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addicted2climbing
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Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 268
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
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 Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 2:13 pm Post subject: First Freedom 190 mountian flight |
 #1 |
Hello All,
Well I finaly flew my Freedom 190 from Kagel Mountain on Monday. I was forced to switch from an old worn out falcon1-225 a bit ealrier than I had hoped and also earlier than my instructor would have liked, but all went well; aside from tripping on landing and ending up on my knees. 
I arrived at the top of the hill around 1pm but was told to stay behind to wait unitl conditions were calmer since this was my first flight and also I was under radio supervision since it was my first flight on a new glider. I did not get the chance to launch until 4pm or so and it had been calmer with winds at 10mph constant with gusts to 15 or so. However as soon as I stepped up to launch (with help luckily) it changed to a constant 20mph for a solid 5 minutes. I decided to wait it out a bit but the person helping me said it looked like this wind was a change in the wind and not likely to calm down. Luckily shortly after a lull did show up and I launched. On the ride up a fear of all things PIO was put into my mind by my instructor and to be honest was seriously fearfull of that. Luckily launch and flying away from the hill and danger area was just as it was on the training hill. I stayed upright for a bit to try and get the feel of the Freedom and it felt fine so I went prone. I found a whopping thermal and climbed with my vario pegged (first time i saw that) and just flat out enjoyed how well the glider handled while circling. All things were better in its handling in relation to my old falcon 1-225 and also over the F3-195 I had borrowed a few times. I felt I could hold a constant bank much easier and even better I could make adjustments to my turn much more easily. I spent quite a bit of time 2K over launch and even more time freaking out because my vario was screaming and it was insanely turbulent. At times I thought the bar was gonna be ripped out of my hands. Many times I would find myself diving (yet still climbing) to leave lift that just felt too strong for my skill level to find either light lift or calmer air.
All in all I realy like how it flys. Only thing that seems strange is it trims out with the bar quite a bit forward in relation to the falcon. I feel I have less leverage to move my body but then again maybe its just different and I just need ot get use to whats new to me. worse case. I can swap out the wires as NME did to pull it back a bit. I can decide later once I have more time on the glider. Also, I had a problem with making right turns, but I think I was so tired from fighting the turbulence that I was probably cross controlling a bit since right turns feel less natural to me.
I cant wait for next week....
Marc
_________________
"If flying were the language of man, then soaring would be its poetry."
H2 Falcon1-225
NW Freedom 190 just arrived...waiting to reach H3 to transition..  |
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Bobfly
3 thumbs up
Joined: 13 Nov 2009
Posts: 3725
Location: San Diego, Ca.
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 2:20 pm Post subject: |
#2 |
Awesome flight, Marc. There's no turning back now. You'll never be satisfied with a Falcon again. Congratulations on your first Freedom mountain flight. By the way, what does a vario max out at?
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Freedom 170 FR |
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Phoenix
2 thumbs up
Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 1470
Location: USA Reg 5
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 4:48 pm Post subject: |
#3 |
Great! I can't wait to turn mine, but I am due for some T/L.
Is the bar position really that annoying, and would you order new Wires
from NW or WW or what? |
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addicted2climbing
2 thumbs up
Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 268
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 9:10 pm Post subject: |
#4 |
| theayeinthesky wrote: |
Great! I can't wait to turn mine, but I am due for some T/L.
Is the bar position really that annoying, and would you order new Wires
from NW or WW or what? |
I would not order new wires without trying it first. I don't have any other glider to compare it to other than a falcon and it is different. However I cant expect it to be the same so I plan to see how I like it as is. NME requested the change and Kamron did it, but he is quite a bit shorter than i am so I can imagine it was a bit extreme to him. I'm 6'4" tall. To me it's just something new to get use to. One point that NME mentioned that i did notice is if say during landing, you want to dive it by getting in front of the bar and locking your arms with the bar in the stock position the dive is too extreme. NME said with it in the rearward location it was in the perfect position for him to get in front of the bar and lock the arms for a dive. NME is one to modify and tinker and for him it works, but you cant knock all the others views of the glider being fantastic in its stock configuration. I myself plan to get a good deal of flights under my belt learning the glider and then I will have enough info to see if I feel the mod is worth it or not.
_________________
"If flying were the language of man, then soaring would be its poetry."
H2 Falcon1-225
NW Freedom 190 just arrived...waiting to reach H3 to transition.. |
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Bobfly
3 thumbs up
Joined: 13 Nov 2009
Posts: 3725
Location: San Diego, Ca.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:58 am Post subject: |
#5 |
The cable mod was initiated because pilots were complaining that thermaling required you to hold the bar at arms length for long periods of time and became very uncomfortable. The mod moves the bar back about 3 inches or so I've been told. Northwing is who you want to call.
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Freedom 170 FR |
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