PHI Sonata Mini Wing

The new Baseline
The SONATA is a complex design miniwing with 40 cells and many technical features enabling the combination of an extremely high safety level and good performance, precise handling and a lot of fun. The usage of 30D Dominico cloth and extra diagonal reinforcement in combination with separately sliced finger ribs offer high durability and long-lasting form stability. SONATA is set up with sheeted lines for hassle-free handling, packing and launching in unforgiving grabby terrain.

The new Baseline
The SONATA is a complex design miniwing with 40 cells and many technical features enabling the combination of an extremely high safety level and good performance, precise handling and a lot of fun. The usage of 30D Dominico cloth and extra diagonal reinforcement in combination with separately sliced finger ribs offer high durability and long-lasting form stability. SONATA is set up with sheeted lines for hassle-free handling, packing and launching in unforgiving grabby terrain.

SONATA mini wings have longer trim travel than any other miniwing. They have more cells (40) and a more complex structure than any other miniwing so they fly FASTER and GLIDE BETTER than other miniwing on the market. 

What did the Experts Say?
SONATA mini wings are firmly positioned between beginner and expert. It has a safety that makes even new mini-wing pilots feel comfortable on it, but in the right hands, it can also be a very versatile machine capable of doing more advanced stuff with relative ease.

Weight

• Size 12 (14.0 m2 flat) - 3.5 kg
• Size14 (16.4 m2 flat) - 3.8 kg
• Size 16 (19.0 m2 flat) - 4.2 kg
• Size 18 (21.4 m2 flat) - 4.6 kg
• Risers with trimmers extra 300 g

SONATA mini wings come with robust high-quality risers equipped with top-of-the-range ballbearing Harken 18 pulleys at both ends, 70 mm trimmers and a 150 mm speedbar system. These are expensive risers that you will only find on high-end gliders. All three sizes 12, 14, and 16 have been Load Tested (EN 926.1) for 1,467 kg in over 3 3-second test (1,693 kg peak) without damage to the glider or to the lines. This translates to the following G load test values

• 19 G load test for SONATA 12
• 16 G load test for SONATA 14
• 14 G load test for SONATA16

Risers
All SONATA 12,14,16 mini wings are delivered with Trimmer Riser (70 mm) with speedway 500/150. Optionally you can have your SONATA miniwing delivered with standard risers without trimmers or lightweight risers for a hike and fly.

Video

• PHI SONATA Mini Wing flying in slow motion. (Credit Ryan Fowler Photography)
• PHI SONATA Mini Wing twins Syncro flying
• SONATA 14 (16.4 m2) with PPG flown by Darren Andrew Mitchell

Wide Speed Range wth 70 mm trimmers and Speedbar

• Configuration 0 - Trim Neutral (First Red Line) and No Speed Bar >>> 0 mm
• Configuration 1 - Trim Neutral and Full Bar >>> 150 mm - 100%
• Configuration 2 - Trim @ 50% and No Speed bar >>> 50 mm - 50%
• Configuration 3 - Trim @ 100% and No Speed bar >>> 70 mm - 47%
• Configuration 4 - Trim @ 100% and Bar at 100% >>> 230 mm - 153%
• Configuration 5 - Trim @ 100% and 50% Speed bar >>> 145 mm - 97%

FEEDBACK 

• I went down to the park to have a look at the glider. I really like it and can't wait to fly it, thanks again. So glad I chose the sonata. What a dream it is! Absolutely love this wing. It's fast but floaty, stable yet dynamic when you want and super easy/predictable when kiting, important for high wind launches! It is a fun machine!!! Living on a windy island opens up my flying opportunities greatly. (Seaton)
• Nice wing, great for beginners, super easy to ground handle and spins easy! Not so dynamic and takes a bit to build, for "barrel roll" would be more like a loop, like a spiral then go to another side. It's not like a speed wing where you could just roll it, need to build the energy first so need more height. It's a great little wing! Was a machine on the motor, so easy to launch and playful! Yeah, it's tame as! But I'm only 65kg. Super solid and great to play with on the ground! (Shane Tighe)
• Flying in 15-20 kt winds is amazing knowing you can deal with gusts up to 24kts. SONATA 16 is a very comfortable glider in those gusty conditions. I love the glide and even with trimmers out it didn't just sink out, it was fun and direct. Based on the stall tests we did at 80% trim (8/10 ) SONATA has great inherent stability. I think the Sonata needs to start at 4/10 on windy days with 15+ knots for it to be fun and fly through or cut through the air, anything under that you are not moving much and it moves around too much but this configuration is good in light winds to cross smaller dunes soo Excellent overall. (John)
• It should beat other mini wings outright. Hannes seems to know what he's doing with his products and kinda seems like he's designed the SONATA around the idea of hike and fly + mucking around. Would explain why SONATA has the longest trimmers on the market. (Christian)
• I've done 3 flights on the SONATA 14 and I'm loving it! Very responsive handles amazing, feel very in control, dives really nicely into turns, flares great. (Ryan)
• SONATA 16. Got the wing last week. Spent quite a few hours flying it over the last few days. I'm surprised how lighter conditions you can fly it in. Was easily maintaining height on both the dunes and that larger ridge in 11kts (on the hill face). I think on that larger ridge I could have stayed airborne with a bit less too. I was in between 80 to 85kg under the wing.
• We have many small wing enthusiasts that were flying what were considered the best mini wigs on the market. Some of them are testing new prototypes of the new mini wings models, they all still own their own SONATA miniwing. The most common feedback comparing SONATA mini wings with other gliders is that SONATA has a wider usable range and is more stable. The stability is mainly appreciated by the miniwing newcomers and by the experienced hounds that fly these wings in very strong wind. (Luke H)
• Just got to fly the Sonata 16 for the first time today. Winds less than 10 knots often a lot less the glider kept me up and above and able to play around without ever feeling like I was heading for the BO. It is like a Ferrari- fast across the sky. I am yet to throw it around, as I would like to get to know it better first, but I did get a good feeling for it. Michael Shyne
• Sonata flys great, very efficient in the lift for its size, in my opinion much more lift than the Ozone Zero's. Milan Martin-Moser
• Just wanted to let you know I have had some great sessions on the Sonata - love the wing. Has opened up so much more flying opportunities. Thanks for the advice. Regards Tony Richards 

The New King of Mini Wings (SONATA)
I’ve flown, tested and sold most mini wings in the search for the best, and once a new best is found, that’s all I fly until it’s superseded. Call me biased if you like, but please try it yourself – it will surprise you! I look forward to your feedback. Review By Alan Hills (SkyWings Paragliding, NZ)

SONATA 12, 14, 16 miniwing
PHI SONATA 16 (flat area 19.4 m2) clean profile with 40 cells, 4.72 flat AR, they are the same glider as PHI VIOLA made from Dominico 30 D with trimmer and spedbar system. PHI VIOLA in the same size is certified EN a for 50-75 kg and EN C for 75-110 kg. SONATA 12, 14 and 16 are load-tested EN 926.1.  If you are after efficient miniwing that does flat turns and speedy spirals SONATA miniwing will look after you.

Designer's note
The PHI SONATA is the new baseline of our sport: the new reference. It redefines the safety, performance and fun level a modern paraglider is able to offer. The highest technical knowledge combined with 30 years of experience in professional paraglider design made this wing possible.

During development, the very experienced PHI test pilots team (Mike Küng and Benni Hörburger) noticed constant progress in the target parameters. The final PHI SONATA shows extremely forgiving flight behaviour. It's very clean surface (double 3D shaping in optimized zig-zag direction) shows its effect by keeping the airflow on the wing even at very high angles of attack. The optimized intake, reinforcement shape and strap pattern enable a new benchmark in takeoff simplicity.

The whole construction is very strong and forms stable. Even when loaded extremely highly (185DaN x8G) during the certification load test, the test sample was not destroyed. The materials of the extra strong rigging were selected carefully to avoid trim changes by the line shrinking/stretching. The SONATA is a heavy-duty paraglider in every matter.

Hannes Papesh

Technical Data

Secrets
Imagine a clown in his colourful striped dress, balancing on a rope and juggling many balls. When you ask him about his secrets, he will smile and may tell you something about talent, enthusiasm, years of experience and constant hard work.

Scope of Delivery

• Glider
• PHI Harmonica 43 Concertina Compress Bag
• Repair Kit

You have to have the training and a licence to fly a paraglider. Check with your instructor if you are buying your first glider.