On January 3rd, the first day of the competition, I got my first
flight on Gerolf's (the glider he flew at the pre-Worlds in August) Moyes
Litespeed RS 4 (or so it is listed in the results). The competition was on and I
was towing up in mid day in what was a perfectly fine and easy tow with as it
turned out way too little VG on (I had to stuff the bar the whole time). The
glider was stable as I would like it to be even under these conditions and with
me not having towed a high performance flex wing in about a year.


Since I had been flying the Wills Wing T2 - 144 previously that was my first
mental comparison. The glider felt bigger, stiffer, harder to control, and it
wrapped in a lot more requiring more high siding if I wanted to flat turn it. But it felt perfectly safe in
the air with respect to turbulence, although I didn't feel that much in control
of it in thermals so I felt that the pilots near me were quite brave or unaware
(Lukas says he noticed). I would often dive sideways as the glider wanted to
wrap up. This, of course, is a standard feature of most high performance hang
gliders and they are tuned to do this.


Of course, I also didn't know the ins and outs of how to handle this glider, as I
hadn't been on one in a while. I had flown the Moyes Litespeed S 4 two years ago
in Australia in the competitions and really enjoyed it a lot. So I figured that
I had to get used to it also.


I was battling way too much with the glider always high sliding it and not being
able to keep it straight with the VG three fifth's to four fifth's on. I also didn't know how much cord to
pull to get to full VG. With the VG on, the bar pressure reduced significantly,
as it is supposed to do and the was nice. Still I couldn't get going faster than
41 mph (which was due in  most part to my harness setup and partly to my
lack of familiarity with the glider and lack of skills handling high speeds).


On the third task I was setting up next to Kraig Coomber and Steve Moyes and
they pointed out to me as I was doing a hang check to check over my new harness
setup that I was hanging too high. I had just made the assumption that there was
only one hand strap length made by Moyes for DHV length main risers. Not true.
Gerolf had placed a 35 cm hang strap on the glider for me (without a direct
connect harness), when a 42 cm one would have been the ticket. With help from
Steve Moyes we quickly replaced the hang strap and I was now in a much better
position.


I got Bobby to tow me up when I went into line and with a three fifth's VG on I was
able to stay a lot lower behind the tug, a much better position. Once I let off,
the glider was much easier to fly. In fact after a couple of hours, and deciding
to let the glider do the talking, it began to feel like what I remembered the
Litespeed S 4 felt like two years ago.


I've completed the Forbes Flatlands and really enjoyed flying the Moyes
Litespeed RS 4. The RS 4 model is different than the S 4 model in that is has 39
cm more span (I believe that this is the same span at the S 4.5 and S 5) and its
surface area is (as I recall Michael Fieschenbichler told me) 14.2 sq. meters
(although he may have said 14.4). If it is 14.2 it would be half way between the
S 4 and the S 5. This would mean that the RS 4 as a greater aspect ratio than
the S 4. Jonny was flying an RS 3.5. (http://www.moyes.com.au/productdetail.asp?id=104&pg=2&cat=)


Once I got my harness working right I was able to get the glider up to 55 mph.
I'm sure that I could have gone considerably faster but I don't have the recent
experience on the glider to keep it flying straight at high speeds. This is a
big difference between rigid wings and flex wings. I have no problem going well
over 60 mph on the AIR ATOS VR, but it is built for stability.


I now know why Gerolf is often circling inside of other pilots and not just
following the keel of the pilot in front of him in gaggles. The (or is it his)
glider wants to tighten up in the core. If you just relax it was turn very
tight. In the last two days of the competition at Forbes I turned inside more
pilots in gaggles than I have done cumulatively throughout the rest of my twenty
two year flying career (and I climbed through a lot of them also). The glider
was a monster climber.


The VG is very aggressive. The bar position moves way forward and way back when
you pull throughout its range. Frankly, I was not able to pull completely
through its range, going to about nine tenth's at most, a very few times. I
often just flew straight at fourth fifth's (which as I recall Gerolf said would
be fine).


I liked the low bar pressure when the VG was four fifth's on (or even three
fifth's on). It was quite low. But it was hard to continually use the VG cord. A
lot of work for me to pull it on (and I silicon sprayed everything possible).
I'm so used to the easy flaps cord of the ATOS.


My right arm got very tired and some times I would have to pull with the left
arm or pull in little spurts. I'm sure that there are better techniques than the
crude ones that I applied to this problem.


One thing about this glider (and the other flex wings that I have been flying
lately) is that I don't get a bit scared in the air no matter how turbulent it
is. This is an incredible relief to me. The AIR ATOS VR must just re stimulate
me to scare me when it goes bump. In the flex wings, I just have no scared
reactions. Doesn't seem to matter what happens, I'm happy and secure that the
glider will keep flying. Probably irrational but it appears as though something
is wired into my brain by my tuck and tumble in my ATOS C and there is not much
that I can do about it.


The glider is easy to land. Setup and breakdown is a snap. The glider bags fit
in my harness with the nice lightweight bag that Gerolf or Vicki provided. I
couldn't be happier with the glider. I still have a lot to learn to be able to
fly it well though, although that is no excuse for not winning the Forbes
Flatlands. :-)


Gerolf's glider is the all carbon fiber version with the full carbon fiber
leading edges and carbon fiber inserts. It sure seemed light enough.