LITESPORT OWNERS MANUAL
Version 1.01
23
Thermalling the Litesport
Bank Angle and Airspeeds
The Litesport is designed to thermal comfortably at a bank angle of 30 degrees and with
an airspeed 4mph (6kph) above stall speed. Reducing the airspeed further can improve
the climb rate, but some high siding is required to maintain a shallow bank angle. The
sink rate of the glider improves only very slightly if the airspeed is reduced to the limit
and at such a low airspeed there is some loss of control authority. Therefore it is only
recommended to thermal the glider on the stall limit in weak smooth thermals. In strong
or turbulent conditions it is strongly recommended to fly with excess airspeed to maintain
control and to avoid stalling in thermal gusts.
One of the high points of the Litesport is its coordination at high bank angles. The glider
can be banked to 50 or 60 degrees while maintaining a low sink rate with minimum pilot
effort. As the bank angle is increased, little or no high siding is required, and at higher
air speeds it may be necessary to roll in to maintain the bank angle. In order to
coordinate a high bank angle, the control bar position needs to be pushed out slightly
more than when thermalling at lower bank angles. It is recommended to pay special
attention to the air speed indicator during the initial thermal flights on your Litesport.
Thermalling with VG
It is possible to thermal the Litesport with up to 1/3 VG and experience a noticeable gain
in climb rate. However, when the VG is pulled 1/3 tight the Litesport requires more high
siding, especially at low bank angles. The roll response also decreases with increasing
VG settings. Thermalling with VG is a trade off between handling and climb rate
performance. Many top competition pilots choose to thermal the Litesport with VG off to
save energy and provide faster roll rates. The glider will climb better with some VG but
also becomes less comfortable and increasingly difficult to fly. In turbulent conditions it is
recommended to fly with VG loose to maximise stability and control. Often this increase
in control is more beneficial to climb rates as a pilot can easily centre and stay in the
thermal core.
There are situations when the Litesport is best thermalled with a small amount of VG,
therefore we recommend that the pilot experiments with this to find what best suits
him/her self.
Gliding the Litesport
The greatest advantage of the Litesport is its glide performance, particularly at high
speeds. A best glide ratio of 14:1 can be achieved in still air at low speed, 25mph (40
km/h) with a pilot in the middle of the weight range. However if a headwind is
encountered, or high thermal strengths are expected, the pilot needs to fly at higher air
speeds to maximise the flight performance.
VG Position for Gliding
With the VG full on, the Litesport sail has as much tension as the Litespeed. The
Litesport is intended to be tuneable for all situations, and with VG full tight the glider
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