16
S A I L
1) If you must wash the sail, wash it with a light detergent only. Better still, wipe
the sail down frequently with a soft, damp cloth and that will keep detergent
washing to a minimum.
2) Acetone or alcohol can be used to remove stubborn stains without harming the
sail. (Do not use any solvents on a mylar sail).
3) Rinse very thoroughly after cleaning with any detergent or solvent.
4) To renew the luster of Dacron, you can use a product called 'Sail Bright'
available from marine hardware stores.
5) Apply sail repair tape to any rips or tears in your sail. This will prevent fraying
on the edges where the tear is located. However, do not worry about small tears
continuing unless they are located at stress points.
6) Keep an eye on all the grommets and all areas of the sail that take extra abuse.
7) The best thing you can do for your sail is to always use the bag. Do not carry
your glider on top of a car, even for short distances, without one. Sun and weather
cause more deterioration than hours of flying. Keep your Horizon ET covered
when not in use.
8) Be careful and precise when you re-pack your glider after each flight. Keep all
the foam padding that arrived with the glider when it was new, tie everything off the
same way. A few extra moments when you de-rig the glider will give you many extra
hours of noiseless flight.
C A B L E S
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1) Naturally any frays or kinks in your cables should be examined with great care
and any frayed cables should be replaced immediately.
2) Many expert pilots replace their flying wires every 100 hours,
regardless of wear. This is certainly worth considering. Each cable has a breaking
strength in excess of 800 lbs. Actual non-aerobatic in-flight loads seldom exceed
400 lbs. Inspect the thimbles - if elongation is evident, 300-400 lbs load has been
applied to the cable, ferrules and thimbles. If you must constantly set your glider up
and break it down in rough, rocky areas, you will need to replace you cables more
frequently than someone who flies the grasslands. Use your best judgment - those
cables hold the frame together.
S P A R S
Examine your spars for dents; wear spots, corrosion and bends during every pre-
flight check. To maintain the structural integrity of the spars of your glider, always
use a well-padded glider rack on your vehicle. Ideally the rack should support the
glider in three places over the entire length. If a glider has been badly looked after,
the spars should be replaced.
