Cheetah 160
Owner’s Manual
RIGGING THE CHEETAH
The glider can either be rigged flat on the ground, or with the glider supported on its control frame*. The
latter should only be attempted in light wind conditions but is useful in confined spaces or where the
terrain is likely to cause soiling or damage to the sail.
Flat rigging
1. Lay the glider on the ground with the nose pointing into wind. Unzip the bag and roll the glider so it is
the right way up. Take the bag off. (If you tread on the inside of the bag any dirt that you get on it will
be transferred to the glider when you put the bag on later.)
2. Take the glider ties off and take the battens out from on top of the sail.
3. Making sure that you do not lift the tip high above the ground (to ensure that you do not bend the nose
plates), move one wing out a little then the other. It is important to move both wings out slightly (the
tip less than 1m) before moving through larger arcs. (The reason for this is that the geometry of the
cross tubes does not allow one wing to be pulled out far without the other moving. If you do this
when the wings are nearly parallel the leverage you exert is very high. It is possible to put very high
loads where you might not at first imagine, bending the nose plates and worse.) Continue until both
wings are about three quarters of their maximum travel. If there is any resistance, stop and check to see
what is causing it. Free the problem before continuing. Do not attempt to force the wings apart. Lift
the wing preferably by the wing tip or by holding under the leading edge. (If you must use the sail
hold it by the batten pocket ends on the trailing edge. (to try and minimise trailing edge damage.)
4. As you open out the wings, the inner washout rods are moved out automatically. Sometimes they
might need lifting over the cross tubes. Make sure that their ends are aligned under the span-wise
batten.
5. Using the access zip at the back of the undersurface near the tip open out the outer washout rod and
insert over its spigot in the leading edge. Make sure it is under the span-wise batten and fully home.
The rod can be left sticking from the zip hole until the battens are inserted.
6. Put the bottom bar on and insert the two stainless pins from the back of the base bar and fit the safety
rings. PUT THE RINGS IN IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT LEAVE IT UNTIL LATER. Thread the VB.
cord through the cleat on the base bar. Tie a 'stop' knot in the end of the cord to prevent it being lost up
the upright.
7. Lay the battens on the ground and pair them up, red with green, and check that corresponding batten
pairs have the same profile. This is a good habit to get into as it will reduce the chances of taking off
on a glider with a turn caused by asymmetric shaped battens. (Periodically the battens should be
checked against the batten profile and reprofiled if necessary.)
8. Insert the battens smoothly starting with the outer (shortest) thinner diameter batten. Insert the batten
in the second from the tip batten pocket. (The outer-most pocket is for the compression strut which is
inserted later in the rigging sequence.) Insert the other battens working from the tip towards the centre
chord. As the battens are inserted make sure the washout rods pass under the span-wise battens. On
a new glider a little silicon spray on the batten ends will help them slide in smoothly. Keeping the
trailing edge low and slowly easing the battens into their respective pockets will help increase batten
pocket and sail life.
* See appendix, options: Rear mounted upright top.
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