Choosing the right first wing means flying with confidence — and progressing faster. It's also where beginners most often get it wrong: buying too early, or buying the wrong wing. Here's how to go about it, step by step.
You don't pick your first wing alone in front of a catalogue. You pick it with your instructor, after flying several wings during your training. The best wing is the one you feel good under.
1. Fly before you buy
During your course you fly on school equipment, regularly renewed and matched to your progression. That way you try several wings and harnesses, each with its own character, before you commit.
- The right moment to buy: usually around your 10th flight, once your feel for the air has settled and your instructor knows your style.
- During the course: no need to invest — gear is provided for your first flights (see the packages).
- Avoid: the online "bargain" wing spotted before you even know how to fly.
2. EN certification, in plain English
Every wing is classified by how much piloting it demands and by its passive safety — the wing's ability to recover to stable flight on its own. As a beginner, two classes concern you:
The beginner's choice. Maximum forgiveness and passive safety: the wing tolerates mistakes and stays calm in turbulence. 99% of our students start here.
The next step. More performance, but it asks for more active piloting and steadier attention. Worth considering once you have your licence and a few dozen flights logged.
So for a first wing, it's almost always an EN A. There's no point chasing performance now: it will only add stress.
3. All-up weight: the criterion that rules
Your all-up weight (you plus all your equipment) has to fall inside the wing's certified range. Our advice:
- Fly between the middle and the top of the range: the wing is then more responsive, more precise and more stable in wind.
- Leave 3 to 4 kg of margin for warm clothing, water and a small pack on cross-country days.
- Wing size follows from all-up weight — not the other way round. We work it out together.
4. The wings we recommend
Le Gypaète is a Niviuk and MCC Aviation dealer (MCC is the oldest Swiss brand, based in Grandvaux), so you can test, order and service your wing directly with us. Our safe bets to learn and progress on:
The balance of safety and fun for your early days. Nitinol rods, honest behaviour, easy inflation. Also available as the lightweight Koyot 6 P "Plume" (~3.2 kg) for hike-and-fly.
The lightweight version of the Hook 6. For when your licence is signed off and you want more performance without giving up comfort — plus less weight for hike-and-fly. Your second wing, when the time comes.
The Swiss benchmark. "Far more than a first wing": high passive safety, 100% Dyneema lines, and tough enough for repeated ground handling. Sizes XS–L (all-up weight 50–120 kg).
The lightweight mountain wing (from 2.7 kg), EN A certified. Its short line cone means it launches anywhere and comes up on a single puff of air — ideal for hike-and-fly.
5. Harness & reserve
The wing isn't chosen in isolation: the harness is what transmits the air to you, and a poor wing/harness match makes flying uncomfortable. To begin with, go for:
- A seat-board harness, comfortable and simple to adjust.
- Good back protection (airbag or foam).
- A reserve parachute matched to your all-up weight — and repacked regularly at our workshop.
6. New or used? The budget
In short
- EN A to start, all-up weight in the middle-to-top of the range with 3–4 kg of margin.
- Fly first, buy around your 10th flight, with your instructor.
- Wing + harness + reserve work as one coherent set.
- To learn: Niviuk Koyot 6 or MCC Amaya 3 (EN A). To progress or go to the mountains: Hook 6 Plume or Arolla 3.