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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Triple Seven Queen M

Triple Seven Queen M

Finally the Queen arrived. Directly for the box to the take off…I saw the size 85-104 . Being a bit far form the ideal weight, I ballasted up to 102 !

Conditions of the day were …amazing !!! Thermals lifted us to +1000m above take off , and long glides were made…

Takeoff : I didn’t find any particular thing to say ! The glider has a very quick and nice take off behavior !

In the air : Having flown the carrera M, and S size with the Delta M and SM size plus also 90% of C glider, ☺ I could describe the Queen very precisely !

Handling is …a dream. Oups…
Ok…Lets explain. The Queen doesn’t dive in turns .The handling versus the Delta M size is on the side of the Queen.
As it could be described as : Linear, crisp, precise and easy to induce the turns. That’s with homogenous thermals.
In some nasty sudden and swift cores, it needs some little more time to get it in the right turn.
Strangely, and i wasn’t expecting it…I found that the Queen is more comfortable to fly in most conditions than a Carrera M, S, or a Delta SM… Saying that, i felt that the Queen stays always above the pilots head with some impressive passive safety for this class of gliders.

I thought that it would have some sharper reactions, but it is a tamer glider to fly than many C’s i have tested.

Doing some long glides with a Carrera M loaded at 99 all up, and taking into account that the Carrera M have a very small or slight better into wind glide than a Delta 2, I found at first that the trim speed of Queen at 102 is less by some insignificant amount…May be - 0.15 km/h,only showed on long glides.
But surprisingly and after those long into wind glides…The queen has the upper hand with also that slight edge over the Carrera M !
Other pilots would find them all alike..But long glides will show that very small edge !

Climb rate :
Loaded at 102 on the M size Queen, i found that it has a very slight, or small delay to cut through the strong thermal in head wind, with the glider being very docile to handle!
But i would have preferred a more leading edge attack !

The Queen also doesn’t like to be loaded at 102 in weak conditions. I found after a the 3rd hour that i should dump the ballast a bit.
Getting rid of ±3.5 kg, the Queen showed some excellent climb in 0.3 m/s …and helped me some crazy low saves in order to get back home !

Flying the Queen at 99 all up, the handling becomes even smoother, and the ability to core the weak thermals did in fact put a smile on my face as it reminded me of my old Airwave Xmx comp glider. The feeling is like a glider that doesn’t loose anything in one narrow thermal with always a positive vario with no loss in climbing efficiency.

Gliding at first and second bar showed some excellent performances that puts the Queen on top of the C category for now or should i say ‘easily’ on par with the best C gliders out there !

The top speed on the M size Queen loaded at 102 i have here has ±3 km/h faster than a Delta 2 SM and ±4 km/h more than a Carrera M size loaded at 99.

Wing overs are nice and are also a fast descent method !
Big ears are easy and relatively stable ,they open with a slight brake touch.

Conclusion : Easy to manage, comfortable, coupled with amazing performances. Triple seven has indeed a winner in the C category.It is a shame that i didn’t get one before !
On this glider, no one will have an excuse on long XC’s for messing up if ‘carefully loaded’ ! 



This video below is from yesterday's flight.
It is a long one but the pilot can see the gliders in the air.

Today i have flown the Queen at 99 all up and flew also with my friend on a longer flight with his Carrera at 99 also. If the climb rate is not the strongest point of the Queen, we are more sure today that the Queen has the 'BEST' glide into wind at first bar (48-50 km/h) of the speed travel in the C category !
And this my fellow pilots is a real fact Smile
Cheers,   

  

12 comments:

I Frew said...

In total agreement here Ziad! I've had the Queen since last Sept and I fly at ~103. In light lift you have to work at it being at the top end, but pressing on the speed bar around a quarter of the range gives you better glide ratio and significant speed improvement. I fly the wing like this when not climbing. I thought you would like this wing and real glad to finally see a comparison with the Delta2 and Carerra.

I'm waiting for the imminent release of the Triton 2 M which will be 90-115 range. The triton I have been flying has been a great wing. The Triton 2 M will be an EN C and that will be the wing to beat in the C class...no doubt in my mind at all..but I'm keeping the Queen as its a fun wing and you don't even need to worry about it. I did an SIV the first week aI had it and it's a pretty benign wing...

Ziad Bassil said...

Hi, Thank you for your feedback and comments!
I am waiting also for the Triton 2, Omega 9 new gliders...Lets see if they can beat the Queen at bar !! ;-)

Unknown said...

Hi Ziad! Could You check next time the advice from Queen's "owners manual" about Minimum sink:
"If you apply brakes on both sides for about 10 -15 cm you will
slow the glider to the theoretical minimum sink speed. But we
do not recommend using this speed even for thermalling, as you
achieve much better climbing and control by letting the glider fly
with its “trim speed” and natural energy. With a proper take-off
weight you will find that the glider has great climb, reactions and
agility."
Cheers.
Waldemar

Ziad Bassil said...

HI, Yes sure...It is better to do that on most gliders...I have tried it but sometimes you need to core that small core...Anyway the Queen is not the best climber out there but has until now the best glide into wind at bar !

hmike said...

Hi Ziad, once again, great work!
I' currently looking to replace my wing and I'm considering the Queen, but my takeoff weight is around 90-93 Kg that put's me to high for the S and right in the middle of the M, but considering your comments I'm afraid maybe it's not an ideal weight for this wing?

Ziad Bassil said...

Hi, I think you can fly the M size with a small ballast...96 all up is fine ! The small would be very fast for competition use at your weight. But you will benefit from the long glides...

hmike said...

Thank you Ziad:)

Attorney Gregory Bryl said...

You write that "top speed on the M size Queen loaded at 102 i have here has ±3 km/h faster than a Delta 2 SM". "±" and "faster" seem to contradict each other here because "±" doesn't really mean "faster", but "faster or slower". Do you mean that Queen has roughly about 3 km/h (give or take some) more speed than Delta2? I.e., that Queen is anywhere from 0.5kmh to 3kmh faster than Delata2?

EkzoMan said...

Hello Ziad.
Thanks for great report! I have question. While waiting my Queen L i have gained some extra weight, so my flight weight is about 115-118 kilos.
How do you think, is it critical weight for Queen L or not?

Freedom_Addict said...

Hi Ziad, I'm about to change my Mentor 2 for a Queen or Mentor 4. Is there big difference in performance against mentor 4 ? Is the Queen having the same authority in termals like mentor 2, i like the handling. In terms of handling, which one is closer to mentor 2 ? Thanks in advance.

Ziad Bassil said...

Hi sorry for the late reply.
the Queen is best flown 5 kg from top foe regular Use.Happy flights,Ziad

Ziad Bassil said...

No the Queen us nothe near the M2 in brake authority. But there a big difference in glide at top speed.