See more of my Litesport: Probably a few minutes download (photos are about 1MB in total)

4:22:46 PM    

At last, the rain stopped and a small ridge of high pressure let the sun through for a few hours. Off to Sasso, early, because the rain was forecast to come in later.

At the top, no one there, so started rigging. Mario and Bingo came up, then Yuri and Andrea. Some ooh's and aah's as they check out my new glider! I thanked them for not kicking me out of their Icaro club... Craig takes off at the upper take off and stays up, so despite the cloud it's working. I finish rigging (took some fiddling, not used to it yet of course) and take off without my vario on, but it's lifting.

Control was light, too light maybe - it was a bit turbulent and I wallowed around a bit getting used to the controls, over-correcting (trying to turn my vario on with gloves on didn't help). Decide today is not a day to scratch, but a themal comes through (it's shaded but obviously quite unstable) and get above the summit. Get low again, but decide I may as well glide to the Brusciatta, there's a PG there staying up, so on with the VG and across... yes, glide is much improved compared to Easy. Don't find much so a couple of circles and cross back again, all the way to west end of Sasso, and at maybe 750m decide to push for Picutz. Impressions: quiet, stable (no weaving) you can feel it cut the air compared to the Easy. Don't quite make Picutz since I decide to ensure that I get back to the LZ with plenty of height (I do), set up a DBF and come in just over the tree tops into the light westerly. Perfect landing, this glider is a doddle to bring in. I'm not sure exactly what, but the balance or something is great and it just flares up automatically and settles nicely back.

Other comments:

• The VG in fact makes a good 20cm movement for the speedbar.
• The Zoom frame is probably no where near as robust as your standard A-frame. But I found it really comfortable and since I haven't been a big whacker, justifiable.
• Weight seems about the same as my Laminar Easy 16
• Handling is light, but it was due to clear over correction on my part. Generally I was reacting too much, too late. I guess it'll take me 5 to 10 hours to get adjusted. But this isn't a sacrifice, since I'm sure I can TO and land OK on it, the rest will come.

Conclusions: certainly enough of a step up in terms of handling. Performance-wise, I'm guessing but a 15 to 20% improvement over the Easy doesn't seem exaggerated. Compared to the Seedwings Merlin and the Airwave K2 I flew last month in Lanazarote, this is a more complex glider, but that's OK - it sure will handle sweetly.

 

3:29:12 PM