With the Rebel, Gin wanted to help pilots to extend their own XC potential by providing a glider that is very accessible, while providing a sophisticated, top quality and high performance package.

In the context of Gin's design, high performance means "being able to climb quickly; an excellent sink rate; a glider able to glide forward easily into a head wind and through turbulent air; a stable and efficient trim speed; an easy to use accelerated speed.

For more info about the Gin Rebel click www.gingliders.com/paragliding/rebel.php

Our first impressions were that the Rebel proves itself to be surprisingly easy to fly and very forgiving for this performance level, it almost feels too easy!

Flying characteristics are subjective however, and depend on your expectations, what you are used to and to your style.

The Rebel is fun to fly, straight after take-off I was exploring great swooping wing-overs while scratching up the hill, you can feel the energy and you can really enjoy well coordinated, responsive reactions to inputs. I found the Rebel to have medium brake pressures building progressively to firm with longish travel, no chance of an inadvertent spin!

You can fly it with small inputs in the upper brake range or using a deeper, more aggressive brake technique, the Rebel has longish control travel but remains responsive even in the upper range. This allows you to turn either with short, precise fingertip control and weight shift to maximise your climbing efficiency or to use a more deliberate, aggressive style for quick responsive turns.

An interesting characteristic I noticed on the Rebel, when gliding or thermalling in changeable lift, instead of the wing rolling and turning away from stronger lift, the Rebel didn't turn but indicated the lift by an increased brake pressure on the lifting side, without the roll and turn, it is easy then to turn into the lift.

You feel the difference most when gliding. The Rebel doesn't move around too much in turbulence or lift, especially in pitch, and the feedback you get is softened. You don't get jostled around as much as with many high performance gliders, everything feels smoother, but of course to some pilots this may come across as less informative. To me it feels very comfortable.

We think that Gin has hit the bulls-eye with the Rebel, it really is a fantastic glider for any pilot who is looking to expand their horizons, and to fly further...

Don't take my word for it though; decide for yourself.

Patrick Holmes