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Flight Test - Windtech Pulsar
by Steve Uzochukwu
The Windtech Pulsar is a new entrant into the DHV 1-2 market that accounts, amongst fierce competition, for most of the gliders sold in Europe. The Pulsar is a replacement Windtech's the popular Serak, and is also the basis for the tandem Bantoo and the Kinetik, a motorfliegen-specific wing with special überblick such as trimmers designed specifically for motorised flight. Information on the complete Windtech range is at www.windtech.co.uk.
The glider is supplied with a rucksack, speed system complete with Bru mmel hooks, repair patches, handbuch, compression strap and an inner bag. The rucksack is the same unique design that comes with other gliders in the Windtech range, with no difficulty in getting a harness with a 17cm Bump'Air into it, complete with glider and helmet. The bag is easy to adjust for comfort on long walk-ups and is aesthetically pleasing too. Compression straps help minimise size for greater ease of carrying or the squash into the car boot, and take strain off the zips if need be.
Unfolding the glider reveals a very distinctive, striking or even funky design. I really like it, but a small minority may think it's too strong for their tastes. It's another variation on the 'W' for Windtech with two W's forming a birdlike design. This part of the design is in white, contrasting with the two colours used for the front and rear of the sail. Unusually, the design is identical on top and the bottom surfaces. The sail is made from Porcher Marine Skytex 9092, 45 g/m2. The risers are Polyamide 20 mm and the lines are 1.1/1.7 mm Kevlar. The cell entries are reinforced with 180 gr. Dacron and the trailing edge has a polyester reinforcing tape along its full length.
The glider supplied for the test was the largest size (100 - 125kg all-up) of four which cover the range from 60 - 125kg. All-up flying weight for the test was 108kg.
The leading edge cell entries have a classic shape - Windtech have not seen the need for either closed cells or different shaping for a glider at this level. Further examination shows a very high standard of finish. It looks as if Windtech have found some improvement on this aspect of their gliders, which was already amongst the best in class. The speed system allows for easy adjustment at the Bru mmel hook end, and is a two stage item for easy operation. The accelerated speed range of the Pulsar is large and the speed system travel is quite long. To use the full speed range of the glider you will need to set up the speed system carefully, bearing in mind that some older harnesses may have pulleys placed in such a way as to cause artificial limits.
Inflating the glider shows an easy and even inflation. The handbuch quotes 8kg glider weight (this weight actually includes the complete package: risers, maillons, lines, inner bag and rucksack. Many other manufacturers quote just the weight of the glider, lines and risers, and some quote the very misleading figure of just the glider without the lines or risers - CB) for the large size but the glider doesn't behave like a heavy one as far as ease of inflation goes, and is very light and easy to handle on the ground. I used the inner A's for both forward and reverse launches in the absence of any reason not to in the handbuch. Ground handling is very good and an improvement over the Serak.
A light to medium pull-up is needed on a reverse launch, with some braking as the glider arrives overhead. The only way to spoil things is to pull too hard. Releasing the brakes smoothly as you start to run makes for an easy take-off, with any excess speed available to convert to height once airborne.
The glider is very agile in the air, with the chest strap set to 38cm (all sizes) as per the clear instructions in the handbuch. I thought this might affect feedback or agility, but was proved wrong. All the right signals come down the risers and even opening up the chest strap to 42cm did not adversely affect handling, but the pilots this glider is targeted at should stay with the placarded chest strap setting. The glider turns quickly into any lift on a whim but also will turn very flatly and efficiently, which is sometimes an Achilles' heel for the more agile gliders. In fact, despite the superb agility of this glider it does not have any preference for bank angle, remaining where set by the pilot and instantly responding to either roll in or roll out co mmands on the brakes. It seems to go best with co-ordinating weight shift, but will turn quickly and efficiently on brakes alone. This behaviour seems to be part of the very good climb rate the Pulsar can offer, which offers the pilot the ability to concentrate on thermalling and centring in lift without having to control the glider constantly in pitch or sort out tip tucks.
The speed bar is light in action, and the Pulsar is very stable when it is used. Using it gave a top speed of 49 - 50km/h. Trim speed averaged 38km/h, varying between 37 and 39 despite the fact that I was flying at 108kg, 4.5kg below the middle of the weight range where Windtech quote trim and top speeds. It seems they have been slightly conservative in their figures. The Pulsar behaves exceptionally well in the first half of the bar travel and this encourages its use especially for that return to the site after the thermal gives out over the back. It's also very stable in pitch on the bar. It did not require correction, or leave the overhead position in turbulence.
Big ears are made simpler by the split A-risers; they require a firm pull to get in as the glider is very resistant to collapses of any sort. Even in the lower half of the weight range they come out without any pilot intervention and there is no instability or oscillation when they are in. The same applies when the speed bar is used. B-line stall is very physical in terms of initiation - a strong pull is needed - and has to be maintained to get the glider in to this descent mode. Once in, the stall is easy to maintain. To exit, simply release the last 10cm of B-riser and the glider snaps out of it very sharply with no need for pilot intervention, but with all gliders the pilot should be prepared to damp the dive if necessary.
I executed a number of spiral dives on the Pulsar. Entry from trim speed takes about one 360, then the glider picks up speed quickly, getting into high descent mode without much delay if the brake position is maintained. I found that a much more controllable spiral results if you reduce the brake applied by about a third after the glider has done 180 degrees in the spiral. Releasing the brake smoothly all the way whilst in the spiral results in a slowing down of the spiral first, then an exit without drama.
40 - 50% asy mmetrics come out at roughly a quarter of a turn if provoked and need some effort (to initiate - CB), as the inflation pressure of the glider resists quite strongly against the pull in. Despite su mmer flying in Annecy in some strong conditions I did not experience any deflations and therefore can report the canopy is rock steady. One flight in turbulent conditions with mixing layers did produce rustling and unloading of the canopy, but at all times it remained inflated and gave good indications as to what it was doing, and thus the necessary actions to avoid trouble were taken.
Saving the best until last brings us onto the thermalling behaviour of the Pulsar. In anything from the weak conditions in the UK, needing 15 minutes or more to gain 2,000ft, to the 5 - 6m/s thermals in the Alps, the Pulsar was in its element. It's an outstanding glider to thermal and it has a great climb rate. It requires no special techniques to optimise the climb. Flat, really banked-up and all shades in between are well within its repertoire. The Pulsar always signals which way to turn for the thermal and makes thermal mapping and choice of bank angle very intuitive. Brake pressure builds up nicely as you pull the brakes, but is never high enough to be tiring on long climbs. I find it ideal for me but it is matter of taste.
The speed bar is light in action, and the Pulsar is very stable when it is used. Using it gave a top speed of 49 - 50km/h. This is a great wing for anyone from Club Pilot upwards. It is very easy to ground handle and fly, and gives great enjoyment because the ease with which it flies doesn't have a handling or agility penalty. For the more experienced pilot this results in totally stress-free flying, even in the strongest of conditions. The glider is supplied with a very comprehensive handbuch covering all aspects of flying and caring for it. Workmanship is top-notch, and the only very minor gripes I can raise are the heaviness of the B line stall and the fact that the inner bag for the glider is a very tight fit (Windtech have taken note of this criticism and now all inner bags are much bigger! - CB). The bag size has been changed for the better on later gliders in the production run. Windtech tell me the B-line stall issue is due to their reluctance to compromise the excellent flying características of the glider, and its well-executed speed system, for the sake of an easier B-line stall. In comparison to its predecessor the Serak, the Pulsar is more stable in pitch, better refined in the turn and easier to ground handle. For those of you not familiar with the Serak, the Pulsar is a fantastic introduction to the Windtech range and does them great credit as paraglider manufacturers.
| Pros: |
Excellent all-rounder with very easy thermalling and accomplished handling. Solid and very reassuring.
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| Cons: |
Physical B line stall. |
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Importer's comment
When I asked Windtech co-owner, double Spanish Champion Gabriel Canada, why they were replacing the hugely popular Serak, acclaimed by pilots and praised by magazine tests worldwide, he told me: "The Pulsar is even better, with significant improvements and refinements in many areas - we simply had to bring it out!"
Conceived by Windtech designer Alvaro Valdez using Windtech's own in-house design software, the Pulsar incorporates technology from the Quarx 2, Syncro and experimental prototypes, refined by chief test pilot Jose Ramon Saiz (2001 Spanish Champion and six-time Spanish national team member) and his team. It offers an astonishing combination of precise, responsive handling, excellent feedback, superb performance and sublime thermalling capabilities, with a high level of confidence-inspiring stability even in strong turbulent conditions. I think pilots will agree that it was well worth the upgrade!
Carlo Borsattino, Windtech and Wave's UK |
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