NOVA Mentor 4 Light XS — Lighter, Yet It Climbs Even Better

A light wing usually pays for its thinner fabric with a weaker climb — thin cloth flexes more, and a flexing canopy holds the core less firmly. The Mentor 4 Light dodges that formula. It climbed better than the standard version rather than worse, and that alone gives this wing a reason to stand out beyond just being "a lighter M4." That lightness comes with a catch, though. Peak performance shows up closest to the certified weight ceiling. A pilot who picks the Light version specifically to cut weight ends up needing to load it near the top of its range to get the most out of it — a small irony between why you'd reach for this wing and how you actually fly it well.