Wills Wing Fusion 141, Руководство по эксплуатации для владельца

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Prior to the landing flare your body position should be generally upright, but slightly inclined forward,
with your head and shoulders forward of your hips and your legs and feet trailing slightly behind. Your
hands should be at shoulder width and shoulder height on the uprights. You should be relaxed, with a
light grip on the bar, and your weight should be fully supported in your harness and not at all by your
arms. There are several options for when to make the transition from prone to this upright position.
Some pilots favor going upright with both hands moving to the downtubes while still at altitude prior to
the start of the approach. Others transition at the start of the approach to a semi upright position with
one hand on a downtube and one hand on the basetube, and complete the transition by moving the other
hand to the downtube just a few seconds prior to flare. Still others fly with both hands on the basetube
until established on final glide, and then transition one hand at a time to the downtubes prior to flare.
Whichever method you use, there are a few important principles to observe. The first is that you should
not make any change in hand position unless you are flying at or very near trim speed. At speeds faster
than trim, you will be holding the bar in in pitch against substantial force, and if you let go to move
your hand the glider will pitch up and roll towards your remaining hand. The second is that while
moving either hand, you have no control over the glider. You should move only one hand at a time.
Even so, if you can’t make the transition in the position of each hand quickly and reliably, you should
transition both hands while at altitude, before you start your approach. Otherwise, if you fail to make a
quick transition, you could be out of control close to the ground, and suffer a turbulence induced
change in heading or attitude without sufficient time to recover. Many pilots make the mistake of trying
to change position while flying fast and close to the ground, and experience a dangerous loss of control
as a result. A third principle to observe is that if you are using a “pod” type harness, you should unzip
and confirm that your legs are free to exit the harness at least 500 feet above the ground and before you
start your approach. If there is any problem finding the zipper pull, or dealing with a stuck zipper, you
don’t want to have to try to fix that problem while also flying the approach.
Once established on a wings level short final, into the wind, body upright and with both hands on the
downtubes, your final concern is the timing and execution of the landing flare. The goal is to arrive on the
ground, on your feet, under control with the glider settling on your shoulders. If the wind is 15 mph or
more, you will not really execute a flare at all; you will simply slow to minimum flying speed, put a foot
down, and step onto the ground. In lighter winds, you will want to use some combination of a final nose
up flare, and running out your landing, in order to finish the flight on your feet with the glider settling on
your shoulders. The lighter the wind, the stronger should be both your flare and your run.
The traditional method of landing in light or no wind calls for a sharp, aggressive flare at precisely the
correct moment. This technique works fine when done correctly, but it’s not easy to get the timing just
right. Flare too early and you will climb, and then fall with the nose pitching down. Flare too late and
you won’t get the nose up enough to stop your forward motion, and the glider may nose into the ground
as you run into it from behind.
The flare timing process is made much easier by using a combination of a “crescendo flare” and a run
out of the landing. As you bleed off speed on final, flying just above the ground, you are at first letting
the control bar out towards its trim position. As the glider reaches trim speed, which will normally be
one to three mph above stall speed, you begin to gently push the bar out to keep the glider from set-
tling. At this point it is almost time to flare. As the glider enters the “mushing” range of angles of
attack, it will begin to settle in spite of your continuing to ease the bar out. This should be happening
well before your arms are significantly extended. At this point begin your flare by smoothly accelerat-
ing the rate at which you push out on the bar. At the same time, draw one leg forward, put a foot down,