Gin Vantage User Manual download pdf (Page 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.

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Gin Vantage User Manual Page 12