Screen test: Phi Maestro

July 18, 2019

The Maestro from Phi offers high performance coupled with a fine handling. In stubborn air, however, he acts comparatively "hard-sprung". The Phi Maestro reveals its complex inner life in the backlight. // Source: Phi I gained the impressions of the Phi Maestro described here during flights and ground handling sessions in the Stubai Valley, in the Allgäu and in the Eifel. I flew the Maestro in the size M / 21 (75-95 kg, extended to 100 kg) with about 93 kg takeoff weight. The harness was a Karpofly Extra Light (lounge harness). The screen was kindly provided by Phi for the test. Hannes Papesh calls the maestro on the Phi website his "comeback". Once Papesh had triggered the Mentor fever as a nova designer: the umbrellas he designed Mentor, Mentor 2 and Mentor 3 were at the time as a benchmark in the high-B range. They provided evidence that also umbrellas with a relatively low elongation (5.4) can have a surprisingly high performance potential. Serial victories in the XC competitions and wide triangular flights of more than 300 km confirmed that. Then Hannes Papesh separated from Nova, helped out for a while on Advance, before he finally founded his own brand Phi - also with the aim, straight to succeed in the high-B sector again. "The high-B class is very important to me, it's my specialty," he writes on the Phi website. Of course, this drives expectations of the Maestro as the new flagship of the self-proclaimed High-B specialist. Especially as in recent years, other manufacturers in this sector could also present attractive and powerful screen models. Where would the maestro be classified in this round? Continue reading "

This article has been translated for your convenience and was originally written in alemão.