ADVANCE IMPRESS 3
My main harness for the past 2 years was the Impress 2+,
which was very comfortable for my taste. Then came the Impress 3 M .
1.81 m and 73 kg inside the M size.
The construction of the harness and details are
‘impeccable”. It is very rare to find between harnesses such a jewel in terms
of “finessing” ;-) !
The harness impresses you to the level of handling it with
respect. Swiss precision! ;-)
In the air:
In order to feel better the harness, I did make a flight in
the Impress 2 + and the Sigma 8 25 @ 93,and then landed at the take off in the
same conditions and switched to the Impress 3 M @ 90 all up.
Immediately after take I felt more roll movements than the
Imp 2+ has. May be I am a bit skinny inside the M size.
Conditions of the day were like small 3m/s bullet thermals
with 10 m “radius”. “Frequent on our sites”.
It was an exceptional day for trying to put the glider in
its path using the harness.
My flying was long adapted to a seat board, and used to have a support
point inside the Imp 2 when weight shifting, and that, wasn’t available in the
Impress 3 as it doesn’t have one.
I think that time is needed to adapt to that feeling that I
didn’t get used to it yet after 5 hours. It could be my stubborn head to adapt
…
But I felt that “it rolls a bit quicker than I could weight
shift to counter steer”.
Nothing out of the ordinary for that level of race harnesses,
but just a bit more roll than the Impress 2 +.
The strong points of this harness are its superb comfort in
the air by supporting the back and the hips + the light feel of carrying it on
the take off.
The pluses:
A comfortable feeling, with nice back and hips support.
Lighter than Impress 2 by -3 kg.
A superb product with excellence in details and
construction.
The minuses:
Has more roll in the thermals than the Impress 2. (I am
1.81m and 73 kg) May be a bit skinny inside the M that does explain the roll.
Doesn't have a "support point" when you weight
shift (no seat board edge) like the Impress 2, but it needs time to adapt to
its weight shift characteristics.
More feedback:
Flying inside the harness i thought I'd make a small modification for skinny people, to limit the "slack" roll i was feeling.
After receiving some e-mails of pilots that found a similar feeling in roll movement,here's a photo of the modification that i don't recommend to make before contacting the pros at ADVANCE to be on the safe side. But it worked fine for me.
A small strap on each side about ± 16 cm (see pic) would suffice but i did install the trims to see at what point it will erase the roll excess.
I found that just a bit of pressure would be enough. No need to pull them hard. Just a slight pressure.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110040226962521480605/ADVANCEIMPRESS3M#5664862914670979250
https://picasaweb.google.com/110040226962521480605/ADVANCEIMPRESS3M#5664867032364545746
And i did install the neoprene cover on the chest strap to prevent the inside hard webbing's to hurt the chest on take offs when leaning forward.
...
After receiving some e-mails of pilots that found a similar feeling in roll movement,here's a photo of the modification that i don't recommend to make before contacting the pros at ADVANCE to be on the safe side. But it worked fine for me.
A small strap on each side about ± 16 cm (see pic) would suffice but i did install the trims to see at what point it will erase the roll excess.
I found that just a bit of pressure would be enough. No need to pull them hard. Just a slight pressure.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110040226962521480605/ADVANCEIMPRESS3M#5664862914670979250
https://picasaweb.google.com/110040226962521480605/ADVANCEIMPRESS3M#5664867032364545746
And i did install the neoprene cover on the chest strap to prevent the inside hard webbing's to hurt the chest on take offs when leaning forward.
...