9. CAREFULLY release the nose latch and slowly lower the D-cells to the ground by opening the latch.
Again be careful not to let the latch snap open and injure you.
10. Undo both zippers leaving the slide to the top end of the zipper. You must be careful of where the
slides are so that they don't get crushed between the keel and the D-cells when closed up.
11. From behind the sail, disconnect the sail rings at the top of the control frame. Let the flaps rest against
the uprights with the white side of the flap up. Here again you must be very careful not to twist the flaps
from where they are trapped against the ground. If they need to be turned, gently lift the D-cell and the
flap from the middle of the D-cell, then you can turn the flap over without twisting it.
12. Go to the end of the wing and swing the wing toward the keel by holding the tip bag. Do not lift the
wing tip off the ground more than necessary. With both wings halfway to the keel, you will be able to
reinsert the stinger turning the tail mechanism down and then pull the keel cover on.
13. Lift the sail at the nose up from between the keel and D-cell and fold the sail back 6 inches to protect
the zipper teeth from being pinched between keel and D-cell. Pull the spoiler wire barrels out the front of
the D-cell to also protect against crushing them between keel and D-cell. Continue to carefully bring the
D-cells into the keel.
14. Remove the glider bag from the D-cell and store all the parts (except tips) in the D-cell on your left as
you stand in front of the nose. Close the nose latch across the front of the glider.
15. Put the glider bag on and carefully lay over the glider. Hold the nose up with one hand and swing the
control frame up as you lower it to the ground. Disassemble the control frame being careful not to drop
the uprights on the D-cell. Fold the uprights down to the keel and cover with the padding incorporated in
the keel bag.
16. Lay the flaps on top of each other. The spoilers should now be lying on top of the D-cells.
17. Pack the wing tips in the tail end of the bag so that the winglets lay flat on top of the spoilers.
18. The nosecone can lie between the flaps.
19. There will be room on top of the glider, under the winglets for the tail.
20. The basetube will go in the D-cell half that does not have the other wing parts in it. Insert the end first
that has the straight pip pin connection for the upright.
21. Zip the glider bag shut.
Flight characteristics
Launch
The ATOS sits on the shoulders with a slightly tail-heavy feel. In the first steps it stabilizes in an angle of
attack favorable for taking off.
In the next few steps the nose must be actively held down. In
principle, it's better to have too low an angle of attack than too high. With a low angle of attack,
the ATOS is little influenced in a cross-wind launch since the wing ends are higher above the
ground and the spoilers have good flow over them.
Before the first flight it is suggested to allow the glider to 'fly' in a medium wind either at the top of a small
hill or running across an open area. Notice the effectiveness of the spoilers.
