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Safety & airworthiness
Fluid Wings builds equipment for inherently dangerous sports. This page sets out what that means, who our products are for, and what you are responsible for as an owner and pilot.
Assumption of risk
Skydiving, parachuting, speed flying and paragliding are dangerous activities that can result in serious injury or death. No equipment, training or precaution can eliminate that risk. By purchasing, demoing or flying Fluid Wings equipment you acknowledge and voluntarily assume that risk.
Who our products are for
Fluid Wings skydiving wings, speed wings, mini-wings and paragliders are sold for use by pilots who are appropriately trained, current, rated and insured for the discipline and the wing class concerned. Several wings in our range — including the SAW, HK Terminal, HK2 and HK3 — are expert and competition equipment and are not suitable for beginner or intermediate pilots under any loading.
Some wings require references before we will approve a demo or a purchase, and certain small sizes require an additional review. We apply these checks because they matter, not as a formality.
Sizing, loading and downsizing
Wing performance varies significantly with wing loading and size. Every chart, table and description on this website is a general guide only. It must not be used to determine acceptable maximum loading (suspended weight) for a wing.
Obtain advice from a qualified professional who knows your flying before selecting a size or downsizing. Fluid Wings LLC does not provide that advice.
Certification
Our paragliding products are certified where certification applies to that class of wing — the Rok is certified EN/LTF A to EN 926-2, and the Sitta harness is EN certified to 120 kg.
Speed wings, mini-wings, para-kites and skydiving wings are, by their nature and by the standards that exist for them, not subject to the same certification regime. Flying uncertified equipment places a correspondingly greater responsibility on the pilot.
Continued airworthiness
Once a wing leaves our loft, keeping it airworthy is the responsibility of the owner and their rigger. That means:
- Reading and complying with every maintenance bulletin we publish, including the Mandatory Maintenance Bulletin.
- Inspecting lines for wear and replacing linesets before they reach their wear limits.
- Checking for tension knots and following our tension-knot prevention guidance.
- Inspecting fabric, seams and hardware at the intervals specified in your manual.
- Having repairs and line installs carried out by a qualified rigger — or by us.
Deployment and use
High-performance wings must be deployed as high-performance wings: with precise packing and body awareness during opening. Some wings in our range are explicitly not optimised for terminal deployment — the HK3 is built for performance and sub-terminal opening only. Using a wing outside its intended environment may reduce its service life and increase risk.
Get trained
Nothing on this website is a substitute for formal instruction. If you are new to a discipline, train with a qualified school or instructor before you buy equipment. We build wings; we do not certify pilots.
Fly it properly.
If you’re unsure whether a wing is right for you, ask before you order.