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Sunday, June 22, 2014

UP Summit XC 3 S




UP Summit XC 3 S

Laying on the glider is UP new 6.3 aspect ratio B glider.
Seven lines per side all are unsheathed + brake line, Sporty looking risers, with a shark nose profile…or whatever they call it today …
It has everything of today’s innovations and requirements…

Launching is straightforward, easy and take off couldn’t be easier on a 6.3 ar glider !
First turn in a thermal showed that the XC 3 has a moderate to light pressure, linear, precise and direct .The thermalling ability is nice and a joy to fly.
Climbing felt as good in efficiency as a Mentor 3 S loaded at 96 all up.
Surprisingly, the 6.3 ar XC3 felt much more comfortable than a Carrera S at same loadings. The XC3 is much more coherent with a solid structure.The roll movements that i felt on the Carrera S were nearly absent on the XC3.Even the pitch movements are very dampened.
The internal structure feels very solid and i couldn’t sense i am on a higher rated glider…It feels like i am (nearly comfortable) on a Mentor 3 S.

Trim speed at 93 all up on the S 80-98 size is around ± 40 km/h .
Just ± 0.5 km/h more than a Mentor 3 S (80-100) at 96 km/h .
Doing some tip to tip glides at trim first next to the same M3 S at 96 , with a 15 km/h head wind showed a close or similar glide angle .
Pushing the accelerator at full bar on the XC3 (Pulleys overlapping) and racing the same M3 for a 3 km glide showed that both have the same top speed with also very close glide.The M3 was finally ± 5 m higher at the end of the glide which is very small.
The glides were repeated 2 times with same results.

Like the exceptional M3 the XC3 cuts forward through the sea breeze better than a Blacklight or a Lightning.

Conclusion : Flying the XC3 felt very easy …Ears are stable and -3m/s were reached with bar. They open quickly.Wing overs are nice but needs some input to throw them around.It shows that the XC3 is a calm glider for the given aspect ratio.

Cheers,
Ziad

4 comments:

Joel Price said...

Hi Ziad


Thank you for another great review when are you going to post the video of the wing on you channel?

Cheers

Ziad Bassil said...

Hi Joel,
Thank you for your interest ! The movie has some missing parts and the wing has departed..

Unknown said...

Hi ziad!!!
First of all, excellent blog, I really enjoy your reviews.
I have a question for you, which wing do you think that has more glide ratio and trim/top speed (and overall performance), the bgd base or the up summit xc3??

Im looking for my next wing (progression)

See you
Cheers from Chile!!
Felipe Trincado

Ziad Bassil said...

Hi Felipe,
Please look at the B comparison to see all the details you asked for.
Cheers Ziad