Test report Fly and Glide 06/03

Gangster S and XS of Gin Gliders
Freestyle is up to date - not only at snowboarding. As "the world's first freestyle glider" the bandit-successor is tested to 12 g, so manufacturer Gingliders says. Acro - but in the same way for normal pilots should be offered a dynamic wing - combined with a perfect production quality level.

Fans of Gingliders which were expecting a completely new sportsclass model of the Korean manufacturer in 2003 could be disappointed at the first look to the bandit successor Gangster: Motivated by the successes of the US - pilot Enleau O'Connor and five more bandit pilots at the Red Bull "Wings over Chicago 2002", Gingliders decided to make a freestyle wing instead of following the trend to release a high-performance DHV 2. Because there is not much to do better on the bandit the differences in construction between the new and the older wing are very small. So there are only some changes in trimming and the focus is more on the choice of fabric.

On the second side - or at the first flight - it's clear that the new Porcher Marine cloth in combination with the new line material of Liros and the stronger line attatchment points and also parts with stronger tension change the outlaw Bandit into a Gangster which is extremely faster in reaction: From the flight feeling a complete new glider was born. The agility and precision to follow the steering commands became more accurate and dynamic

Fun-machine: The Gangster offers acro-interested pilots a dynamic device on the highest production quality level and big reserves on safety.

Constructor Gin Seok Song addresses mainly acro pilots for the new glider. But also normal consumers or paramotoring pilots who look for a long lasting or resistable glider should profit from the special re-enforced glider. To be able to check the suitability for acro or everyday life of the "first freestyle glider of the world" Fly and Glide testpilot Christian Gruber had a close look at the gliders Gangster S and XS. Similar to the bigger sizes of the Gangster with DHV 2 the size XS is very special: The Bandit in size XS has only ACPUL and the wing size is even smaller.

Construction
Compared with some of the latest gliders of the high performance intermediates the basic shape of the Gangster seems to be rather conventional. The concept which was taken from the Bandit needs only aspect ratio 5.1, a big wing curvation, and a rather big wing deepness and also the lenth of lines is not so much. A striking point is the very clean top surface of the wing without wrinkles. 57 cells speak for their own in the sports class. No matter which manouver we flew the glider is looking well and shows no twisting-wrikles and stands perfectly above - or below - the pilot.

Extras for simple and secure acro flying: high attatchment of the brake pulley on the riser to have more brake range (left), re-enforced line attatchment points for long term duration (center and right)

Flight Report
Takeoff with the small wings is easy to manage. The canopy is climbing well and needs not much pulling and above the pilot the dynamic wing needs a bit brake. Against my thoughts the running distance is extremely short: There you can see the good performance of the two mini Gangster which is astonishing us when climbing in thermals. After short accerleration and only a few steps the pilot is in the air. Also the reverse launch handling is very direct and very senitive. It's great fun to play with this glider in strong wind.
Special is the high attachment of the brake on the D-riser. In connection with very short brake and the necessary upright seat possition the pilot achieves a perfect brake range and lever for all manouvers. The brake length is made to fly all acro manouvers without need to wrap. The brake pressure is low even testpilot Christian Gruber flew on the upper weight range. Also after several tumblings the power on the muscles is acceptable.
Because the Gangster is reacting well on weight shift at acro manouvers like dynamic wingovers hardly brakes are necessary. At "Helicopters" the canopy stays open, the turning rotation is high, and only few corrections have to be done during the manouver. The speed reserve of this short-line-wing were always enough for tumblings and even a few following tumbles were no problems for Christian. Especially he liked the SAT's: With the Gangster it's possible to change form nearly every manouver into a dynamic SAT with high rotation speed.

Also for Everyday Life
Pilots with the opinion that acro gliders are only good for more or less controlled decrease of altitude have to change their mind with the Gangster. With a soft feeling on the brake this DHV 2 even with the small size is able to turn in the thermals with a good performance and is competetive. We were able to manage weak conditions at our "working place" Steinerhof at Zillertal and gain big altitude for testing. Of course tight and dynamic climbing is more fun than flat hang-soaring. ...

The allround characteristics of the Gangster underlines an easy performance of all conventional ways to go down fast like B-stall and big ears. Christian lost his altitude with endless wingover and looping sessions which were more attractive to him than big ears!

Full brake: The Gangster egalizes training mistakes and can be flown in a hard way.

To make collapses he was very careful because of bad experiences with other acro gliders. So more suprised he was with the result: The normally dynamic Gangster is shooting only a little bit and can be stabilized well with the brake and can be handled very well even on big collapses.

Summery
The "first freestyle glider of the world" has an easy and simple handling, is turning dynamic in all ways and allows to fly all acro manouvers very well. Interested pilots who want to get more qualification in acro receive a dynamic but secure glider. Even with size S and a take off weight of 92 kg it was possible to fly all known acro manouvers. The whole acro-potencial, which is an advantage for tumblings, the Gangster develops on the upper weight range or a bit above.

There is also to say that the Gangster beside flying "Freestyle" has high security reserves. The wing is good to control even at failed acro manouvers and easy to bring back into normal flight. By the way: It's also nice that the suitability for every day life - that means good performance in thermals and gliding - is still good.

Testpilot Christian Gruber
The summary of the skills makes the Gangster first choice of all acro gliders - also because you can climb easily again.