The two plots give an overview of paraglider performance. Each measurement was not made with the same pilot/harness pair, so they are not directly comparable. However, we can observe that :
- Glide ratios range from around 7 for a small mountain wing with an ordinary harness, up to around 13 for a competition wing with a well-profiled harness. The aspect-ratio is the dominant factor for performance.
- The maximum glide-ratio is always at trim speed.
- When moving up in category, the trim-speed increases slightly, in accordance with the increase in wing loading.
- An ENB with a good pod harness can be as good as an ENC with an aerodynamically bad harness (can be an open harness or a pod poorly adjusted).