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Pilot Report: The Wills Wing Fusion SP
By Dennis Pagen
Originally published in Hang Gliding Magazine, January 2000. © 1999 Dennis Pagen. Reproduced with permission.
This review reflects the author's personal experience and assessment at the time of publication.
The timing couldn't be better, for now nearly all the manufacturers are on their second production versions and they all offer improvements. We intend to review them in turn, but now we present the new, improved Fusion SP from Wills Wing.
The Fusion has been winging around for a couple of years now and has earned a reputation as being a friendly, well-behaved craft. Its strength was its comfortable behavior in thermals. This is what most recreational pilots want. But imagine you are a competition pilot with the skills to be the best. You want the best ride as well, no?
The first blush and allure of the topless gliders is over. That doesn't mean their attraction has faded like that of a honeymoon bride. On the contrary, more and more pilots are getting into topless gliders since they have proven their reliability and advantage.
That's how the WW pilots felt and they gave the company their wish list of 11 items to change or improve. The company acted in good faith and went diligently to work. What they produced was the Fusion SP. My varied comparative flying of the machine allows me to report that not only have they improved performance on all counts, but they have also maintained the cruiser-friendly nature of the design.
To provide a frame of reference I'll mention that I acquired a bit over 10 hours on the glider. This flying consisted of 11 flights in everything from high-speed cloud dives in Borneo to ridge runs and thermal X-C flights in both mild and thumping conditions here in Penn's woods.
General Description
The Fusion is a solidly-built, squared-off-tip flex wing. It has 150 square feet (13.94 m²) of area with the now-familiar Wills Wing asymmetric lower-surface insignia (different colors can be chosen on either side of the insignia). The glider is of medium weight as far as topless gliders go.
The SP has a beefy keel for towing-vehicle strength and a dreadnought-sized, round carbon crossbar. All tubing that is not carbon (including batten fronts) is 7075. It has a rocker arm hang point and a cam VG system. A convenient keyhole tang attaches the front cable and the crossbar haulback. The latter is fairly easy to attach and does not require an extra hookup in the sail as a safety. The glider has a solid cable-supported sprog on each side and plug-in tip struts for pitchover defense. It also sports the standard Wills Wing tip fairings. And, of course, there is no upper structure to drag and destroy the aesthetics.
SP Highlights
First up is the first thing that meets the air — the nose cone. Wills Wing has added a new nose tweak with a simple idea that works. The nose cone top slides inside the leading edge overlay above the Mylar inserts. The result is a very clean application. The flow-bothering ledge at the top rear of the nose cone has been greatly reduced. This can't help but add a minute increment of glide. Remember, all the minute increments add up to points, eventually.
But the best part of the nose cone change is that someone with my gangly frame can put it on (or in) without pulling down the nose. This is a great relief when setting up with the tail into the wind. I just start the nose cone in its proper place, shove it in, Velcro the bottom and smooth it out.
Next comes the airfoil. Wills Wing is calling the airfoil that comes with the Fusion SP the Type III. This airfoil is new and it is a bit flatter than the previous one. Steve Pearson flew this airfoil to a win in the Morningside Glide Ratio contest. This airfoil appears to provide as good a sink rate as the previous thicker one and allows better top-end performance. (Aerodynamic note: In general, more cambered airfoils are better at the slow end while flatter airfoils produce less drag at low angles of attack and usually better pitch characteristics.) An added bonus may be that the raw wing has a better pitching moment with the new airfoil, so stock sprog settings can be lower (my conjecture). This effect would also add to high-speed performance.
Now we come to my favorite change. It seems that I have been begging for lower-surface battens that are easy to apply in every other glider review. Wills Wing has heeded the call and has changed from one of the worst systems (a two-hand Velcro affair) to the best. You simply insert the batten and forget it. End of story. The front of the batten pocket is sewn to narrow down and hold the batten securely with friction. If the rest of the manufacturers would follow suit my mission in life would be accomplished.
One of the nicest changes is the sprog-system setup. Sprogs are the mid-span arms that serve to hold up the rear of the sail at low or negative angles of attack and thus provide a dose of pitch stability. They must be maintained rigidly at a minimum setting for safety. Wills Wing designer Steve Pearson has come up with a strong cable system that holds the sprog with a solid stop. The result is a reduction in the necessary setting height since a lot of flex is taken out of the system. To add to this effect, an additional strap at the crossbar junction helps hold the leading edge more torsionally rigid.
Two more items make the Wills Wing sprog nearly perfect. First is the easy adjustment accomplished by detaching the cable and twisting the sprog on the screw fitting. Second is the setup. All you do is zip the lower surface sprog opening closed and the sprog is automatically captured in its proper place by webbing. No more fumbling blind for Velcros, loops, clips, clasps or cables. It would satisfy me if other manufacturers would soon follow suit.
The final stock change isn't obvious, but it is most important. The glider has a new luff curve. That's the shape given to the sail at the leading edge. The design of a sail's luff is a black art, since the shape of the sail alters the bow of the leading edge which in turn alters the shape the sail should be, ad infinitum. So what does the new curve afford? Ostensibly better performance, since it has cleaned up the upper surface. I had a chance to observe the upper surface of the glider I have been testing while New Jersey pilot Bill Waters wrung it out. I noticed that the surface was much cleaner than that of the previous Fusion model and very similar to the world's better gliders.
SP Options
Wills Wing has made the bold announcement that any pilot can get the Fusion SP in the same configuration as their top comp pilots are flying. This heady group includes Jim Lee, Chris Arai, Kari Castle, Richard Walbec, Françoise Mocellin, Sandy Dittmar and Chris Muller, among others. They have all been national champions.
The options that allow you to fly like the aces include spring battens, leading edge inserts, special Mylar or Hydranet sail, carbon uprights, thinner cables and an airfoil-shaped carbon basetube.
The leading edge inserts are shaped carbon plates that slide in over the Mylar inserts. They run out to the crossbar junction and stop at the leading edge tube (they don't wrap under). With such a configuration they don't hurt handling but definitely promote performance by preventing indentation between the battens that occurs on all gliders at low angles of attack. This indentation robs performance and also reduces pitch stability.
The Hydranet sailcloth is a Dacron weave with a criss-cross Spectra line in it to reduce stretch. Wills Wing claims it reduces the weight of the glider by .7 lbs. (.3 kg) compared to the standard 240 HTP cloth. The Hydranet sail offers slightly lighter handling, performs as well as the stock sail and should last just as long or longer.
The carbon uprights are .77 x 3.0 inches (1.96 x 7.6 cm) in cross-section, thin enough to part the air efficiently without presenting a barn door to the flow when the glider yaws. The thinner cables are 3/32" (2.3 mm) sides and 5/64" (1.98 mm) front to rear. They all come in combination with the faired-in carbon belly basetube. This tube has a cable inside for secure strength and is finished with a slick epoxy.
The most beautiful aspect of this whole carbonized, low-drag arrangement is the corner control bar fittings. They are sculpted cleanly like a futuristic space-age, warp-speed phasor device and probably have already sold some pilots on the glider. They look exceptional and render the basetube/upright junction the cleanest in the business.
SP Flying Performance
Handling
The Fusion SP seems to initiate a turn more easily than the earlier Fusion. The factory believes the reason for this is that the more solid sprogs can be set lower so they interfere less with the sail when a roll is initiated. It is not the lightest handling I have experienced on a topless glider, but gliders with lighter handling tend to wing walk more. The Fusion SP can be made to wing walk only if you are not used to topless gliders.
The best thing about the SP's handling is its coordination and predictable feel in a thermal. I found that I could circle in a thermal right off launch much closer than I would with most other gliders. No surprises. This feature in a glider inspires confidence and frees you up to eke out maximum performance, especially on dicey days. Despite its exceptional feel, the SP is still mortal. It will occasionally stick a tip and ignore your input, at least until you learn a trick. The glider responds very nicely to a punch turn. Simply push forward abruptly and see how it whips around. Pull back in quickly and you can coordinate your acquired turn. I found that feature came in handy when flying in light turbulence or working weak lift at very low speeds.
Stalls
I tried various stalls on the SP and found all of them to be gentle. I could not spin the glider with semi-abnormal behavior. Stall characteristics of a hang glider somewhat affect landing characteristics.
Landing
Out of 11 landings I whacked one — a slightly downhill landing at 6,000 feet MSL (1,800 m). I landed in zero wind and parachuted it down from three feet (1 m) too high once. I had no problems and found the glider to land quite easily. With the VG off it responds readily to correction on final. I especially liked the predictable trajectory it follows during serious diving turns to final. I landed with the VG on several times and with a drogue 'chute twice. In all cases it was a no-brainer (in other words, I didn't brain myself).
Fast Flying
You can stuff the SP's bar to your knees and not worry about excess wallow or pitch pressure excursions. I suspect that with the bar at your sternum some pilots could over-control a bit, but as mentioned previously, the SP has less wing-walking tendency than several other topless gliders. I suspect it will be easy to tow like its predecessor.
The bar pressure on my glider was quite high at full-race speed. It reminded me of gliders with kingposts and reflex bridles. This effect will be enheartening to some pilots who worry about pitch stability (even though pitch pressures do not always relate directly to pitch stability). The main point to make in this discussion is that the SP has improved higher-speed performance over the original Fusion.
Slow Flying
Probably the strength of the SP will continue to be climbing. Its pleasant and predictable handling, coupled with its natural tendency to sink slowly in a turn, will keep it at or near the crown of the gaggle. For recreation and competition pilots alike, getting on top is the purpose of the exercise.
I compared my climb rate with several local thermal wizards and found that I could outclimb or stay with them. This was especially noticeable in the light stuff. I'd be happy to show up in any comp or aerial romp with a Fusion SP strapped on my back.
There's just one question to answer. What does SP stand for? I've been asked many times, and the factory only says it could denote Steve Pearson (the designer), Super Performance or Special Production. You can take your pick. I think I'll settle for Sensational Phlying.
Fusion SP Specifications
| Model | Fusion SP 150 |
| Area | 150 sq. ft. |
| Span | 34.1 ft. |
| Aspect Ratio | 7.7 |
| Glider Weight | 76 lbs. |
| Pilot Weight (hook-in) | 150–270 lbs. |
| Pilot Weight (optimum) | 180–225 lbs. |
| Nose Angle | 128–132 degrees |
| Double Surface | 88% |
| Pilot Skill | USHGA Advanced |
| Vne | 53 mph |
| Va | 46 mph |
| Vs | < 25 mph |
| Vd | > 45 mph |
| Base Price | $5,175 |