Back to: Super Sport
Pilot Report: Wills Wing Super Sport
By Gil Dodgen
Originally published in Hang Gliding Magazine, July 1991. © 1991 United States Hang Gliding Association. Reproduced with permission. Photos by Rob Kells.
This review reflects the author's personal experience and assessment at the time of publication.
Wills Wing, Inc. (principals Mike Meier, Rob Kells and Steve Pearson) has just released the successor to its popular recreational hang glider, the Sport, which has been around since 1986. Although the glider has been updated over the years with minor modifications and new hardware, this release represents a major design change. To the best of my knowledge the company has also accomplished a first in the history of U.S. hang glider design and manufacture — the simultaneous certification and release of three sizes of a new model.
I was also surprised to learn that the glider frames and sails were designed primarily through the use of CAD (computer-aided design) techniques, and flew essentially "out of the box" on the first try. As most of you are probably aware, hang glider design is as much art as science, and new models usually require a lot of cut-and-try before they are optimized. I suspect that Steve Pearson's vast design experience is as much to blame for this immediate success as the CAD.
Overview
The Super Sport is an advanced recreational-class glider for Intermediate- or better-rated pilots, although its performance and general flight characteristics put it in a class perhaps just below that of the competition ships. It is relatively simple and lightweight by today's standards, and does not have a variable geometry (VG) system. My impression is that the line between the "competition" and "recreational" classes is beginning to blur; even the manufacturer admits that the only real difference in performance between the Super Sport and the HP AT is a little high-speed glide, which comes at the expense of complexity, cost and handling qualities with the HP VG on.
The Super Sport comes standard with faired downtubes and kingpost, the fancy AT hardware — with which the old Sport had been updated — and a padded speed bar basetube. The defined tips have been eliminated, as has the kingpost hang system, and a third bridle included. Although a couple of battens have been added, overall the design represents a decrease in complexity over the old Sport.
Setup
After the bag is unzipped and battens removed, the control bar is assembled at a single corner by attaching the basetube to the upright with bolt, wingnut and safety. The glider is then flipped upright onto the control bar, cover bag and velcro ties removed, but leading edge tip protector bags left in place. The wings are then spread and the kingpost installed. The kingpost has a nifty protector bag that velcroes its top to the sail over the keel, not only protecting it but keeping it from flopping around during setup and breakdown. The bridle ring is clipped in and the top rear wire attached with a keyhole tang and rubber safety.
The top-surface battens are stuffed (except the outboard three on each side) and wings fully spread. A control bar apex protector is removed and the cross bar tensioned using a foot-in-loop line that leaves both hands free to attach the cross bar restraint cables. The underside nose wires are attached with a keyhole tang, nose batten implanted and nose cone installed. At this point the wing tip cover bags are removed — which contain the plastic wing tip fairings — and the last three outboard battens installed. I was pleased to discover that Wills no longer insists on finger-lacerating tension on these. Adding the wing tip fairings and stuffing the three-per-side undersurface battens completes assembly.
Overall I was pleased with the straightforward simplicity of the set-up procedure. (My reaction to the HP AT in this department was similar to that of the king when Mozart asked how he liked a composition. The king's answer: "Too many notes." My reaction to HP AT setup: "Too many battens [and bags, and pads, and gadgets, and stuff].") I expect that with practice the Super Sport can be flight ready in less than ten minutes.
It is worth noting that the old kingpost hang system has been replaced with an over-the-keel hang strap that allows about five inches of easily-adjusted CG variation. The glider also allows more simple wing tip adjustment for trimming out turns.
Flight Characteristics
Rob Kells is famous for his yet-again unprecedented enthusiasm for a new Wills Wing release, and this was no exception. Frankly, it was a little hard for me to believe that any really significant overall improvement could have been made in the original Sport's flight characteristics; after all, the glider had withstood the test of time. When it was released in 1986 its claim to fame was near state-of-the-art performance, without the shoulder-straining stiffness and easy-to-beak landing qualities of the superships. To my taste it was still a little on the stiff side and just a little too sensitive to flare timing, although the overall performance/handling compromise represented a big step forward.
My skepticism about the Super Sport proved to be unfounded. It represents a big improvement over the classic Sport in almost every flight characteristic category.
Roll initiation bar pressure and response lag are significantly improved (in my estimation somewhere just past HP AT 158 VG loose). Turns coordinate easily without high-siding, and I found it a joy to thermal. Thermaling turn adjustment requires minimal effort, and often I found that all I had to do was lock in, push out a little, go around and around, and up.
One of the most impressive things about the glider is its slow-flight controllability. Standard on Wills Wing gliders are tufts mounted on the top surface of the inboard wing, which can be seen through the sail from underneath. Their primary use is to determine minimum sink speed; when the tufts start to squirrel you're there. I found that I could fly the glider with the tufts pointing straight forward — demonstrating a theoretically stalled wing — and still control the glider laterally with no trouble at all! This characteristic also gives the glider a very mild and forgiving stall. It slows, mushes and finally, reluctantly, drops the nose gently. You really have to work at it to produce a typical stall break, and can fly around with the glider "stalled" without the nose dropping. Later we'll see how this really pays off on landing.
On a nose-too-high launch I discovered an unexpected phenomenon resulting from this slow-flight capability. Normally, on a flight-wind shallow takeoff, I'll hold the glider at a more or less neutral angle of attack, start a gentle run, accelerate to a sprint and just let the glider fly itself off the hill. When I tried this with the Super Sport it lifted me off the ground prematurely, requiring a gentle return to earth and a few more running steps — no big deal, but a surprise. I undoubtedly started my run with the nose a little too high, and this likes-to-fly-so-slow glider was more than happy to go flying before I was ready. I've made this exact same launch scores of times, and I'm sure that the old Sport would never have lifted me off the ground at that speed and angle of attack; the "stalled" condition would have automatically forced the nose down until there was adequate airspeed. My fault — not the glider's — and an interesting lesson.
Any deficiencies? Yes, I found it difficult to fly the glider in a straight line for an extended period with the bar stuffed in thermally air. In smooth air it was no problem, but I found the glider to be very sensitive at bar-stuffed speeds, and often would have to slow down after a series of ratty thermals would initiate a PIO (pilot-induced oscillation). I'm told that this phenomenon is the reason for the minimum Intermediate (Hang II) rating requirement.
Performance
Anything I say here is nothing more than semi-educated speculation, since I didn't have a chance to do side-by-side performance comparisons in smooth air.
I guess square footage doesn't mean nearly as much as it used to; the 163 is a big glider. I hook in at 215 pounds and didn't feel like I was any too heavy for it. My subjective impression is that I was getting a better sink rate, especially while thermaling, than I would in a 167 regular Sport. Part of this may be the slow-flight characteristics and the less root-dominant planform of the Super Sport, which undoubtedly results in greater span efficiency.
Pete Lehmann's crank-and-bank approach notwithstanding, I found that at altitude in large, weak, relatively smooth thermals I could really take advantage of the super slow flight capabilities of the glider to keep the vario beeping through 360°.
At Marshall Peak, near Crestline, California I flew with a half-dozen hang gliders and paragliders on a typical light-wind, thermally day. Cycles would come through and we would climb to 600-800 feet over takeoff, then come down when it cycled down. Up to a few hundred feet over takeoff the thermals were small and took work to stay in, and we were all mixed up at different altitudes at different times. I keep hearing about the great climbing ability of paragliders in this kind of air, but found that sooner or later I could get above them. For about five cycles I couldn't quite reach 1,000 feet over takeoff, but finally attained that altitude where the thermals were bigger, smoother and coalescing. I slowed down in a nearly hands-off perpetual 360, listened to the vario sing, twiddled my thumbs, gained another 1,000 feet without really trying, and went on a 15-mile out-and-return. Everyone else floated around the hill for the rest of the afternoon. Mike Meier says I'm a good pilot. Rob Kells says it's the glider. I'm not sure anyone else was trying.
Landing
A joy. I'd been told that the Super Sport landed easily, so I decided to try an experiment. On an essentially no-wind landing I came in with plenty of speed, bled it off in ground effect, and waited for that "settling" feeling with plenty of push-out in reserve. Instead of flaring when I normally would, I pushed out a little and waited a couple of seconds — for an intentionally late flare with less push-out in reserve. On flare the nose came up, stayed there, and I made a two-step effortless landing without dropping a wing.
This is apparently another beneficial side effect of the glider's slow flight characteristics.
The Manual
The Super Sport comes with a very professional manual. It is well written (I'm picky about that), is illustrated with copious line art drawings and is well organized. It explains the use of the wing tufts and covers interesting and useful topics such as minimum sink speed, minimum controllable airspeed, trimming the glider, launching and flying, landing approaches, landing technique, glider maintenance and car-top mounting. It also features exploded views of all glider parts.
Conclusion
I feel that this glider is an excellent choice for the casual or serious recreational pilot, and perhaps even for those with more ambitious flying goals. Its relative simplicity, confidence-inspiring flight (and especially landing) characteristics, near state-of-the-art general performance — and superb effective thermaling performance — make it a real joy to fly and leave little to be desired. It's the kind of glider that will take many years to outgrow. One wonders if the sacrifices necessary for that little extra high-speed glide in the superships is really worth it. If you're trying to set a world record or win the Nationals the answer may be yes, but for an ordinary mortal like your editor the answer is decidedly no.
Specifications
| Specification | 143 | 153 | 163 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Span | 31' | 32' 8" | 34' 4" |
| Glider Weight (lbs) | 57 | 61.5 | 66 |
| Aspect Ratio | 6.7 | 7.0 | 7.2 |
| Pilot Weight (lbs) | 130–185 | 150–210 | 180–270 |
The Super Sport 143
By Linda Nelson
Originally published as a sidebar to Gil Dodgen's Super Sport review in Hang Gliding Magazine, July 1991.
"Don't fly this glider." Rob Kells of Wills Wing stood in front of me, shaking his head and looking real serious. "I mean it. Don't fly this glider, 'cause if you do, you're gonna want one. It's smaller, lighter..."
Oh, sure. I figured this was just the usual manufacturer's hype. He was referring to a new Wills Wing glider, the 143 Super Sport. I had just finished telling him how happy I was with my present glider and how I had no intention of getting anything else for a while. But hey, here was the brand new little glider, and it sure would be fun to take it up for a spin.
The Setup
The Super Sport has all the nice AT hardware, and takes advantage of other HP AT upgrades. The Super Sport has three luff lines extended along the trailing edge and the plug-in defined tip has been eliminated, making setup a little easier. The kingpost hang point system isn't needed anymore, and the hang loops are on the keel. Everything else is standard Sport assembly.
At 5'4" I had to really stretch to reach the luff line attachment with the kingpost resting on the sail. However, attaching the nose batten and fairing was very easy. I didn't have to dig in, lean back and give a hard pull to get the nose within reach. I was beginning to believe the small span, light weight, static balance stuff. However, it still has the foot-in-the-rope crossbar pull-back system, which means you can't tension or detension the glider while it's laying on the ground.
The Flight
Getting the glider to launch was easy; it has a small, easy-to-manage span. And yes, it does have near perfect static balance. The control bar is a comfortable, functional size. It's identical to the 150 Sport AT half-race bar, which was taken from the 147 Harrier. The combination of all these attributes makes this glider easy to balance on launch and very solid during your takeoff run.
Bump and push. Anyone who has ever flown a Wills Wing glider knows that "bump and push" is how to coordinate a turn. I started the bump part of a turn and felt the glider start to roll, so I eased the bar out. You don't have to get real physical to turn this glider. Throughout all turns the bar pressure was light and smooth and easy to coordinate. Bump and push no longer applies. You don't have to learn to fly this glider!
What's the definition of an easy landing? I found out when I landed the small Super Sport. On final, the glider's airspeed slows but its angle of attack doesn't settle and drop — it just keeps flying. The resulting flare requires little effort. I thought maybe there had been a mistake and I had been flying a little Spectrum instead!
Was there anything I didn't like about this glider? Not really, but I only had one flight on it. So is this glider totally cool or what? Small span, light weight, statically balanced. It sounds like a lot of hype, but what does it mean, really? For me, it means being able to control the glider throughout a windy, thermally takeoff. Those little punchy thermals close to the hill will be easier to catch. Approaches and landings on a dry lake bed in desert heat won't be nearly as strenuous. It all adds up to safety and more airtime.
Was Rob's warning valid? Did I want a 143 Super Sport after flying one? Yes! I bought one.