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By AlaskanNewb
#395482
Aeros customer support is a nightmare.
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By ascaro
#395540
Here's what Joche said when he moved to the Rx.
http://flyingjochen.blogspot.it/search? ... results=41

He failed the looping due to the lack of airspeed and maybe the different pitch behaviour of the Combat.

Anyway, a lot of things changed from the 2012/14 alu Combats versions and the new carbon ones, just like any other wing from any other brand since then.

The tail it's an aerodynamict fact,you can clearly see on many aircrafts.
Even though a hangglider is a full-wing body,the tail adds stability, with increased flight pleasure in turbulent air and straight,fast glides.
Combats haven't got tip wands,so the 'bar pressure' concept hasn't to be misunderstood with pitch stability.
You can still get bar pressure on any elliptic wing with sprogs settings out of certification's settings (very low) and a lot of twist at the tip wands, but that's not going to be a safe wing.
So, let's stay open-minded.
It's no secret that the wings with the tail have passed the pitch test at lower sprogs settings.
Airfoils and sails have been adjusted to work with the tail, too, so even if I can put a tail kit on any wing, it has been designed for Combats and works best with them.
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By atmosphereship
#400105
Well I finally got the new ship and soared for 1h16m last weekend. Aeros Combat C 13.5
Happy! :mosh:
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By Felix
#400136
atmosphereship wrote: Thu Aug 24, 2017 7:25 pm Well I finally got the new ship and soared for 1h16m last weekend. Aeros Combat C 13.5
Happy! :mosh:
BEAUTIFUL!!
Isn't it a thing of wonder? How does it handle your weight, you were worried about it not carrying you..how's the handling? Details, details :popcorn:
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By atmosphereship
#400139
I was nervous going from my Freedom 190 to a topless of only 145 squares. I hook in about 245 lbs which is slightly over max recommended.
I had a solid launch run into a good cycle and flew way out away from the mountain trying to get zipped up as my knee pad was hanging up on the zipper pull. This gave me comfortable clearance from terrain. It was much quicker to respond to roll inputs and I experienced no PIO at all. It never felt squirrelly like I was expecting. I didn't pull any VG or CG cords on this flight and did not test full speed. I noticed minimal adverse yaw. Because of the tail, pitch felt super stable entering and leaving thermals.
After thermalling for over an hour I brought it in to land into about a 10 mph headwind and landed on my feet. No whack so HOORAY!!!
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By Felix
#400144
Nice! The Combat C is a sweetie, so easy to fly. You'll get comfortable on it in no time. Just remember that even though it flies easy like an intermediate glider, its performance is quite something and it'll eat up landing terrain like you won't believe it.
Keep us posted and....mode pics please :drool:
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By ascaro
#400970
Quote Felix above!
I'm happy to hear you are enjoying the wing a lot!
Amazing colours!!! :mosh:
By DirkSA
#403315
Comet wrote: Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:31 am Combats did very well at the just-concluded Canary Open, winning the meet.

Final:
# Name Glider Total
1 Jose Antonio Abollado Aeros Combat 12,7 2683
2 Joseph Salvenmoser Moyes Litespeed RX 3,5 2656
3 Christian Pollet Aeros Combat GT 2639
4 Thomas Weissenberger Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 Technora 2420
5 Jonas Blecher Moyes Litespeed RS 2366
6 Benito Rodriguez Gonzalez Wills Wing T2C 144 2306
7 Georg Schweier Wills Wing T2C 144 2257
8 Ataulfo J. Fernandez Montero Wills Wing T2C 144 2235
9 David Ferreiro Matos Wills Wing T2C 144 2207
10 Francoise Dieuzeide-Banet Moyes Litespeed RX· 2072
I love the reviews on the Combat C but one thing I have wondered about is why are there no Combat C gliders doing well in the big comps / worlds? There are always other Aeros gliders doing well but the Combat C never seems to be there? Surely I can't be due to the higher price?
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By Felix
#403322
Results in a comp say a LOT about the pilot. The Combat C just got 3'rd place in the US Nationals if you look at it that way, however it's really John that got 3'rd place, flying a wing that he's managed to do better in competitions with than on his previous Aeros Combat. Oh, he also won a top level meet last year on the C as well.
The older Aeros models offer top performance. The Combat C offers top performance, as well as MUCH easier handling, predictability, etc.
Fly one, you'll never look back.
By DirkSA
#403325
Thanks Felix

I am already making plans to buy one. In my humble opinion I think a good sink rate and good handling is the most important factors for a good XC glider, and if the reviews are true I would be very happy.
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By Felix
#403329
DirkSA wrote: Sun Apr 22, 2018 1:50 pm Thanks Felix

I am already making plans to buy one. In my humble opinion I think a good sink rate and good handling is the most important factors for a good XC glider, and if the reviews are true I would be very happy.
A local friend and pilot just bought a Combat C and was/is blown away. He's been flying for 35 years, flew LOTS of gliders though the years and said he never flew a glider this predictable and easy after his first couple of flights. He bought it after seeing me love mine so much. Also, Bruce Barmakian just got 7'th place in the comp on his new Combat C he picked up days before the comp started, no time to dial in the wing... just got it and flew it to the top :)
Best/easiest handling you'll find, and to top it off, performance wise I believe it also the best there is. There are more and more "believers" out there and I think it won't be long before the other makers adopt this new wing design Aeros came up with.
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By magicpotato
#405357
For those that have flown a number of topless wings, any comment on the handling characteristics between the T2C/ and the combat GT? I know the combat C is the hot glider right now, but I like that the GT is more cost effective. My thought here is a more sleek wing, the more trade off there is with handling, but I'm having a hard time finding any literature about pilot feedback and comparing them to other designs. :ahh:
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By ascaro
#405368
Hi,
I've been flying Combats since 2005, an L 14.2 and then a 13.5 GT from 2012, and a 13.5 C since 2016.
In between the L and the first 13.5 I've had one year flying on a 154 T2C, that I liked a lot but never loved as an Aeros wing.
Some quick peeps on Litespeeds S and Rx and 144 T2Cs, and one nice flight on an Icaro Laminar 14.8, all from friends.
You see, to me, Icaro matched the glide performance of the Combats, all other wings still seemed to lack at speeeds over 90kmh. The Moyes and Icaro handling was very similar to the Combat's, maybe due to the A-frame design and position. WW has a narrow speedbar,so at the beginning I was often hitting one upright with my shoulder until I got used to the forward speedbar position, when thermallin very tight. Different machine,different muscle memory.

The thing that changed the game, to me, was the tail. Since then, I've never had those nasty,scary, nose-down dives that sometimes occur(red) on tailless wings, former Combat included, anymore. I am a guy who flies about one hundred hours a year,mainly on mountains conditions, some national comps and fewer international comps. The pitch damper works really fine, and got better with the newer profiles that were adapted for the tail. The faster you fly, the better the wing gets stable. The handling was more sharp, more direct, on my Combat without the tail, but I prefer to trade some roll ratio for more comfort.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that the wing becomes inert,with the tail... It's different. It has a more rounded behaviour, and after a while you get used to that and you learn how to do. It's still possible to turn very tight and climb on a tip, but the tail seems to act in order to get the whole system working at the right speed/ right angle of attack and a flater turn.
So in the end it's less tiring to fly.
The C, particularly, is a true pleasure. It's 4 kg lither than the aluminum one, so it's more responsive and has less inertia, climbs better and it's more refined, you see the've put more attention to the details. Aeros wing were somehow lacking some refiniments, now they are at the same top quality level of other brands.
I've always had the slider CG on my 13.5s, another great feature that allows you to fly and land really slow, or glide fast into the wind when you need it. It puts some more weight on the overall count,but it's definitely worth it.
If you can afford it, go for the carbon. It's lighter, but obviously you have to take good care of it.
The alu GT,anyway, it's still a top performer, and the world champion wing of Petr Benes flies great even without tail. Some sizes have double homologation, with and without tail. If you like best a simple wing, you can save some weight and money and go for the tailless.
To conclude...

GT: Pros: great overall performance, very simple to adjust, easy to fly and land. Good price. Cons: Heavier, and 80cm longer when packed,compared to the curved tips wings...

C: lighter handling, less weight, more roll authority at full vg on, simple to fly and land. Short pakable at 2m or something for shipping or long travels. Better refinements. State of the art carbon frame. Cons: higher price tag, full carbon frame to take care of.

One more thing, higher A/R wing fly best at the top of their weight range,so if you're in doubt,go for the size that's more loaded. Otherwise you'll find the wing is a bit of flying you, instead of you flying the wing, when it's a rough, strong
thermal day.

My 2 cents.
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By stephmet
#406664
Hey, just reviving this thread as I had a question - as anyone here flown both the Combat GT and the Combat C in the same size (I'm looking at the 12.7)? If so, how different do they handle? Also curious about the quality of build / attention to detail on the GT. I am considering a Combat but the C is out of my price range.
By DirkSA
#411773
I were told that the Combat C has a bit of an input to action lag, is it true and how much is it? Scratching on a ridge for lift while having a slight problem with lag does not seem to be a good idea, but I am not sure how much is meant with a lag compared to other topless gliders. I fly a WW T2
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By Felix
#411781
DirkSA wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 4:28 am I were told that the Combat C has a bit of an input to action lag, is it true and how much is it? Scratching on a ridge for lift while having a slight problem with lag does not seem to be a good idea, but I am not sure how much is meant with a lag compared to other topless gliders. I fly a WW T2
This may be true for older topless gliders from Aeros (doubt it but Maybe?), however it's most definitely not true for the Combat C. The thing responds immediately to roll input and turns on a dime. I scratched the s#!t of my Combat C with dozens of PG's all around, all clinging to every bit of lift to stay up on weak days at the POTM, N side, and I trusted it completely. Best topless out there in my opinion. Crazy enough I tried to same type of flying on a Litespeed I had bought as a back-up glider, but decided to sell that thing right away as I had a very, very scary close call because it just wasn't responding to my desperate control inputs.
I will say that the more recent Combat C's are a bit more stiff than the first generation (original design didn't have any seams on the top surface, it was made from a single piece of technora). The new ones employ more sail sewing/enforcing tape,etc more tension, they added even more performance through making the sail more stiff, but in my opinion this isn't needed, performance was already top of the line and the ease of flying it (literally feeling like a sport glider) at least for me is more important than having a little bit more glide. I have 2 Combat C's now, one with the new sail and one with the original sail that I bought from a friend and has few hours on it. Happy I have it! I'll fly my newer sail one for comps but for a leisure glider the older one is just pure bliss.
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By Vrezh
#411784
This may be true for older topless gliders from Aeros (doubt it but Maybe?)
Not really. I flew a Stealth 3 many years (still have it :) ), non issue.