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Hangola May 20 & 21, 2000

Well, despite the rather dismal weekend forecast we managed to max out the fun meter at KHK. Ellis and I had planned to go to KHK several weeks ago, and when I suggested to visiting Larry Strom he accompany us he said, "Woooo-hooo, I'm Jacked!!" (translated Spokanese meaning approximately "heck yes").

The closer we got to the outer banks the better the weather became. In fact, arriving at the dunes there was not a cloud in the sky--but it was absolutely scorching hot--I now have burn blisters on the bottoms of my feet. It took repeated tries over the course of the day to finally track down John Dullahan's Mk IV--which had been there for years on consignment--because nobody seemed to know where it was. Bruce Weaver, (winner of the comp) eventually found it at the end of the day. Ellis managed to get several great flights and landings in at the end of the day after the comp pilots had cleared.

Sunday started looking quite dismal with cloudbase at approximately 44 agl. Thus began a long day of hobnobbing with visiting pilots and hg luminaries,I really enjoyed talking with an instructor who came all the way from Uruguay named Ricardo. Rob Kells also did a chute swivel check for me and Ellis (no problems).

OK, on to the new toys report. The two gliders I was most interested in trying was Wills new Eagle and the reincarnated Airwave's Sporster. The Sportster is a very impressive-looking vg intermediate that GDub says is aimed squarely at the Ultrasport market. Considering that I repeatedly failed to wrest it from the hands of the comp pilots who had silly grins on their faces, I figure this glider is destined for popularity on the market. The sportster has curved tips and an interesting cam lever vg system which tensions the crossbar out towards the rear-leading edge--as opposed to the more conventional cross-bar haul back. Very nice system, but I wonder if an HP-AT style lever system would not be more appropriate.

Rob Kells, after nailing the spot spot-on with the Eagle, let me take a couple of tows on the Eagle. The glider looks kinda like a tighter Falcon with an undersurface--and has thankfully retained the light weight and ease of set up characteristics of the Falcon. The construction is typical WW impecable--featuring a kingpost hang with predrilled holes which allow for a virtually limitless range of pitch adjustments. And a new feature on this glider which addresses one of my biggest beefs with Wiily Wings gliders, a new corner bracket assembly which allows for a quick(er) d'tube change without necessitating a complete dissasemble of the bracket/wire assembly.

Cloudbase eventually lifted to a "reasonable" 700 ft agl, so I got cleared for a pull on the Eagle. The first tow was a bit pitch pressure-ee, but this was due to the faster tug speed. I did the best I could to get a feel for the glider by quickly executing reversing turns, attempted stalls and letting the glider fly hands-off. The glider is intended to be a Falcon with some speed efficiency, and my impression is that Wills hit the nail squarely on the head with the Eagle. I purposefully chose a swoopy, slippy approach set-up with tight mountain lz's in mind, and when I went verticle I actually missed the d'tube with my hand, mainly because I wasn't used to the smaller control bar configuration. The glider pitched up and mushed a bit, had this been my Fusion or other performace glider I would have been dead meat, instead I brought the nose down and pulled off a perfect no-steppper--A+ for slow-speed forgiving wide flare window ratings.

My next tow was much more of the typical Falcon on rails feeling, mainly because Bo Hagewood, tug pilot extraordinaire, pulled me more slowly. More sweepy, diving, attempted stalling stuff, actually, try as I might, I couldn't get the glider to do an honest to good full stall break nose-over. I let the glider fly around hands off for a minute or two--very nice if you want to take pictures or perhaps mix yourself a martini. Handling feels just like a Falcon (to me, anyway), but when you pull in the bar you get speed without that noticeable sinking feeling.

Just for grins I tried to get the spot that the comp pilots were after. I arrived at the spot five feet over and slow, and I hesitated to punch a flare and parachute it in, so instead I did a normal flare missing the spot by maybe 6 or 7 feet. Rob told me that I could have easily punched it and safely parachuted it in.

The Eagle I think is destined to be one of Wills most successful glider designs. All the advantages of the Falcon, but with the just the right amount of extra speed to significantly extend its capabilities over the Falcon without sacrificing that glider's better characteristics. I might just have to get one myself!!

With a Northeast-at-5-to-10 forecast over Baltimore, I headed to Oregon Ridge for some training hill practice. When I arrived, it was crossing from the east at 0-5, and by the time I got up on the hill it was 0-3. I managed to get in 3 practice launches, before the wind died completely, but they were all good, strong launches with landings that ranged from good to acceptable (but ugly). In any case, I feel like I'm ready to foot-launch in the mountains, the next time that the opportunity permits.

R2

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This page last updated May 22, 2000