Gliders and...

After some time, and talking to friends and exchanging wings, in the C category, 

I would humbly like to share my personal feel and opinion from all my tested C gliders, here is my choice for the most complete ones in 2020,2021, until 1st July is:

1- Delta 4, Alpina 4, 

2- Sigma 11, size 24 , 

3-Fusion Light, S, and M.  

Why?  Just because they offer the most relaxed flying with top-end performance without going out of trim in the first 30 hours. 

4-Cure 2, which offers excellent performance but needs a little workload than the others. 

5- Q-Light S ( needs active control) 

All those gliders didn't get out of trim before 30...35 hours. (Data from 12 other pilots) but will eventually go out of trim later.

IN the B category, 

1- BGD Base 2, GIN Explorer 2 (superb performance with a very conservative line width) Rush 6 (performance of the C category) 

2-Rook 3, R-Light 3  ( But I don’t like the take-off in nil wind ) 

, Rush 5, Swift 5, Mentor 6 Light XS! Love that one! , Maestro 21.

There are more good gliders that don't go quickly out of trim OF COURSE,

But they will eventually after 30, 35 hours but the above is my personal choice for overall behavior. 

Important notice that I would like to share>

I have already written that testing a new B, C, or especially D, won’t give accurate results since many gliders go out of trim before reaching 30 hours! even some B’s! more often C’s and D’s. ( Dyneema line shrinkage problem, mainly..) 

So it is very important to trim back those gliders to regain their correct flying properties.

 Some manufacturers are more serious than others…

Happy flights,

Ziad. 

The NEW  Elan 3 is not yet evaluated. And will need time to see ...

GIN Explorer 2 size S 75-95

Explorer 2 size 75-95

The Explorer is GIn’s light high B glider. In 2017, I have flown the first version of the Explorer  http://ziadbassil.blogspot.com/search?q=explorer That version was easy to use, and the overall performance was fairly good for the category, while the Carrera and Carrera plus were unreachable in overall performance for the Explorer. Now with the second version, everything has changed!

The take-off at 93 all up is super easy, with just a light pull. The Explorer doesn’t overshoot, and the take-off is immediate.

In the air flying with my X-rated 6, and some ballast to reach 93, the brakes have a moderate length for turning in thermals. They are not as short as the Artik 6, Delta 4, Rook 3, R-Light. It is slightly 1-2 cm longer than a Rush 5, for example, and approx 2 cm slightly less than the Swift 5. Now I hope I gave you a good idea…

The turn inside the core is excellent. The Explorer is agile without being (at all) too dynamic. It is a soft glider in overall air despite the 6 aspect ratio. I found it easier to fly than the Rook 3 for example. It feels similar to the Swift 5 in terms of overall feedback.  I could turn very tight inside the core.  

The pressure on the brakes is lighter than the Rook 3 ones and probably similar to the Swift 5. Overall it is not tiring at all for longer flights.

Now to talk a bit about the climb rate. The Explorer flies well also at 90 all up, which a tried in one flight. It seems slow to enter the breeze, but it doesn’t bump into the thermals, and will still get inside slowly but efficiently. I found out later that at 93, or even at 95 it would be a great weapon to compete with every higher rated glider in terms of getting the best lift! The Explorer 2 even loaded can be considered as a very good floater! It climbs really well, and I don’t think it misses any thermal. 

Gliding next to some higher-rated gliders, showed me also that the Explorer 2 with its superb float ability can easily match the glide of higher-rated gliders, at trim and also on bar. The Explorer 2 full speed isn’t very high 12 km’h over trim, but still very good for the category. Loading it at max will give the pilot that extra kick to enter some difficult airmass without losing anything on its climb even in the weak thermals.  That glider looks big but also behaves really nice -4 kg from the top.

Flying at bar, which has moderate pressure and not heavy to push, I could easily control the glider with the C’s. That new C to B tool is becoming very easy to use and giving the pilots control in turbulence. But the Explorer 2 doesn’t seem to care about turbulence much …

Ears are stable, efficient very easy to induce. They will stay folded and needs a little encouragement to reopen by the brakes. 

Conclusion:  GIN has created a really interesting high B glider! Glide performance, climb, ease of use, are right on top of the high B category.  If you are looking for the best performance with an easy-to-use 6 aspect ratio glider, then I recommend trying that beautiful machine. And please try the right size to put you near the top :-)  Happy flights.