GIN Vantage - Manual (Page 12)

12
Flying with and without a motor
Although the Vantage is designed for pilots who fly mainly under power. It is not certified for
free flight, but it can be flown without a motor. Its unpowered performance and behaviour is
excellent and suitable for all kinds of flying from soaring in light lift to flying cross country.
First flights
We recommend that, to give yourself the chance to get used to it, your first flights should be
made with the trim setting set just below the neutral range, where, the Vantage will feel more
familiar, like a conventional wing. With this trim setting, try flying with a small amount of
brake - at the point where they just begin to feel heavier. In practice, this point will be
encountered at about the one quarter-brake position.
When you have become fully confident in your wing, try experimenting with slower and faster
trim-settings, weight-shift and speed bar and enjoy the extra speed and security the Vantage
gives you (See the diagrams on page 8 for details).
Note- To ensure that the trim system grips efficiently, simply lift the webbing adjustment
loop in the opposite direction after each adjustment, (this helps the webbing material over
the teeth of the cam buckle).
Double-checking brake line lengths
Again it is better to seek the advice and assistance of a local instructor or experienced pilot.
Choose a day when there is a steady breeze of about 10Kph. Then with an ordinary harness or
your motor unit on your back, visually check lengths.
Launch
Forward launch
We recommend that when the wing is laid out, that all the lines are at full length with little or
no slack between wing and pilot.
Then pull the brake lines in, to ensure that the middle inflates first. The Vantage is easily
inflated by using “A” risers only. When launching simply move forward from this position
pulling on the “A” risers, whilst keeping the pressure balanced between each side (meaning the
tension on the “A” risers). The glider shows little or no tendency to dive overhead, so frontal
collapses which so often lead to failed launches, are rare. Instead the glider almost waits for
you to catch up with it.
Note: - Too forceful a pull on the “A’s” may crumple the leading edge and hinder the launch.
Indeed in certain trim positions the Vantage requires no pull at all, just accelerating
forward movement only.
Reverse launch
Yet again, the glider is very easy to launch because it does not over-shoot, so the pilot has
little or no need to hold the wing back before making the turn. Reverse launches on this wing
can be carried out in as little as 5 Kph.