Larry Bunner has been flying his earlier prototype version for the
last two months and telling me about how much he loves the handling. He pulls on
3/4 VG and forgets to take it off while thermaling. Finally on Thursday I got a
chance to fly the new one myself.

As I came off the cart the glider felt "big." I had 1/3 VG on (as usual) but
there was too much force required to pull in the base tube relative to what I
was used to on the T2C 144.

I flew around to the northwest doing a portion of the task before deciding to
head back to Wilotree park. The glider was very smooth in the air. No longer did
I have to "bump" it to enter into thermals, just shift my weight. I thermaled at
all levels of VG and that worked fine. I could stay in small cores.

Yes, I would have to say that the handling, as promised, was vastly superior.
Soon after my tow I flew with one pilot on an Icaro and noted that I was out
climbing him.

But I didn't like the "big glider" feeling. Near the end of my flight I figured
out why it felt that way. It was because I was used to hanging from the more
forward position and this glider was no doubt set up for the pilot to hang from
the middle position (a difference of about half an inch).

After I landed I moved the little rocker arm to the forward position which took
less than a minute.

Speaking of landings, I haven't landed the TIII as well as I would like. I've
had to run, when I thought I wouldn't have to. The glider has fallen off to one
side and I've had the nose come over, but not touch. I'm using 1/3 VG. Maybe a
little more is needed.

I flew the glider again today. It instantly (coming off the cart) felt like the
T2C 144 that I had previously been flying. I mention this because I wanted to
drive home the fact that very small changes in the glider make remarkable
differences. You may fly a demo glider that is not set up right for you and your
experience.

I flew for four hours. The glider was as smooth as could be. The handling was
vastly superior. Whether gliding or thermaling the glider just feels smooth and
stable.