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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Triple Seven KING ! S & M

Triple Seven KING 


Triple Seven KING

Triple Seven gliders was founded by two PWC flying brothers, that used to work with several manufacturers and their reputation at the time was the fast flying ability and the competition at the highest level.

Triple Seven was born and their first products in the B and C category were the Rook 1 and the amazing Queen which still has the best glide at full speed for a C glider !
Then came the Rook 2 which sits on the top places with the best performers in the B category with a very good accessibility.
The gliders made by the Valic brothers, seems to inherit a high performance aim with a relatively comfortable handling each in their respective category.

Now the King EN-D is here…
The King has a strong shark nose with a 3 line layout. The lower lines are small but sheathed, the mid and upper ones are thin and unsheathed, and the extremities + the brake line geometry are very thin micro lines.
I have the S size (75-95) which i flew from 90 all up till 95, and the M size (90-110) flown at 107.5 all up.
My recent D gliders for this comparison are: The Mantra 6 SM and ML, the Peak 4 21 and 23 , the Avax XC 5 26, the IP 6 23 .

Launching the King S and M in, 5 km/h to + 15 km/h , needs a steady pull to accompany the glider. It’s a slightly slower than an M6 to reach overhead, but it’s surely very easy for a D glider as it goes up in one compact piece !

Flying the King S with the same X-Rated 6 harness i used for all the mentioned gliders, showed me at 93 all up, a moderate to agile glider and could be similar to the Mantra 6 SM agility flown at the same weight also.
The brake travel is short to moderate, resembling also the M6 SM brake travel .
The differences in thermal entry is that the King S pitches slightly back a little before entering.
The King M flown at 108 doesn’t have that pronounced pitch back movement and gives a neutral one instead.
The King could be described as a comfortable D glider when flown in moderate turbulence.
Flying the glider is some nasty ‘winter’ turbulent air, the King needs more active piloting than a Mantra 6 MS and slightly less piloting than a Peak 4 21 i was test flying at the same time.
The glider movements in some lee side thermals are sharp with always a marked back pitch on the S rather than a forward pitch. The M size showed me a more neutral pitch.
Of course sometimes it pulls you to the thermals, but in the relatively “moderate” turbulence conditions i flew it in, (only the summer conditions will give a better idea) , i found it easy to control the forward pitch, and in some macaroni stuff, i wished for a more neutral pitch on the S size.

The climb rate performance for both the S and the M size in very weak thermals (0.3m/s) is moderate to good resembling the Peak 4 one.
Once the thermals are steady and homogenous the very good maneuverability of the King doesn’t loose any weak thermal, and the flat turning ability, helps immensely to stay in the core. It has much better climb than the Queen in small conditions even loaded.
In those very weak conditions the M6 could still have a slight insignificant edge in float-ability…But i’m being too picky…as you already know Wink

Now comes the glide part.
Doing some glides with the M6, Peak 4, IP 6, showed me for several times a superiority in gliding power for the King S and for sure the M size !
For instance the M6, MS (80-95) at 93 compared to the King M (90-110) flown at 108, gave the King a full + 2 km/h trim speed and for sure an impressive glide angle, like from another dimension ! It looked like chasing a full CCC competition glider !
Flying the King S (75-95) at 93 all up next to a Peak 4 23 (85-105), gave me the same big visual advantage in glide for the King S and as we both used the speed bar, the differences became larger to my favor !
The top speed of the Peak 4 23 is still around +3 km/h more similarly loaded versus the King S size.
I found it that especially around 45- 47 km/h the king glide angle is remarkably better !
I was never expecting a clear visual glide difference ! Usually there’s a small glide difference between newly tested gliders.But not this time !
The King does have indeed an amazing glide…or should i say:
The glide angle is worthy of a King ! Smile
The IP 6 23, still has also more top speed (+ 6 km/h) , over the King S, followed by the M6 (+ 2 km/h) .
I measured the King S top speed at 1000 ASL with 93 all up around 56 km/h with overlapping pulleys.
The glide at that speed is very nice, but i felt that the best glide is around ± 46 km/h for the S size which many XC pilots use frequently.
I found that racing at that speed through moderate turbulent air is quite usable as i was able to keep my feet on the pedal.

Big ears are easy to induce with a stable behavior and efficient descent rate at -3m/s with full bar.
They open smoothly !

Conclusion:
The King is the new reference in gliding power in the D category .
It seems that Triple Seven has built a powerful, fairly accessible, agile, gliding machine for “experienced” D pilots.
Upgrading from the Queen is logical if it was already flown easily for two seasons in strong conditions.
I’m sure that any C or D pilot test flying the King, will be shocked by this superb gliding Albatros Wink 


UPDATE: After flying over 30 hours on the S size from 90 to 94 all up, i realized a change in trim speed .After email exchange with 777, it was obvious that the A's are slightly stretching by 0.5 cm and maybe the B's slightly...
I found the best way to re-trim this S size is by releasing the two (inner) C loops .The outside C loop stays . (confirmed by 777). Bearing in mind that the S size has no loops on the A's and B's .
You will be impressed that by releasing this loop (0.7 cm) on the inner C loops you will have a completely different glider ! In this configuration, the S size is more dynamic but still very compact, faster trim speed +1km/h , direct and beautiful handling...! Still solid and usable on full bar !
The M and L size are trimmed differently...There are simple loops 0.7 cm and cowboy loops 1 cm .Please contact your 777 dealer before any change.



Thursday, December 24, 2015

BGD Cure


BGD Cure

The Cure is the new BGD glider for the C category.
It has 6.75 aspect ratio and it’s a pure 3 liner, with digressive unsheathed lines all over.

Launching the Cure is remarkably easy for the high aspect ratio! Kiting the glider on the ground gives the impression of an easy wing.

In the air:
Flying the Cure M at 90-92 all up feels quite adequate in overall conditions with a very good control even in choppy conditions.
It can be flown easily from 85 till 95 and still retains a good maneuverability at low weight and good climb even at top weight.

The brake travel is relatively short and direct, enabling a quick and sharp turn similar in reaction and strength to a Delta 2 SM or Alpina 2 SM which is really nice! Coring the thermals with the Cure is pure pleasure! Rough, smooth, turbulent, cores can be surgically cured with this beautiful handling machine.
The strong point of the 6.75 aspect ratio Cure, is its coherent feel through turbulent air.
The roll and pitch movements feel smoother than the ones on the Cayenne 5.
I looked up many times to see if I’m really on the Cure not on the Delta 2 SM, as it felt comfortable enough in the C category.
I noticed also a very taught leading edge at trim and cruising around 50 km /h, as I was able to leave my foot on the bar in moderate turbulence giving the impression of a solid glider.

This new construction seems very successful as it gives a very coherent and homogenous feel. No wobbling and snaking around whatsoever in the normal flying envelope…

The climb in weak conditions is really good. The Cure at 90 all up is an efficient glider to get you some low saves.
Punchier thermals will get the Cure to slightly pitch back but with a fast climb. It has the efficiency of a Delta 2 SM in the very weak stuff which i think is impressive.
Doing some long glides with an Alpina 2 SM similarly loaded showed a very close glide at trim, half bar, and at top speed, with a slight edge for the Cure in lift areas.
The trim speed of the Alpina 2 SM is (+ 0.25 km) over the Cure.
The top speed of the Cure is (+ 0.5 km/h) over the A2.
Gliding at full speed in a relatively moving air, showed that sudden surges are more efficient on the Cure.

The speed bar is smooth and also similar to the Delta 2 pressure, and the full speed is around 55 km/h taken at 1000m ASL.

Big ears are stable, with a descent rate of -3m/s with bar.

Upgrading from the Base is not really a big step rather than a logical evolution for those who already mastered the Base in different conditions with ease.

Conclusion:
Name: CURE.
Ingredients:
Beautiful elongated shape glider, top performance in the category, cohesive structure, comfortable to fly, pleasurable handling, C certification, impressive choice of colors, Smile guaranteed. Smile

Video soon...
Cheers,
Ziad.

PS: Merry Christmas  :-)





Monday, December 14, 2015

XC Tracer

XC tracer.

I flew with this small light black device a few times and the sound was very imminent in climb and very precise. Since my friend Rony is more into electronics than i am, i gave him this small device to test fly and he came back with this:


I have been flying with an XC-Tracer besides my Flymaster vario for a while now so I am getting a pretty good feel about it.

At first I thought of using the XC-Tracer for my hike and fly needs since it is small, idiot proof and logs tracks. It serves that purpose perfectly but I then started keeping it on my regular cockpit as a backup logger for real flights.

What I found out:

° XC-Tracer vario is extremely accurate and has practically no delay.

° The ability to fine tune the sound of the vario is simple enough for the great range of options available.

° Changing the volume in flight is straightforward.

° The saved tracks are easily accessible through GPSDump, and they are correct when compared to the Flymaster logged tracks.

° Linking XC-Tracker to my Samsung Note 4 and XCsoar through Bluetooth works perfectly.

° I dropped the XC-Tracer a few times and I also leave it on my cockpit when packing my harness tight but never had any issues, so it is solid enough for me to keep.
https://www.xctracer.com/en/the-xc-tracer/?oid=1854&lang=en