Fuse 3

Test pilot Tim Bollinger explains the philosophy behind the Fuse3:

“The Fuse 2 was our most successful tandem ever and has gained a big fan base in the professional tandem business all over the world, thanks to it being both easy to use and a pleasure to fly. That made it really challenging for us to improve this glider even more, especially as everyone was totally happy with the predecessor. But after one year of development and extensive testing in Korea, France and Switzerland we were finally happy with the new Fuse 3.

The Fuse series has always been known for its excellent take-off abilities in all conditions, its good performance and precise, playful handling. It was important to keep these qualities whilst introducing some new developments.

On the Fuse 3, we introduce a brand new fabric developed by GIN with Myungjin. It offers an extraordinary weight-to-durability ratio and is the result of over two years of testing and development all over the world in different conditions. Its coating is a PU- based composite, which makes it extremely durable, despite being lighter than the fabric we were using on the Fuse 2.

Although Myungjin is new to paragliding, they have many years’ experience in airsports fabrics for rescue parachutes. As a Korean company, close collaboration with Gin Gliders was a natural move. Myunjin have long been developing a new PU-based composite coating. After years of successful laboratory tests and extensive testing of the new fabric on various prototypes all over the world, we are happy. The Myungjin, MJ40MF (40 g) and MJ32MF (32 g) have shown excellent porosity and strength test results both in the laboratory, and also under real conditions.

We believe the fabric offers a real advantage on a glider like the Fuse 3, as tandem gliders are inherently exposed to abrasion and wear on take off, landing and repetitive packing.

With the new fabric being also lighter, the wing weighs in at 7.2kg, making the Fuse 3 one of the lightest everyday tandems on the market. This lightness makes the wing both compact on the ground and agile in the air.

We also worked a lot on the trimming of the brakes. Brake pressure has slightly decreased, and the handling is even more agile now. While you do not feel any difference in calm air, you have more control over the glider in rough air and you can turn tighter, making use of even small bubbles. The new brake setting helps also on the landing and increases the energy retention on the flair, which was already very good in the Fuse 2.

Based on the feedback from various professional tandem pilots in France we introduced a new big ear system on the risers. Now it is much easier and faster to pull and release the big ears. In addition to that, the pilot can still use the brakes and steer the glider. This especially helps on tricky top landings as the glide ratio can be easily adjusted.

We also took care to make the trimmers easy to change. Although we use the best available material on our trimmers, there is always some wear after extensive use. It is now possible to replace the trimmer webbing in just a few steps.

Overall we’re very happy with the Fuse 3 and hope tandem pilots will be too!”