speeds the glide is super close to the C gliders. It's only when they go full bar the difference in speed by a few kms can be seen. I'm not saying its better than the C gliders however at the 50km mark of my last flight I was in the company of 3 other C wings. Bar pressure I found to be light. I like wings which I can go pulley to pulley with ease and the 
Base 2 is awesome in this aspect. Even in turbulent air, I have found myself holding full bar where on other gliders I have chickened out and got off bar. It seems really solid. C riser steering is great on bar without the need to catch too much surging. Full bar is around 13km over trim which is up there with the best high B's. It has a good trim speed as good as the C wings I was flying with. When I'm flying with other pilots I know, I will ask them if they are using bar to get a good indication of the gliders performance. Big ears don't flap around and come out gradually by themselves. Can't comment on how it recovers from deflations as at 15 or so hours I haven't had any. In all, a great high B without a high workload for the class.
No more having to catch those forward surges. Most of my xc flights have been in the company of C gliders including the Cure 2, Alpina 3, Skywalk Spice and Flow Fusion. The handling for its class is top notch and up there with other recent high B gliders like the Chilli 5. As I've mentioned in other posts, a big tick for me is a glider that holds the turn in a thermal without getting pushed out of the core or wanting to flatten out. The Base 2 certainly does this. It has excellent agility without being too tiring to thermal. It turns nicely with the first part of the brake travel or you can really crank it in tight cores without it wanting to dive. The wing climbs nicely and is up there with the Current C gliders. The only advantage I could see with the C gliders was their slight advantage in light lift. In normal thermal conditions I had no problems keeping up with climb. On glide it certainly holds it own against the C gliders. I have done some long glides with C gliders and have found myself pulling away and flying faster on bar as I go pulley to pulley a lot on this wing. At the same speeds the glide is super close to the C gliders. It's only when they go full bar the difference in speed by a few kms can be seen. I'm not saying its better than the C gliders however at the 50km mark of my last flight I was in the company of 3 other C wings. Bar pressure I found to be light. I like wings which I can go pulley to pulley with ease and the Base 2 is awesome in this aspect. Even in turbulent air, I have found myself holding full bar where on other gliders I have chickened out and got off bar. It seems really solid. C riser steering is great on bar without the need to catch too much surging. Full bar is around 13km over trim which is up there with the best high B's. It has a good trim speed as good as the C wings I was flying with. When I'm flying with other pilots I know, I will ask them if they are using bar to get a good indication of the gliders performance. Big ears don't flap around and come out gradually by themselves. Can't comment on how it recovers from deflations as at 15 or so hours I haven't had any. In all, a great high B without a high workload for the class.