Test of the Kooky from Sky Paragliders

Kooky Sky Paragliders

Discover without further delay the test of the Kooky by Beber from Freedom Parapente

By Bertrand, Freedom Parapente :

Pilote Beber

Marc Génovèse was kind enough to lend the Kooky to Freedom Parapente for a fortnight. Arthur, Riton and I were able to test it by opening and closing it in the sky of the Puy de Dôme. We had the size 22 which corresponds to my usual Freestyle 3.

Discovery of paragliding: the Kooky is hardly heavier than a Freestyle 3 and much less than an Emilie. A good point for me who uses these gliders in the Sancy or elsewhere in the Auvergne and doesn't want to burden me with an unnecessary kilo. On the other hand the weight is distributed differently. The glider itself is heavier, but the risers are much lighter. This changes the behaviour a little, as we will see later.

test voile Kooky

The cockpit of the Kooky is very well thought out: The accelerator is hidden between the A and B, so that it doesn't get caught by mistake when sliding your hands along them. Also clever are the steering handles which are basic but hide a small bar allowing an excellent grip. Sky Paragliders has been offering this for many years, and it's a real plus that would benefit from developing in the paragliding world.

At the first inflation I am a little surprised by the weight of the wing which requires a little more effort in light wind and by the length of the line cone. The glider seems very small in the distance! I even checked that it was a 22m², thinking it was a 20 above my head.
The wing is not a hard cinder block to inflate, far from it, but requires a little bit of energy.

In the air the wing is very pleasant, the efforts at the controls are very moderate, without taking away any precision. Good news for pilots suffering from tendinitis! The play in the wind is very pleasant, the wing turns very efficiently and precisely.
Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to test other manoeuvres than Wing and Sat. Little gas at the Puy de Dôme on those days... In Sat, the Kooky is very easy, very compact and doesn't close at the exit, like the Freestyle can do if you don't pilot the outer wing. Riton had a very good feeling in rhythm under a very tense wing.

In the end, I really liked this paraglider. The cockpit is well thought out. It seems to me more acro than freestyle, while keeping the controls smooth and the weight reasonable.

I would like to try it again over water for a more acro programme, see how it stalls and reacts to my piloting imprecisions... In any case, this glider has everything to please freestyle pilots who want to push their experience a little further on more dynamic manoeuvres!

The technical information of the Kooky :

KOOKY182022

Surface a plat (m2)

182022
Envergure a plat (m)10.0410.5811.1
Fallongement a plat5.65,65,6
Surface projetée (m2)15.6617.4019.15
Envergure projeté (m)8.28.659.07
Allongement projeté4.34.34.3
Nomber de cellules505050
Poids du parapente (kg)4.454.654.85
Poids total en vol (kg)65-75kg Acro Trainer 
75-85kg Recreational Acro 
85-105kg Comp Acro
70-80kg Acro Trainer
0-95kg Recreational Acro
95-115kg Comp Acro
85-100kg Acro Trainer
100-110kg Recreational Acro
110-130kg Comp Acro
HomologationEN 926-1EN 926-1EN 926-1

Available colours :

Couleurs de série de la Kooky

But you can also opt for customised colours:

You can indeed personalise all the colours of your paraglider. To do so, go to the Sky Paragliders website to discover all the possible combinations.