Rio2 Carrier Wing Rigging

[@justinf1343]

Thanks for sharing. I am going to get my lessons arranged shortly and have already decided that a British made Rio2 is the glider I'll be going with.

[@avianhanggliders1985]

Excellent, that's great to hear.

[@safurian]

very innovative tech! impressed with your engeneering!

[@avianhanggliders1985]

Thank you!

[@alfonze24]

That was really informative, thanks Tim! That glider has so many great design features! It's very impressive!

[@avianhanggliders1985]

Thanks David!

[@Gareththomassecurity]

Very good. Do you have a similarvideo for the standard Rio2?

[@wightwalker2453]

Helpful demonstration. At the risk of sounding like I'm asking a silly question, with average use and care, what's the expected longevity of this particular glider? I recall from sailing days, Mylar sails had a 2 to 3 year shelf life before they delaminated or became limp. Admittedly dinghy sails are less rigid and perhaps take more of a battering being allowed to flap a lot etc. Also is the glider a serviceable item or is it simply more economical to purchase a new one every once in a while? Shelf life of metal cable shrouds or recommended replacement time? Do you ever use all Dacron for this product, as Dacron appears harder wearing at the expense of weight...?

[@avianhanggliders1985]

Thank you for the question, it's not silly at all but it is very difficult to answer! Hang glider sail life depends on so many parameters. The least important is actually number of hours flown! Once rigged, it doesn't flap about or really wear at all. Most important are how many times it's rigged and de-rigged, also UV can have an effect (although less in the UK), bad storage (i.e. damp or temperature extremes) will also impact it, also wear while being transported. There are many hang gliders still flying with perfectly airworthy sails that are over 10 years old. There are some over 20, if the glider hasn't been used much in that time and has been well looked after these can be fine. Dacron tends to last better in terms of folding and rigging de-rigging cycles, but is a little worse in UV than the laminates. Dacron can also look fine but be quite severely weakened, laminates tend to look tatty and delaminate without loosing much too strength, so they don't hide their condition. Dacron is actually our standard sail (with a laminate leading edge), the full laminate like this one is a performance option (and even in this configuration the lower surface is Dacron). We have found the particular laminate we use to be very good lasting. It's perfectly possible to replace the sail on a hang glider (and this is fairly commonly done). Our full glider range (including lots of photos of Dacron ones!) is here: www.avianonline.co.uk/avian-gliders-c-226.html

[@wightwalker2453]

Avian Hang Gliders Thank you very much for this comprehensive reply. I could well be in touch after some lessons (and wife convincing regards this being a nice new hobby). Brilliant cheers again.

[@avianhanggliders1985]

@@wightwalker2453 you should do, it's the best sport in the world!!

[@davelewis586]

Excellent vid Tim, fantastic bit of filming lol

[@avianhanggliders1985]

Absolutely, nice one Dave! The editing took a while, we could put together a comedy out-takes clips of all the points waiting for Martin to stop nattering in the background!

[@wasifkhankhan4528]

What is your wing cloth name ?

[@avianhanggliders1985]

We use lots of different types of fabric in different areas of the sail. Mostly they come from Dimension Polyant and are normally used for small boats.

[@wasifkhankhan4528]

@@avianhanggliders1985 can I use a nylon fabric for a hanglider??

[@avianhanggliders1985]

Most of our fabrics are polyester. Nylon isn't very dimensionally stable.

[@wasifkhankhan4528]

@@avianhanggliders1985 is polyester fabric for hanglider ???

[@avianhanggliders1985]

It needs to be sail fabric. Most high quality sail fabrics are polyester. I don't recommend you try to build your own glider, there's a lot more complexity to it than it looks.