Wills Wing Alpha 180 Guía de aplicación
Alpha 180 and 210
Owner / Service Manual
June 2015
500 West Blueridge Ave • Orange, CA • 92865 • Phone (714) 998-6359 • FAX (714) 998-0647
http://www.willswing.com • E-mail: [email protected]
June 2015 - First Edition
Copyright © 2015 by Sport Kites, Inc. dba Wills Wing, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of
Sport Kites, Inc., dba Wills Wing, Inc.
Alpha 180 and 210
Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................... 1
Disclaimer And Warning ...................................................................................2
Technical Information And Placarded Operating Limitations .................................3
A Note About Platform Towing .........................................................................5
A Note About High Duty Cycle Operations.........................................................6
A Note About Parts Replacement ......................................................................6
Alpha Breakdown Procedure For Shipping And Reassembly Procedure.................6
Launching And Flying The Alpha......................................................................15
Using Wing Tufts............................................................................................15
Trimming Your Glider In Pitch ..........................................................................18
Speeds To Fly And Using Your Airspeed Indicator.............................................19
Landing The Alpha..........................................................................................20
Alpha Breakdown ...........................................................................................24
Alpha Stability Systems ..................................................................................25
Maintenance Schedule ....................................................................................27
Removing The Sail From The Airframe And Re-installing ...................................28
Tuning ...........................................................................................................30
Car Top Mounting And Transport ....................................................................32
In Closing .......................................................................................................33
HGMA Compliance Verification .......................................................................34
Frame Plans....................................................................................................36
Assembly Diagrams ........................................................................................39
— 1 —
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing a Wills Wing glider, and welcome to the world wide family of Wills Wing
pilots. We are a company of pilots and aviation enthusiasts, and our goal is to serve your ying needs
now and in the future, as we have done for pilots throughout the world since 1973.
We encourage you to read this manual thoroughly for information on the proper use and maintenance
of your Wills Wing glider. If at any time you have questions about your glider, or about any aspect of
hang gliding that your Wills Wing dealer cannot answer, please feel free to give us a call.
Please visit our web site at http://www.willswing.com on a regular basis. The site features extensive
information about Wills Wing gliders and products, a Wills Wing Dealer directory, a comprehensive
list of service and technical bulletins, current editions of owners manuals, our complete retail price
list, a search engine, and more. Our web site is the means by which we will communicate with you
when we have service advisories or other information related to your safety that we need to make you
aware of.
We wish you a safe and enjoyable ying career, and, once again, welcome aboard!
Mike Meier, Linda Meier, and Steve Pearson
Wills Wing, Inc.
— 2 —
Disclaimer And Warning
Hang gliding is a form of aviation. Like any form of aviation, its safe practice demands the consistent
exercise of pilot skill, knowledge of airmanship and weather, judgment and attention at a level which
is appropriate to the demands of each individual situation. Pilots who do not possess or exercise the
required knowledge, skills and judgment are frequently injured and killed. The statistical rate at which
fatalities occur in hang gliding is approximately one per thousand participants per year.
The Federal Aviation Administration does not require a pilot’s license to operate a hang glider. Hang
gliders and hang gliding equipment are not designed, manufactured, tested or certied to any state
or federal government airworthiness standards or requirements. Hang Gliders are not required to be
registered with the Federal government. As a result, we do not have a reliable way to keep track of
contact information for the owners of Wills Wing hang gliders. It is your responsibility to check with
us periodically for safety and airworthiness advisories and information related to your glider. The
easiest way to do this is to check our web site at http://www.willswing.com Wills Wing hang gliding
products are not covered by product liability insurance. You should never attempt to y a hang glider
without having received competent instruction. We recommend that you not participate in hang glid-
ing unless you recognize and wish to personally assume the associated risks.
Please y safely.
Wills Wing, Inc.
— 3 —
Technical Information And Placarded Operating Limitations
The Alpha 180 and 210 have been tested and found to comply with the 2014 HGMA Airworthiness
Standards. At the time of this writing – June 1st, 2015, no certicates of compliance have been issued
for these models. Please see www.HGMA.net for updated information on the HGMA certication
status of any hang glider
The HGMA Certication standards require:
1. A positive load test at root stall angle of attack at a speed equal to at least the greatest of:
a. 141% of the placarded maximum maneuvering speed
b. 141% of the placarded maximum rough air speed
c. 123% of the placarded speed never to exceed
for at least three seconds without failure.
The required test speed for the Alpha was 54 m.p.h..
2. A negative 30 degree angle of attack load test at a speed equal to at least the greatest of:
a. 100% of the placarded maximum maneuvering speed
b. 100% of the placarded maximum rough air speed
c. 87% of the placarded speed never to exceed
for at least 3 seconds without failure.
The required test speed for the Alpha was 38 m.p.h..
3. A negative 150 degree angle of attack load test at a speed equal to at least the greater of 26 mph
or 50% of the required positive load test speed for at least 3 seconds without failure.
The required test speed for the Alpha was 27 m.p.h..
4. For the Alpha 180 and 210, pitch tests at speeds of 20 m.p.h., 32 m.p.h. and 44 m.p.h. which show
the glider to have a positive pitching moment coefcient over a range of angles of attack from
trim angle to 20 degrees below zero lift angle at 20 m.p.h., and from trim angle to 10 degrees
below zero lift angle at 32 m.p.h., and from 10 degrees above zero lift angle to zero lift angle at
44 m.p.h.
5. Flight maneuvers which show the glider to be adequately stable and controllable throughout the
normal range of operation.
The Alpha 180 and 210 have been designed for foot launched soaring ight. They have not been de-
signed to be motorized, tethered, or towed. They can be towed successfully using proper towing pro-
cedures. Pilots wishing to tow should be USHGA skill rated for towing, and should avail themselves
of all available information on the most current proper and safe towing procedures. Suggested sources
for towing information include the United States Hang Gliding Association and the manufacturer of
the towing winch / or equipment being used. Wills Wing makes no warranty of the suitability of the glider
for towing.
Flight operation of the Alpha should be limited to non aerobatic maneuvers; those in which the pitch
angle will not exceed 30 degrees nose up or nose down from the horizon, and the bank angle will not
exceed 60 degrees. The Alpha is generally resistant to spinning, but will spin from a stalled turn if the
— 4 —
pilot applies positive pitch control in a moderate to steep bank at a high rate or in combination with
roll control input so as to roll towards the high wing. Recovery from a spin requires unstalling of the
wing, and it is therefore important that in the event of a spin, no application of nose up pitch control
be held. The Alpha will recover from a spin once control pressures are relaxed. As the nose low-
ers and the angle of attack is reduced, the stall will be broken and the spin will stop. However, such
recovery will consume signicant altitude, and will result in the glider assuming an unpredictable
heading. Recovery from a spin may therefore involve a ight trajectory which intersects the terrain at
a high rate of speed. An aggravated spin could result in loss of control, in ight inversion, and struc-
tural failure. Therefore no attempt should ever be made to deliberately spin the glider. Care should be
taken not to set the hang point too far aft in a manner that causes the trim speed to be too close to the
stall speed, as this will increase the chance of entering a spin inadvertently. (See the sections in this
manual on “Using Wing Tufts” and “Trimming The Glider In Pitch” for more information.
The maximum steady state speed for a prone pilot in the middle of the recommended weight range
full forward on the control bar is approximately 34 mph for the Alpha 210 and approximately 37 mph
for the Alpha 180. The placarded speed never to exceed for the Alpha is 44 mph, and the maneuver-
ing / rough air speed is 38 mph. The Alpha can be own in steady state high speed ight with the
pilot full forward over the bar in a normal prone position without exceeding the VNE speed, however
maneuvering ight may result in speeds in excess of Vne. Abrupt maneuvers should not be made at
speeds above 38 mph.
The stability, controllability, and structural strength of a properly maintained Alpha have been deter-
mined to be adequate for safe operation when the glider is operated within all of the manufacturer
specied limitations. No warranty of adequate stability, controllability, or structural strength is made
or implied for operation outside of these limitations.
The stall speed of the Alpha at maximum recommended wing loading is 25 mph or less. The top
(steady state) speed at minimum recommended wing loading for a prone pilot with a properly de-
signed and adjusted harness is at least 32 mph.
All speeds given above are indicated airspeeds, for a properly calibrated airspeed indicator mounted
in the vicinity of the pilot. Such an airspeed indicator is available through your Wills Wing dealer.
The recommended hook in pilot weight range for the Alpha is:
Apha 180: 125 – 200 lbs
Alpha 210: 150 - 280 lbs.
Be advised that pilots with hook in weights of less than 120% of the minimum hook in weight will
nd the Alpha somewhat more demanding of pilot skill to y, and that pilots hooking in at more than
85% of the maximum hook in weight some relative degradation of optimum sink rate performance
due to their higher wing loading. Please note that the term “recommended pilot hook in weight” re-
fers to the weight range within which the glider meets the basic minimum performance and handling
standards for which the glider was designed. When choosing among two sizes, the more appropriate
information to use would be the optimum pilot hook in weight range which is 144 lbs to 175 lbs for
the Alpha 180, and 176 lbs to 240 lbs for the Alpha 210.
A minimum USHGA Novice (II) level of pilot prociency is required to y the Alpha safely, unless
under the direct supervision of a qualied instructor.
Operation of the glider by unqualied or under qualied pilots may be dangerous.
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