Using SOLIDWORKS design and AMD FirePro professional graphics solutions, Wills Wing has grown to become the largest manufacturer of hang gliders in the world and produced the hang glider that set the distance flying record of 475 miles in 2013.

WILLS WINGSOARING TO TOP OF HANG GLIDER MARKET WITH

SOLIDWORKS AND AMD FIREPRO PROFESSIONAL GRAPHICS

For more than four decades, Wills Wing has manufactured world-class hang gliders for flying enthusiasts of all abilities. Since its founding in 1973, the Southern California-based company has grown to become the largest manufacturer of hang gliders in the world, offering the most comprehensive lineup of hang gliders available anywhere. From basic gliders for beginner and casual recreational fliers to advanced models for the most seasoned and competitive pilots, the hang glider manufacturer develops products to fit all flying styles and experience levels.

Throughout its history, Wills Wing has focused on leveraging design and manufacturing technologies to boost efficiency and maximize the impact of its small, tightly knit team, as well as to maintain high levels of quality, safety, and performance. “We’ve witnessed incredible technological advances both in hang gliding and in the tools that we utilize to design and manufacture our products,” explains President, Managing Partner, and Lead Designer Steve Pearson, one of a team of test pilots who test-fly every hang glider that the company makes before delivery to customers. “Over the years, our hang gliders have set the distance record many times, including the first 300-mile flight in 1990 and the current record of 475 miles in 2013, a flight that lasted 11 hours.”

Until the mid-1990s, Wills Wing utilized AutoCAD® 2D tools to design its gliders and outside manufacturing partners to make components. However, when 3D modeling technology emerged, Wills Wing became an early adopter and proponent. Pearson, who manages all product development at Wills Wing, says the company’s commitment to 3D relates to its focus on the importance of design, engineering, and manufacturing technologies for documenting production and assembly, boosting productivity and growth, and advancing the state of the art in hang glider design.

After evaluating 3D modeling packages, Wills Wing chose SOLIDWORKS® design software because it is easy to use,

provides advanced design visualization capabilities, and supports the CNC machining center that Wills Wing acquired to support growth. “The power of SOLIDWORKS is the extraordinary range of design tools packaged within an easy-to-use interface,” Pearson stresses. “Since our selection of SOLIDWORKS in 1996, the software has grown in capabilities and intuitiveness to the point that it would be impossible to do what we do without it.”

Wills Wing also invested in SOLIDWORKS-certified AMD®

FirePro™ professional graphics cards, beginning with a V5900 and culminating in a W7100 graphics card. “As design and graphics technology has improved, the gap between the virtual and the real is shrinking,” Pearson notes. “The W7100 delivers incredible performance and superb visual quality, particularly when working with complex 3D models in SOLIDWORKS.”

FAST, ACCURATE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTUsing SOLIDWORKS and AMD FirePro solutions, Wills Wing has accelerated development and has improved design accuracy, enabling the company to become the top manufacturer of hang gliders in the world, expanding its product line to five model families and 15 different glider configurations today. “In 1977, there were 10 hang glider manufacturers that were larger

than us just in the United States,” Pearson says. “Now, we are the largest manufacturer worldwide, despite the fact that we continue to design products on a single workstation.

“Our success as a company is all about making the most of critical resources by embracing advanced technology solutions like those provided by SOLIDWORKS and AMD FirePro,” Pearson continues. “It gives us an advantage over competitors because we can do things faster and more cost-effectively.”

HIGH-PERFORMANCE VISUALIZATION AND MULTIPLE DISPLAYSWills Wing is able to develop technically sophisticated products with limited resources because of the design visualization capabilities provided by SOLIDWORKS software and AMD FirePro professional graphics. For example, Pearson takes advantage of order-independent transparency to obtain pixel-

Challenge:Compete successfully in the hang glider manufacturing market by maximizing resource utilization through the application of technology to make design and manufacturing more efficient.

Solution:Implement SOLIDWORKS 3D design software and AMD FirePro professional graphics.

Benefits:• Achieved and expanded position as market leader• Grew offering from one product to five distinct

product families• Realized high-performance design visualization

across multiple displays• Eliminated need for rendering with RealView

in SOLIDWORKS

“Our success as a company is all about making the most of critical resources by embracing

advanced technology solutions like those provided by SOLIDWORKS and AMD FirePro. It gives us an advantage over competitors because we can do things faster and more cost-effectively.”— Steve Pearson, President, Managing Partner, and Lead Designer

Wills Wing VAR: GoEngineer, Santa Ana, CA, USA

Headquarters: 500 West Blueridge Avenue Orange, CA 92865 USAPhone: +1 714 998 6359

For more informationwww.willswing.com

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accurate representations of a model and surrounding geometry, and AMD Eyefinity® technology to view models across multiple displays, maximizing design visualization.

“High-fidelity modeling is essential for effective design and manufacturing,” Pearson contends. “The combination of SOLIDWORKS design, AMD FirePro graphics, and CNC machining solutions allows us to do more with less, which has contributed to our success.”

REALVIEW RENDERING ON THE FLYWith SOLIDWORKS software and AMD FirePro professional graphics, Wills Wing has virtually eliminated the need to create photorealistic design renderings as a separate step because of the high graphical quality of RealView in SOLIDWORKS, which incorporates ambient occlusion, scene reflections, advanced shading, translucency, and self-shadowing. “I can effectively design with RealView turned on without any performance loss, even with assemblies of 1,000 parts,” Pearson stresses.

“Combining a professional-grade graphics card like the AMD FirePro W7100 makes a big difference in the performance of SOLIDWORKS,” Pearson adds. “Before, I needed to create renderings separately. Now, I just use screenshots out of RealView, which saves me time, provides high-quality graphics, and helps me make better design decisions.”

By leveraging SOLIDWORKS design and AMD FirePro professional graphics solutions to support product development and manufacturing, Wills Wing has boosted efficiency and maximized the impact of its small, tightly knit team, while maintaining high levels of quality, safety, and performance.