Polling threads

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What do you prefer?

Top (I am heavy on my glider)
16
52%
Middle
13
42%
Bottom (I am light on my glider)
2
6%
By blindrodie
#376289
I picked "top". I like the performance with that amount of wing loading, but realize that I need to be more cautious about strong conditions and over stressing the MAX limits.

I currently fly a WW U2 145 and hook-in at about 210. Works out really great.

8)
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By mario
#376310
Hi Dave,
I fly a U2 - 145 and hook in at about 175 lbs. I think I would prefer to be hooking in at ~200 lbs because of the gains I would get in handling. My glider's polar will shift - making everything faster- which can be useful when you want to penetrate or go somewhere, and the stall speed and sink rate difference would not be that much higher. The air can get rough out here in Califotnia and I don't love having the glider fly me. I think having more control of your glider allows you to fly it where you want and so potentially more efficiently, for instance, like staying in the stronger part of a thermal. So, I fly with more water than I need to drink usually.
The easier the glider is to fly (falcon etc.) the bigger wing I'm willing to fly (lower wing loading).
It's all about having a comfortable amount of control for me. If I only flew smooth air or weak lift/turbulent sites, I would want to fly on the lighter side I'm sure.

In short, the higher performance my wing - towards the top
The lower performance the wing- towards the bottom

Hope you're still having fun with that Eagle.
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By Jason
#376311
Where am I?
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By RobertKesselring
#376312
My preference would be to have a big glider that I'm light on and a small glider that I'm at the top of the weight range for, then choose my wing to match the weather. Since I can't afford that, I compromise and fly a wing I'm in the middle of the weight range for.
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By waveview
#376314
I use two different harness's. About 25 lbs extra weight on one. Have also seen pilots takeoff with an extra 25 lbs of water ballast in their harness to launch into a 25 mile per hour coastal sea breeze.
By Roadrunner
#376318
I for one have had a Hook-In weight of 340 lbs. on my Predator 158. This hook-in weight was when I was flying with water Ballast. Because I knew if I was going to Win speed-Gliding contests. Ballast could give me ab edge. NOTE, Todate, I have yet to be beaten when I was competing in a speed gliding contest. Yes, my opinion is to load a Predator up. Load your glider up for Bear. Then go out and Win! John Heiney told me once that he knew of no 158 Predator heavier than I did.
Also here is something to note. When I was speed gliding. I did not use any Ballast. When I wasflying with Water-Ballast. I flew at a local site "Lake McClure" . When I was flying at this heavy hook-in weight , I had great no-step landings.

What can one say about a Predator? It sure is a awesome glider.

See-Ya Chris McKeon