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topic: Wills Wing U2 (24 articles)

2022 Corryong Cup »

Thu, Jan 13 2022, 4:12:27 pm MST

Day five, task four

Corryong Cup 2022

http://xc.highcloud.net/task_result.html?comPk=335&tasPk=1442

There are no leading or arrival points, so launch and start later.

Task 4:

# Pilot Time Tot
1 Jon Durand 1:32:57 1000
2 Neale Halsall 1:44:05 903
3 Mitch Butler 1:50:37 858
4 Jason Kath 1:55:39 825
5 Mikhail Karmazin 1:56:39 819
6 Paul Bissett-Amess 1:57:33 813
7 Richard Martin 1:58:58 804
8 Neil Hooke 2:05:59 761
9 Bruce Atkinson 2:06:31 757
10 Steve Docherty 2:13:36 715
11 Troy Horton 2:23:11 661

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Jon Durand Moyes Gecko 170 2978
2 Neale Halsall Moyes RX 4 Pro 2299
3 Mitch Butler Moyes LS4 2221
4 Paul Bissett-Amess Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2220
5 Hughbert Alexander Aeros Kombat 2077
6 Mikhail Karmazin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2075
7 Richard Martin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2051
8 Steve Docherty Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2011
9 James Wynd Moyes RX 3.5 1958
10 Peter Burkitt Moyes RX5 Pro 1827

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2022 Corryong Cup »

Wed, Jan 12 2022, 5:26:54 pm MST

Day four, task three

Corryong Cup 2022

http://xc.highcloud.net/task_result.html?comPk=335&tasPk=1442

Task 3:

# Pilot Time Kms Tot
1 Peter Burkitt 1:54:26 62.65 845
2 Neale Halsall 57.99 692
3 Jon Durand 57.11 687
4 Paul Bissett-Amess 55.17 676
5 Hughbert Alexander 52.10 636
6 Neil Hooke 51.60 633
7 Troy Horton 47.41 579
8 Ward Gunn 44.05 556
9 Peter Adriaans 38.22 500
9 Bruce Atkinson 38.18 500

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Jon Durand Moyes Gecko 170 2017
2 Hughbert Alexander Aeros Kombat 1666
3 Peter Burkitt Moyes RX5 Pro 1492
4 James Wynd Moyes RX 3.5 1449
5 Paul Bissett-Amess Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 1441
6 Neale Halsall Moyes RX 4 Pro 1431
7 Mitch Butler Moyes LS4 1370
8 Steve Docherty Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 1315
9 Mikhail Karmazin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 1256
10 Richard Martin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 1253

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2022 Corryong Cup »

Mon, Jan 10 2022, 3:36:35 pm MST

Day two, task two

Corryong Cup 2022

http://xc.highcloud.net/task_result.html?comPk=335&tasPk=1442

Task 2:

# Pilot Time Tot
1 Hughbert Alexander 1:39:21 693
2 Steven Crosby 1:49:11 658
3 Jon Durand 2:00:36 627
4 Mikhail Karmazin 2:03:47 619

Cumulative:

# Name Glider Total
1 Jon Durand Moyes Gecko 170 1358
2 Mikhail Karmazin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 1098
3 Hughbert Alexander Aeros Combat 1064
4 Mitch Butler Moyes LS4 1014
5 James Wynd Moyes RX 3.5 1009
6 Jason Kath Wills Wing T2C 144 1001
7 Richard Martin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 910
8 Steven Crosby Moyes S5 881
9 Todd Wisewould Wills Wing T2C 873

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2022 Corryong Cup - day 1 task 1 »

Sun, Jan 9 2022, 6:02:15 am MST

40 open day pilots

Corryong Cup 2022

http://xc.highcloud.net/task_result.html?comPk=335&tasPk=1440

# Pilot Glider Time Tot
1 Jon Durand Moyes Gecko 170 1:48:51 745
2 Mitch Butler Litespeed S4 2:02:16 702
3 James Wynd 2:21:54 655
4 Richard Martin Moyes RX 3.5 Pro 2:25:45 646

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XCBuddy update

Fri, Dec 3 2021, 8:43:32 am MST

More polars

Advance Iota 2|Advance Sigma 10|Aeros Combat GT|Aeros Discus|Avian Cheetah Evo 3|Jastreb Vuk-T|Jeremy Soper|Ozone Delta 3|Phi Allegro|polar|Sol LT 1|Up Meru|Wills Wing Sport 3|Wills Wing U2|XCBuddy

"Jeremy Soper" «aero» writes:

A dozen more glider polars have been published on XCBuddy (https://www.xc-buddy.com): Aeros Combat GT, Aeros Discus, Avian Cheetah Evo 3, Wills Wing Sport 3, Wills Wing U2, Advance Iota 2, Advance Sigma 10, Ozone Delta 3, Phi Allegro, Sol LT 1, Up Meru, Jastreb Vuk-T. Existing ones have been updated too.

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Carbon fiber tips for U2 and Sport 3

February 28, 2018, 10:47:08 EST

Carbon fiber tips for U2 and Sport 3

They are in development

carbon fiber|David Aldrich|Facebook|Wills Wing Sport 3|Wills Wing U2

David Aldrich writes:

Yesterday, I just finished getting the tips figured out on a U2. We still need to flight test it though. I have enough sample material to make a few more sets. They are Carbon Fiber too.

They will be available on the S3 and U2. Probably not on the S2 as they require additional Velcro to be sewn onto the sail.

The existing U2's will also require some additional Velcro to be sewn on the sail now that I think of it. We can do it here at the factory without removing the sail from the frame, but we would need the glider. A good excuse to come fly with us at Crestline this summer!

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2014 East Coast Championship

Day 7 and final results

Sat, Jun 7 2014, 9:27:48 pm EDT

Aeros Combat|Aeros Combat GT 15|Aeros Combat L|Aeros Discus|Airwave Vision Pulse|Bob Filipchuk|Brian Boudreau|Bruce Barmakian|Charles Allen|Cory Barnwell|Dana Harris|Dan Lukaszewicz|Dave Proctor|Davis Straub|East Coast Championships 2014|Felix Cantesanu|Greg Dinauer|Greg Sessa|Highland Aerosports Flight Park|Hugh Mcelrath|Icaro Laminar Z8|J.D. Guillemette|Jim Messina|Joe Schmucker|John Claytor|John Dullahan|John Waters|Knut Ryerson|Michelle Haag|Moyes Litespeed|Moyes Litespeed S|Moyes Litesport 4|Richard Elder|Richard Milla|Soraya Rios|Tom McGowan|Tom Mcgowan|Wills Wing|Wills Wing Sport 2|Wills Wing T2C|Wills Wing Talon|Wills Wing U2

http://soaringspot.com/ecc2014/

Task 7:

1. Greg Dinauer Aeros Combat 12.7 02:26:13 1000
2. Davis Straub Wills Wing T2C 144 02:26:22 994.02
3. Charles Allen Icaro Laminar Z8 12.8 02:40:06 837.19
4. Tom Mcgowan Moyes Litespeed 03:34:53 546.85

Final Totals:

1. Bruce Barmakian Wills Wing T2C 136 4913.06
2. Greg Dinauer Aeros Combat 12.7 4560.29
3. Davis Straub Wills Wing T2C 144 3821.55
4. Jd Guillemette Moyes Litespeed S4 3037.99
5. John Waters Aeros Combat L 15 3026.09
6. Jim Messina Moyes Litespeed S 4.5 2953.45
7. Charles Allen Icaro Laminar Z8 12.8 2941.23
8. Bob Filipchuk Aeros Combat GT 15 2397.18
9. Dave Proctor Wills Wing T2C 154 1449.28
10. Tom Mcgowan Moyes Litespeed 967.38
11. John Claytor Wills Wing Talon 160 276.18

Task 7 Sport:

1. Hugh Mcelrath Wills Wing Sport 2 01:39:20 1060
2. Brian Boudreau Wills Wing Sport 2 155 01:43:18 980.21
3. Dana Harris Wills Wing Sport 2 155 02:17:47 660.81
4. Cory Barnwell Airwave Vision Pulse 02:21:01 640.73
5. Soraya Rios Wills Wing Sport 2 135 02:29:32 592.70
6. Richard Elder Wills Wing Sport 2 03:00:45 468.69

Final Sport:

1. Felix Cantesanu Aeros Discus 3798.89
2. Hugh Mcelrath Wills Wing Sport 2 3519.46
3. Cory Barnwell Airwave Vision Pulse 3258.15
4. Brian Boudreau Wills Wing Sport 2 155 3044.54
5. Dana Harris Wills Wing Sport 2 155 2810.15
6. Richard Milla Wills Wing Sport 2 2804.88
7. Knut Ryerson Wills Wing Sport 2 2440.09
8. Soraya Rios Wills Wing Sport 2 135 2417.55
9. Richard Elder Wills Wing Sport 2 2203.56
10. Greg Sessa Wills Wing U2 1982.97
11. Michelle Haag Wills Wing Sport 2 135 1156.05
12. John Dullahan Moyes Litesport 4 649.96
13. Dan Lukaszewicz Wills Wing Sport 2 482.98
14. Joe Schmucker Wills Wing Sport 2 175 462.76

Flying the Wills Wing U2 160, part 2

Sat, Aug 22 2009, 6:36:13 am MDT

A report from Sylmar

Flying the Wills Wing U2 160, part 2

Wills Wing U2

https://OzReport.com/13.159#0

https://OzReport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17050

Today I had the pleasure of flying what I believe to be the same U2 160 that Davis flew in Zapata and currently resides at Windsports in Sylmar, CA as a demo glider.

Comparing the Litesport, Sting and U2

Tue, Feb 10 2009, 7:09:00 am AEDT

Performance Vs. handling

Airborne Sting 3|Australia|Moyes Litesport|Wills Wing|Wills Wing U2|XC

One pilot has asked me about the differences between the Airborne Sting 3 and the Moyes Litesport. The Sting 3 is an intermediate glider built to have intermediate handing and intermediate (but better than the Sting 2 XC) performance. The Litesport is an advanced glider with advanced performance and advanced handling.

The fact that they both have kingposts is not necessarily a sign or symbol that they are equivalent gliders although most hang glider pilots seem to be very symbol oriented (this is encouraged by the manufacturers). There is a lot more than goes into a glider and its performance than whether it has a kingpost or not. This is a problem for Moyes as they are marketing it against the symbol of the kingpost, which tells most hang glider pilots that this glider (the Litesport) is supposed to be an intermediate glider (which it is not).

I remember a few years ago when I first flew the Litesport after flying the Wills Wing U2 and how much "stiffer" it felt. Of course, now it feels like a baby doll to me.

Just subjectively on a scale of handling/performance I would rank the gliders in this fashion. Airborne Sting 3, Wills Wing U2, Moyes Litesport, left going to right more performance, right going to left easier handling.

As we have seen the Litespsort is an advanced glider that performs almost as well as the topless gliders in glide at speeds below 40 mph. It climbs as well as or better than the Litespeeds (and equivalent topless gliders). Blay was calling it the "Lighterspeed" after seeing its performance, especially on the seventh day of the NSW State Titles at Manilla.

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Flying the Wills Wing U2 154 (160)

Fri, Apr 8 2005, 1:30:04 pm EDT

Didn't know it was the big one and neither did Rob.

U2

Flying the Wills Wing U2 154 (160)

Wills Wing U2

www.willswing.com

On Saturday I took a 6:30 PM flight in a Wills Wing 154 and found the sweetest air imaginable. Dropped off below Steve Arndt in his Magic Dragon at 1,200', and slowly climbed out until I found 400 fpm to 5,500' and cloud base. After a few turns in the at first very light lift, I remembered again how to turn a flex wing glider in these conditions - push out on one side of the bar - don't just bump it (like I would do with an ATOS). The U2 was very responsive even for a bigger glider (which by then I had figured it was) and again I couldn't tell that much difference between the T2 and the U2.

When I found the good stuff, I twirled it up and it was a joy to handle. Just got to remember to carve those turns (on what model of Wills Wing was I supposed to bump turns - h2?).

Of course, it was no problem to land with my monkey bar routine. The air was so sweet we just boated around and the pilots were loving it. If hang gliding could always be this much fun.

Rob will be over here at Quest on Wednesday after one day off.

Wills Wing U2 »

Thu, Jul 17 2003, 3:00:05 pm EDT

Steven "Steve" Pearson|Wills Wing|Wills Wing U2

Steve Pearson <Steve@WILLSWING.com> writes:

It’s true that Wills Wing is swamped with orders for the U2. They are flying really sweet. The combination of the performance control bar, all-7075 airframe, and the low price is a pretty compelling package. These days, the word gets around quickly. Of course it helps to have ads!

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Wills Wing U2 »

Tue, Jul 1 2003, 5:00:02 pm EDT

aerotow|Australia|battens|Bernard Winkelmann|book|landing|trike|Vincene Muller|Wills Wing|Wills Wing U2

https://OzReport.com/toc.php?7.084#2

Bernard Winkelmann <bernard_winkelmann@hotmail.com> writes:

Wow. That is all I can say.

It was a windy day in Cochrane and I was determined to fly today. My Talon base tube arrived from Wills Wing and I was eager to fly my Talon again. I hadn't flown it since Australia. Well it turns out that the battens I had were for an older Talon 150 as the last 5 battens out near the tip were way too short. So I repacked my glider and waited for the wind to calm down a little.

Once the gusting stopped, I noticed that people were moving to the front of the hill. Soon, there was a lone Falcon 2 flying around. I knew then that I had to fly. I had the choice of a mint Fusion (5 flights on it) or a new U2. Chris and Vincene Muller (http://www.mullerwindsports.com) had just taken delivery of a new U2 145. It was really nice looking. Kind of like a baby Talon. Everybody that was waiting for the wind to calm down was ogling it.

It was sitting there all setup just begging to be test flown. You see, Chris was down south Kite Surfing. He had just set it up, but couldn't fly it as the conditions in the morning were not right for it. So I asked if I could take it out. The answer was yes so long as it was top landed. Couldn't argue with that.

Now I am not a very experienced pilot. I have somewhere between 50-60 hours. I practically learned to fly on a Talon in the heat of Australia. Learning to aerotow behind a trike in the middle of the day in the outback was part of that learning curve. So, I still consider myself a novice pilot. I am about 175lbs. Now this may sound biased, but I think that it is a testament to the great gliders Wills Wing makes. They are easy to fly, but most importantly, easy to land. Enough about me.

Walking the glider to the front of hill I was little concerned with the amount of slack in the lower cables. It was pretty "sloppy" as another pilot put it. I think that it would be the only criticism that I have about the glider. But after flying it, I think that I know why it is there. This puppy handles. I was amazed that I could just point it where I wanted it to go and it would go there.

I pulled on about ¾ VG and I think that I found the sweet spot. Enough handling for thermalling without high-siding, but enough stability so that you are not correcting it every minute. It the dirty, wind broken thermals that were left this evening, the glider was so easy to core and locked into the bank angle that I like very easily. At full VG, the handling is tighter, but still manageable.

The U2 is a sports car. It was running circles around everyone in the air. It was so cool to look somewhere and think "I want to go there" and have the performance and speed to get there. I was literally racing around the sky! It by far had the best sink rate on the hill. It was so nice to sit above everyone.

At full speed and full VG, the glider has no tendency to oscillate (PIO). This made my poor attempts at buzzing launch quite reassuring. The U2 has a great speed range. The transient trim seems less pronounced than my Talon's. Terry and I managed to fly side by side for a little bit (he has a Fusion), and the U2 didn't lose at all. It really does perform quite well. I would dare say that at most speeds, better than the Fusion.

Landing was awesome. It was so easy. VG ¼ allowed for enough stability and enough slack to keep it straight for a nice easy top landing. Be careful of the ground effect. It took me a few passes each time I tried to land on top. It just kept going and going and going.

Honestly, if I didn't have my Talon (which incidentally is for sale), I would buy this glider in a heartbeat. For people who don't compete at a world level, this is the glider for you. Great bang for the buck. I haven't had this much fun flying in a long time. If you have the opportunity to take one for a test flight, do it, but have your pocket book ready. I can almost guarantee that you will want one.

Discuss the U2 at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2

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Moyes LiteSport »

Thu, Apr 3 2003, 10:00:05 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|landing|Moyes Litesport 4|Paris Williams|tow|Wallaby Ranch|Wills Wing U2

http://www.moyes.com.au/Frameset.htm

Model Litesport 4
Area 13.7 sq m (148 sq ft)
Glider Weight 31.8 (70 lbs)
Hook-In-Weight 68-110kgs (150-240 lbs)

I took the Moyes LiteSport for a test flight today after days of flying mostly intermediate gliders. The LiteSport may have a kingpost, but it is not marketed to intermediate pilots and not as an intermediate glider. The Moyes marketing message:

Welcome to the new evolution of king posted hang gliders - the Moyes Litesport. The Litesport performs similarly to a non-kingposted glider, but handles like an intermediate glider, making it suitable for many pilots whether competitive or recreational.

I’d flown the LiteSport a few times before last spring at Wallaby Ranch.

https://OzReport.com/Ozv6n58.shtml

Now I had a chance to fly it after flying some intermediate and single surface gliders. The LiteSport is positioned to sell to advanced pilots, and I would say that it handles a lot like an advanced hang glider. It doesn’t have quite the lag in response and it isn’t quite as stiff, but that advanced hang glider feel is definitely there.

It was easy to set up once I realized that the VG was on in order to allow the wings to be folded together. The tips were reasonably easy to put on, although not quite as easy as the Discus. Much easier than the 1996 Laminar.

With half VG, the tow was a handful in light winds and mid day lift, about equivalent to the WW Talon 150 (at least on the days that I flew each of these two gliders). I got knocked around a bit, but the glider kept flying straight.

Off tow the glider was flying big. By that I mean that the glider was flying me some and I had to fight it. This was also true on the Talon 150 (154 sq. ft.). I noticed that it yawed every now and then, and would put a wing down every now and then and I would climb the opposite down tube to try to get the thing straightened out.

I asked Paris about what he felt in the air today and he mentioned how light the lift was and how much less turbulence there was than yesterday.

After a while things settled down, I quit yawing the glider as much, and I got into thermaling in the 60 fpm at 600 feet over the ground just trying to hang in there. I was able to slowly climb up.

The glider was steady in turns and had no tendency to spiral in at low speed and shallow bank angles I was using. Once in a turn it stayed there. The VG was very easy to use.

The landing was fine with a nice long glide in ground effect with ¼ VG and an easy run out.

Relative to the Wills Wing U2 or the Aeros Discus, the Moyes LiteSport is a glider for advanced pilots, just because of its handling characteristics. I’m assuming that it handles better than a topless, but I’ll have to take more topless flights to see if I still feel that way.

I have no way of knowing about any performance difference between the hang gliders that I’m test flying. That takes side by side comparisons with very similar pilots, in similar harnesses to make any good judgment calls.

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Aeros Discus »

Wed, Apr 2 2003, 8:00:03 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|Ron Gleason|Steven "Steve" Pearson|tow|Wills Wing Talon|Wills Wing U2

https://OzReport.com/Ozv7n76.shtml#4

https://OzReport.com/Ozv7n78.shtml#2

I made sure that I flew the Aeros Discus again today so that I could compare it with the Wills Wing U2’s that I had flown over at Wallaby. I still haven’t had a chance to get on the Icaro 2000 MastR 14 again.

The air was very rough so I didn’t have a good opportunity to compare again its flying characteristics. I wasn’t the only one being tossed around.

The pitch pressures were light on tow with the VG half on. Not as light as the U2, but lighter than the Talon 140 which was pretty light. The tow was rough as was the flying. This is so weird given that there wasn’t any wind. The Discus didn’t get turned sideways like the old Laminar did yesterday on tow.

I had two flights, after getting off too early on the first one. Both landings were a piece of cake in light switchy winds. It’s easy to pull in and gain speed. I came in with one hand on the down tube and one on the base bar pulling in.

The VG was easy, but not as easy as the Wills Wing U2. I had flown the U2-145 with the Spectra VG cord and Steve Pearson thought that might lend to making it easier to pull. Ron Gleason had flown the WW U2-160, with the cloth cord and also found the Discus VG not as easy to pull as the U2. Still, much easier than the Wills Wing Talon, for me at least (Ron didn’t fly the Talon).

Otherwise, it was not a good day for testing. I flew for about an hour and got high from low in ratty light lift that kept kicking me when it wasn’t light.

For the first time in my flying life I got out thermaled by a paraglider in a thermal. No reflection on the glider, of course. Dave Prentice just did great on his paraglider. I came in just underneath him and he climbed away from me.

Discuss "Aeros Discus" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Kate in Love

Tue, Apr 1 2003, 9:00:03 pm GMT

battens|control frame|Icaro 2000 MastR|Kate Diamond|Moyes Litesport|sprogs|Wills Wing U2

http://www.Icaro2000.com/Products/Hang%20gliders/MastR/MastR.htm

Kate Diamond is now flying the Icaro 2000 MastR 12 R. It is the little glider (134.55 sq. ft.). It also has a small control frame which has always been the issue for her.

She says she can’t afford to buy it, but she probably will.

It is an updated version of the Laminar that I flew today also. The VG is light and easy to pull (Kate said this also). The battens end and fit into the trailing edge.

It must be easy to fly as Kate likes it a lot. It is not a completely new design like the Moyes Litesport or the Wills Wing U2. It is a few refinements on the older Laminar and Laminar R model. For example, it still has four luft lines on each trailing edge. No internal sprogs. It also costs $5,000+.

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Wills Wing Talon 140 »

Sun, Mar 30 2003, 10:00:05 pm GMT

competition|Dirk Darling|Exxtacy|Joe Balbona|landing|Lawrence "Pete" Lehmann|Rob Kells|tow|tug|Wills Wing Talon|Wills Wing U2

http://www.willswing.com/prod2.asp?theClass=hg&theModel=talon

Joe Balbona <Joe@arara.us> writes:

I flew the same glider earlier in the day. The tug pilot waved me off in a thermal and I went up at ¼ VG to 4,000 feet my limit yesterday in a short sleeved shirt. I toured around for a while and flew into a thermal with the Exxtacy down low. He climbed past me, but then I cored and went past him and joined a couple Litespeeds high.

I was impressed with the tow as very little bar pressure or corrections were required compared to my Litespeed 4.

(editor’s note: I also felt that the Talon 140 has light bar pressures and it was easy for me to pull in and stay right with the tug. I’m glad to hear that he felt this was also true earlier in the day when there was stronger lift.

I was comparing the Talon 140 bar pressure to the U2 145 bar pressure, and it is much less on the U2. I haven’t towed a Litespeed in a while, so I don’t remember what the bar pressures were like on it, so we’ll have to take your word on that.)

The VG wasn't any harder to pull than the pull cord on a ceiling fan. No muscles required to tension up. A pilot couldn't ask for an easier VG.

(editor’s note: Well, actually they could. Just try the U2 VG with the spectra line. Much easier. Just a flick of the wrist. If you didn’t feel that the VG was a problem, then it isn’t a problem.)

I thought you were tossed around like a rag doll on final landing approach because you were flying too slow.

(editor’s note: Actually I was referring not to my final approach but to the air I was experiencing at 500‘ as I did S turns over the trees. I wasn’t concerned about any bumps on landing.

I don’t doubt that I was coming into landing too slow on the Talon 140 – you should have seen the 150. I had heard Rob Kells talk about landing techniques the night before, and he was criticizing pilots for coming in pulling down on the down tubes. Since I often pull down on the down tubes to get the glider going fast on final approach, I thought I would try a couple of final approaches with just a really light touch on the downtubes and put all the weight on the hang strap.

What I neglected to do was pull in enough (while rotated up), keeping the speed up to as fast as it would have been while pulling down on the down tubes. None the less, the Talon 140 landing was uneventful.)

I disagree with you the summation of your review. I am a non-comp pilot (They don't make GPSes that old guys can see.) and would not hesitate to fly the Talon every day. It handled like a dream being responsive to all inputs.

(editor’s note: The Talon 140 was much more responsive to me that the 150 and I found it easy to fly. I just found the Wills Wing U2 145 a more fun and easy to fly. Given that it is a high performance glider, I continue to wonder what is the point of choosing a Talon 140 over a U2 145, or any topless over a high end new design king posted hang glider.)

While you may classify the Talon as a competition glider, the one we flew was quite tame so that a pilot using it in a comp would have it rigged tighter. The Litespeed is a comp glider but mine is responsive. When I borrowed one that was flown in the comps last year, I could not turn it with full VG.

(editor’s note: I do believe that Wills Wing thinks of the Talon as a competition glider, although of course, you are right there are many settings that can be tweaked for more competition performance. WW writes:

The Talon is our top of the line, competition class glider.

I spoke with Pete Lehmann, and he just got his new Mylar Talon 150. He said that the handling was so light and it feels so much different that what he expected (he had a Talon 150 before also). He was trying to figure out what was causing the difference. What it the Mylar? I thought that was supposed to make the gliders stiffer.

I also spoke with Jay Darling who was loving flying the Talon 150. He normally flies a Moyes XS. He hooks in about 15 pounds heavier than me, and hadn’t flown the U2 145 and a bunch of single surface gliders, before he flew the Talon 150.)

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Florida Report

Thu, Mar 27 2003, 9:00:02 pm GMT

control frame|lightning|Mark "Gibbo" Gibson|Rob Kells|Steven "Steve" Pearson|Wallaby Ranch|Wills Wing U2

http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/wallabyweather.htm

The Wills Wing days are going full swing. I kept taking demo flights on Wednesday because it wasn’t clear what the weather would be in the coming days. Maybe clouds and rain. Maybe just the threat.

At 1:45 the rains begin at Wallaby Ranch with a report of a large hail storm 30 miles away at Lakeland. All the demo gliders are still set up so we are hoping that there are no gust fronts nearby. The rains don’t last long, and Mark Gibson got his first flight on his new Wills Wing U2. The Attack Falcon2 shows up:

Rob Kells strips the wires. Steve Pearson will be adding a trip line to the cross bar to keep the air attached to the tubes a bit longer.

The Attack Falcon with the Mylar sail and slipstream control frame.

There were a number of demo flights in the late afternoon in non lifting conditions. Then rain again. It’s wet here in central Florida.

Lightning last night knocks out the power and I’m not able to send the Oz Report out.

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Aerotowing single surface and intermediate gliders

Wed, Mar 26 2003, 9:00:06 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|Aeros Target|aerotow|bridle|control frame|Dragonfly|Icaro 2000 Relax 16|Rob Kells|sport|tow|towing|tug|Wills Wing|Wills Wing Falcon|Wills Wing U2

I’ve had an opportunity to at least aerotow quite a few different gliders recently so I thought I would first speak to their aerotowing characteristics.

I’ve aerotowed the Icaro 2000 Relax 16 (170 sq ft) from my shoulder bridle, the Wills Wing Falcon 2 170 from my shoulder bridle, and the Aeros Target 180 from a bridle than went to the keel and my shoulders. Single surface gliders are normally towed with the assistance of an attachment to the keel to reduce the bar pressures. According to Rob Kells you can move the keel attachment point forward until there is no bar pressure at all. Something that would be quite useful for aerotowing newer hang glider pilots on these gliders.

I have the tow point about a foot forward of the apex on the Aeros Target , just under the cross bar, and it is not far enough forward to reduce the bar pressure to a comfortable amount. I am able to tow with it in this configuration, but it would be nice to further reduce the bar pressure.

I aerotowed the Wills Wing Falcon2 170 today just from my shoulder bridle. It was quite possible to do this but the bar pressures were moderate to moderately high and I needed to make a lot of corrections early in the flight. I was not as steady on tow as I have come to expect. Not uncomfortable, and I would definitely do it again, but not perfect. I had the bar pulled into my waist.

The Icaro 2000 Relax aerotows with no problem from the shoulder bridle. It is very steady on tow. Newer pilots will probably want to use the keel tow point method also, just to reduce how much you have to pull back the bar (which is a lot), but bar pressures are minor.

In all three cases you really have to pull the bar in to get the speed up fast enough to stay with the Dragonfly. The Relax was just a lot easier to control with the bar stuffed.

All of the intermediate gliders were much easier to tow than the single surface gliders just from the shoulder bridle. Again, you overcome this using the keel attachment.

Both the Wills Wing U2 145 and 160 were a joy to tow. This is so totally unlike their predecessors the Super Sport and the Ultra Sport which required fins for aerotowing.

Both U2’s were rock steady on toe reminding me of the ATOS and other rigid wing hang gliders on tow including the Aeros Stalker. They were a pleasure to have behind the tug. I could tow with one finger on the base bar.

The bar pressures on these two gliders are very light. This made the aerotowing even easier. Rob Kells states that with about a foot of throw around trim the bar pressure is about ½ a pound on each hand and that it rises to 3 pounds per hand at the extreme end of pull in. This is nothing. But it is there and very reassuring at speed.

The Aeros Discus was also steady and very towable with one finger on the control frame. It’s bar pressures weren’t quite as light at the Wills Wing but very close. I’m going to have to aerotow it again to remember just how close it was, but as I recall it was a pleasure to tow.

The Icaro 2000 MastR 14 was also very easy to tow, but it didn’t shock me about how easy it was like the U2’s did. I think a little more bar pressure, but I’ll have to check that again. I’ve only had one flight late in the day with it.

The Wills Wing Eagle 145 was no problem towing. Very steady with slightly more bar pressure than the U2’s. I had to pull in a bit more than the higher end intermediate gliders to get the glider flying faster.

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Wills Wing U2’s and the Moyes Litesport 4

Wed, Mar 26 2003, 9:00:05 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|Icaro 2000 Laminar MastR|Moyes Litesport 4|Wills Wing U2

I didn’t publish the specifications for these gliders yesterday to go along with the article about the Aeros Discus and the Icaro 2000 Laminar MastR.

Specification U2 160 U2 145
Area (ft^2) 160 145
Glider Weight (lbs) 68 63
Hook-In Weight (lbs) 160-260 140-220
Optimum Body Weight (lbs) 170-210 140-170

Model Litesport 4
Area 13.7 sq m (148 sq ft)
Glider Weight 31.8 (70 lbs)
Hook-In-Weight 68-110kgs (150-240 lbs)

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Florida Report

Wed, Mar 26 2003, 9:00:01 pm GMT

Aeros Target|flight park|Florida|Icaro 2000|Quest Air|record|Wills Wing Falcon 2|Wills Wing U2

http://www.davisstraub.com/Glide/wallabyweather.htm

In the last three days I’ve had long (time wise) flights on the Icaro 2000 Relax, the Aeros Target, and the Wills Wing Falcon 2 170. I’ve also had short flights on the Wills Wing Eagle 145, U2-145, and the U2-160.

On Monday I flew the Icaro 2000 Relax 37 miles south (only to be beaten by Dave Prentice in his paraglider flying 78 miles to set the new Florida state record). On Tuesday I flew the Aeros Target for about two hours in a moderate to strong east wind not wanting to go downwind to the coast. Today I flew the Wills Wing Falcon 2 170 from Wallaby to Quest for the longest single surface flight of the day from either flight park (or so it seems).

I also had a chance to take an earlier morning flight with the smaller Wills Wing U2 and two evening flights, one with the Wills Wing Eagle 145 and then the bigger Wills Wing U2.

The conditions today were quite varied. With blue sky in the morning, then a bank of high clouds comes in around 10:30 and it looks like everything will be cut off, then cu’s form under the high clouds, and we take off at noon and stay up in light lift.

I fly the Falcon 2 to Quest Air staying with Tom on a topless glider under thick high clouds that get even thicker to the north of Quest where the cu’s disappear, so I decide to land at Quest.

As we break down and come back to Wallaby for lunch at 3 PM, the high clouds go away and the cu’s pop every where. They get further and further apart as the day progresses until around 6 PM, where they fill in and completely cover the sky.

Wallaby is packed as is Quest and the joints are jumping. It is great to see two so totally successful flight parks really doing the best they can to be important parts of the hang gliding community.

I’ll be writing up my flight reports below and in future issues.

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Intermediate gliders

Tue, Mar 25 2003, 9:00:06 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|Icaro 2000 MastR|Moyes Litesport|picture|Steve Uzochukwu|Wills Wing U2

Steve Uzochukwu <steveu2@which.net> asks:

Very good reviewing the intermediate and high end king posted gliders. There's not much of this nowadays, especially not with the comparisons you have made. To improve on the accuracy of perceived agility, would it be possible for you to quote clip in weight and let us know whereabouts you were in the weight range? Particularly for the Icaro 2000 MastR series, we would have a better picture if we knew if you were bottom or maybe even below the weight range lower limit.

I clip in at about 190 - 195 pounds (88 kg)

Icaro 2000 MastR: http://www.Icaro2000.com/Products/Hang%20gliders/MastR/MastR.htm

U.m Laminar 12 R Laminar 13 R Laminar 14 R
Sail Area sq m sq ft 12.5 134.55 13.2 142.08 14.4 155
Weight (Packing Bag Not Included) kg lb 29 64 30 66 32.5 72
Clip-In Pilot Weight (Min / Max) kg lb 50/85 110/187 60/90 132/198 70/110 154/243

Aeros Discus: http://www.justfly.com/gliders/discusdata.htm

Sail area: 148 sq. ft, Pilot weight: 150-215, glider weight: 65 lbs.

Wills Wing U2: http://www.willswing.com/prod2.asp?theClass=hg&theModel=U2

Moyes Litesport: http://www.moyes.com.au/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=50

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Comments I’ve heard about the Aeros Discus

Sat, Mar 22 2003, 6:00:02 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|Airborne Climax|Flight Design Ghostbuster|G.W. Meadows|Ghostbuster|Moyes Litesport|Quest Air|Wills Wing U2

It is designed to have high performance (for a kingposted glider), yet be easy to fly. By easy, it is meant to be predictable. Lots of gliders are easy in muscle actuation, but they are difficult for intermediate pilots – even dangerous.

This glider is meant to make it so intermediate pilots can have a higher performing glider earlier in their career and so hang 4’s can get on a very good performing glider and not worry about being rusty.

Design criteria:

1 Easy to tow
2 Neutral handling (meaning once in a thermal – no high siding)
3 Directionally stable (minimum wing walking – in yaw/roll coupling)
4 Easy to Land.
5 All of this while keeping low sink rate and as high a glide as possible – but don’t give up the first 4 to get better glide.

(editor’s note: From my two short test flights, I would say that it met all those criteria. I expect to be able to take further flights.

I wondered about the prices that the Aeros Discus, Wills Wing U2, and Moyes Litesport (which Moyes markets to advanced, not intermediate, pilots) went for. On the Wills Wing site www.willswing.com the U2 suggested price is $4495. The Litesport’s suggested retail price is $4995 at (http://www.moyesamerica.com http://www.moyesamerica.com/partlist.htm). I couldn’t find a suggested retail price for the Discus on www.justfly.com. I asked G.W. Meadows by e-mail and he wrote:

Discus is $4295 complete.

That includes aerofoil downtubes, speedbar and choice of custom colors. Only other option is the ‘B’ model option, that breaks down to seven feet. It flies exactly the same, weighs about two pounds more and cost $100 more. One can break it down without any tools.

Looking at the product descriptions on the various web sites indicates that the Moyes Litesport is being marketed at the advanced pilot (it’s under their advanced section), who doesn’t want the hassles (if any) and expense of the topless glider. (“The Litesport performs similarly to a non-kingposted glider, but handles like an intermediate glider, making it suitable for many pilots whether competitive or recreational.”) I must say that flying the Airborne Climax 2, I didn’t notice any hassles.

The U2 is billed, it seems to me, as an advanced intermediate glider (“The U2 is an all new, very high performance glider with handling characteristics suitable for pilots of intermediate and higher level skills and experience. The U2 was conceived as a very light-weight glider with performance approaching that of the much heavier, more expensive, and more challenging competition class wings.”).

Aeros Discus (“A ‘high-end’ intermediate hang glider that will have ‘advanced’ pilots selling their topless gliders”) seems to be aimed more at the middle of the intermediate spectrum. But then you can make your own interpretations of these marketing messages.

Late update: On Saturday I made three demo flights in three different gliders. The longest flight, which took place in the middle of the day, was on the Aeros Discus in light thermal conditions. The Discus performs pretty much as stated above.

As a rigid wing pilot I found it a bit stiff, but actually normal for a flex wing glider. Stiff, in the sense of initiating a roll. I’m use to just moving the bar from side to side and having the glider turn for me. In flex wing you have to move your body from side to side to get it to turn (in case you forgot).

With the VG on it was quite stiff, like all flex wings are with their VG’s on. It was very easy to launch, fly and land. Very controllable.

I was flying with Nev on a Flight Design Ghostbuster, Mark P. on a Aeros Stalker2, and a slew of folks on various flex wings. Nev, Mark and I all got in the same light thermal together with Mark and I at the same altitude and Nev 100 feet below. For the next ten minutes Mark and I climbed slowly at the same rate. Nev climbed slowly through us and got 50 feet over us.

After that Nev was always higher and further away than either Mark or I. When Mark and I went on glide, and I would follow Mark, he could go faster, and had a slightly better glide. Nev was just too high and didn’t come down.

This went on for an hour and a half. The Discus did a great job. I only had one other glider climb up through me, a Icaro 2000 Laminar MRx. And it did so very slowly.

It looks to me like the Discus is a high performance flex wing glider.

I do hope that I’m not renting these gliders, but just paying for the tows, so that I can afford to keep flying these other machines and reviewing them for you all. With the Wills Wing days and the demo days at Quest Air coming up, it looks like I will have a lot more to write about.)

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Aeros Discus »

Thu, Mar 20 2003, 8:00:04 pm GMT

Aeros Discus|bridle|Moyes Litesport|tow|Wills Wing U2

I had an opportunity (briefly due to the lack of lift) to get a couple of flights on the Aeros Discus on Wednesday. I’d flown the Aeros Shadow previously and this is the new version of the Aeros’ intermediate curved tip glider and is meant to compete in the same market niche as that occupied by the Moyes Litesport and the Wills Wing U2. This middle or intermediate area is a bit broad from easy intermediate to high performance intermediate. All with gliders with kingposts (to keep the costs down which is another intermediate factor).

The Shadow was marketed as an easy to fly (i.e. less performance) glider. The Discus seems to be aimed at the high end part of the niche (http://www.justfly.com/gliders/shadow.htm) therefore it competes against the Litesport.

I liked flying the Discus. It was very easy to tow with the bridle just off my shoulders. There will not be any need for a fin.

It was quite easy to land in light winds. The VG was easy to pull and didn’t require any muscle tone on my part.

It seemed a little stiff in the air, but then I am really use to rigid wing hang gliders and I didn’t have enough time to fly it given the lack of lift. I had some nice long glides and they were quite pleasant, especially with the VG on.

I hope to be able to report more on the Discus later.

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U2 from Wills Wing

Fri, Feb 14 2003, 10:00:00 pm GMT

Wills Wing U2

Do they need this thing over Iraq? Maybe this is what the Iraqis meant when they said we could fly the U2 over Iraq. Who’s got a camera mount?

http://www.willswing.com/prod2.asp?theClass=hg&theModel=U2

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