Windtech bantoo - Manual (Page 11)

11
There are 3 basic steps to follow immediately if you have a collapse:
1: Weight shift to the flying side of your glider (away from the collapsed side). This helps
stop the rotation & increases pressure in the wing in the inflated side.
2: If needed apply the correct amount of brake to the open (flying) side to slow any rota-
tion (spiral) induced by the collapse. Be very careful not to use too much brake as it’s
possible to stall the flying side of the glider, and enter further unstable situations which
may be harder to recover from than the collapse itself.
3: Once the glider has straightened out, or the spiral has slowed, smoothly pull down the
brake on the collapsed side, with a long stroke/pump, & the deflated side of the glider
should re-inflate. As the glider re-opens release the brake immediately but progressively.
--front / symmetrical tuck collapse
A front tuck / collapse is a symmetric tuck of the leading edge of the wing, starting from
the centre of the canopy to the wing tip. This can be either a tucking of just the central
part of the leading edge of the glider, which can sometimes cause a front 'horseshoe' or
'rosette-ing' of the glider, or even a complete 'front tuck' of the whole canopy in extre-
me situations.
When flying, a front tuck may occur either when leaving a strong thermal, or more often
while using the speed system in turbulent air, or even sometimes whilst flying into the
wake turbulence down-wind of another glider.
Remember, the pilot can learn to help stop collapses by flying 'actively', but if a front tuck
does occur it will easily clear itself. Re-inflating the wing can be helped by correct pilot
input and, once the glider is overhead, symmetrically applying 40 % of both brakes &
then releasing immediately will get pressure back in to the glider and speed up the reco-
very. Do not brake when the glider is behind you, as this can stall the wing, but wait for
the glider to come forwards above your head, then brake.
--asymmetric stall (spin)
This is a very difficult situation for the pilot to provoke with the bantoo, given its exce-
llent feedback and very low stall speed, you have to really abuse the controls a lot to
manage it.
Even so, a spin can be induced if, for example, the pilot is turning very slowly and tightly
in a thermal (near the stall point), and wants to tighten the turn further, for whatever
reason. If the pilot brakes too much on the inside brake, stalling the wing on that side,
the wing may then go into a spin.
Beware in turbulent air, as it is easier to stall, or spin, the wing due to the already a tur-
bulent airflow.
If a spin is entered, return to normal flight by raising both hands to return air speed to
the stalled side of the wing. Be careful, as this may cause the wing to surge and dive for-
wards as it tries to regain airspeed. This dive can be more or less violent, depending on
various factors. The pilot should check this dive, using up to 60% brakes, which must then
be released as soon as the dive is stopped.
--landing
You need to pay particular attention with your first landings, above all, if they are your
first tandem flights or your are used to the glide angle of your old glider, as the ban-
too
’s excellent performance might surprise you.