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situations. Always practice manoeuvres
under professional guidance and over
water!
Big Ears
To pull the ears in, reach up and get hold
of the outermost A-line on both front risers
and pull them down, simultaneously, by
about 30cm until the tips collapse. Keep
these two lines in your hands, to prevent
the wing re-inflating.
Once the wing is flying in the Big Ears
configuration we recommend engaging
the speed system to about 50% of the
maximum travel (more if higher sink rates
are desired). This reduces the angle of
incidence and improves the safety of the
manoeuvre.
We suggest keeping the brake toggles in
your hands while inducing Big Ears. The
glider will remain fully steerable through
weight shifting during the manoeuvre. The
sink rates will be around 3 to 5 metres per
second, depending on the number of
centre cells still open and on the amount
of speed bar employed. To end the Big
Ears configuration, simply release the A-
risers and disengage the speed system,
and the wing will return to level flight.
Small collapses may be cleared with
directional changes and/or little pumps
through the brake lines. Note that we
advise against performing extreme
manoeuvres while flying in the Big Ears
configuration.
Inducing large Big Ears on the UP Trango
X-light² when flying near its lower weight
limit requires great caution on the amount
of brake input used, as it may deep stall in
extreme cases. Should this happen, use
the recovery technique described in the
‘Deep Stall’ section.
