Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ "So why isn’t it certified to DHV and ACPUL standards?"
Response: THE CERTIFICATION PROBLEM: There is only one manufacturer of the Cage wing, JLDCAGE; Darlet would have to be the one to write the rules for what would be tested, as the "official" organizations responsible for paraglider tests, both in France and in Germany, seem incapable of even making the effort to understand how it works. (The DHV, for example, asked if they could just put a Cage structure onto a current certified paraglider! ...This is a question often asked anyway; it takes patience to explain the mechanics of paraglider flight, and why that idea of "caging" regular paragliders is worthless.) Bit of a "Catch 22", eh?... And yet, the flight characteristics of the Cage wings are sufficiently different from paragliders in radical conditions (for example: getting out of collapses), that the "standard" test procedures of the DHV have no meaning for testing the Cage comportment. But what validity is there, legally and in the public eye, for the manufacturer of a wing to "Certify" his OWN wing design?
Darlet has certified his wings, to his own rigorous standards with documented pull tests on the cage structure, and load tests on the wing, and full, video documented tests at the Monaco (over the water) site where other "official " organizations conduct their tests. The Cage wings passed with the results expected by Darlet; but of what use are the results? They won't be recognized by the DHV or the French organizations, because they are not "independent". But that's funny! The test pilots for these organizations won’t even take the time to learn how to fly the Cage, so how could THEY be expected to conduct tests?