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Talon 140, 150 and 160 Talon 2002 140, 150
Talon 140, 150 and 160
Talon 2002 140, 150
Owner / Service Manual
June 2004 - Second Edition
500 West Blueridge Ave Orange, CA 92865 Phone (714) 998-6359 FAX (714) 998-0647
Internet Web address: http://www.willswing.com E-mail: comments@willswing.com
Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 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.
Talon 140, 150 and 160
Talon 2002 140, 150
Owner / Service Manual
June 2004 - Second Edition Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................1
Disclaimer and Warning....................................................................................2
Technical Information and Placarded Operating Limitations ....................................3
Talon Reassembly After Shipping and Breakdown for Shipping Procedures ...............6
Reassembling the Talon after breakdown for shipping
To remove the rear leading edges for shipping follow these steps
Talon Set-Up Procedure ....................................................................................9
Preflight Procedure ........................................................................................ 19
Along the left leading edge
At the left wingtip
Along the trailing edge, left wing
From the rear keel
Along the trailing edge, right wing
At the right tip
Along the right leading edge
Under the glider at the control bar
Launching and Flying the Talon ........................................................................ 22
Using wing tufts to find the minimum sink speed of your glider
Towing
Aerotowing .................................................................................................. 27
Trimming Your Glider in Pitch .......................................................................... 27
Speeds to Fly and Using Your Airspeed Indicator ................................................ 29
Using the VG System ..................................................................................... 30
Landing the Talon .......................................................................................... 31
Using drag devices during landing
Talon Breakdown .......................................................................................... 35
Talon Stability Systems .................................................................................. 38
Talon Sprog Adjustment and Flight Testing ........................................................ 39
Sprog measurement
Method of adjustment
On Later Model Talons ................................................................................... 39
On Earlier Model Talons.................................................................................. 40
Test flight .................................................................................................... 41
Parts Ordering and Parts Replacement .............................................................. 42
Maintenance ................................................................................................ 42
Every Six Months
Every Year
Special circumstances
A note about cables and cable maintenance Removing the Sail from the Airframe and Re-Installing......................................... 45
Sail removal
Re-installing the sail on the frame
Glider Tuning ................................................................................................ 47
CG adjustment
Turn trim
Airframe
Battens
Tip Wand Receptacles checking rotational alignment
Sail tension
Twisting a tip
Batten tension
Car Top Mounting and Transport ...................................................................... 50
In Closing - A Few Final Words on Your Safety ................................................... 50
HGMA Talon 150 COMPLIANCE VERIFICATION SPECIFICATION SHEET ................ 52
HGMA Talon 140 COMPLIANCE VERIFICATION SPECIFICATION SHEET ................ 53
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 flying 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.
Because there is no regulation that requires the registration of hang gliders, Wills Wing has no way to
maintain an accurate contact list of the owners of the hang gliders we manufacture. As a result, Wills
Wing has no reliable way to contact owners directly about service and safety issues. It is therefore, of
necessity, your responsibility as an owner to check periodically for service advisories and technical
updates that relate you your glider. You can do so most effectively by going to our web site at
www.willswing.com. The site features extensive information about Wills Wing gliders and products, a
Wills Wing Dealer directory, a comprehensive list of service and technical bulletins, the latest editions
of owners manuals, our complete retail price list, a search engine, e-mail and more.
The most important contents of our internet site are the service and technical bulletins, technical
articles, and the latest editions of owners manuals. These are your best sources for safety and airwor-
thiness advisories and information on Wills Wing products. Many of the documents are published in
Adobe Acrobat format. A free viewer for Acrobat files is available at http://www.adobe.com. Note that
it is best to have the most current available release of the viewer for Acrobat files, as newer files may
not display properly in earlier versions.
If you are unable to obtain service information from the web site, you can contact us by email, by
U.S. mail, or by telephone.
We wish you a safe and enjoyable flying career, and, once again, welcome aboard!
Rob Kells, Mike Meier, Linda Meier, and Steve Pearson
Wills Wing, Inc. 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 that 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 pilots license to operate a hang glider. Hang
gliders and hang gliding equipment are not designed, manufactured, tested or certified to any state or
federal government airworthiness standards or requirements. Federal Aviation Regulation Part 103
states in part, ultralight vehicles are not required meet the airworthiness certification standards
specified for aircraft or to have certificates of airworthiness and operators of ultralight vehicles are
not required to meet any aeronautical knowledge, age, or experience requirements to operate those
vehicles or to have airman or medical certificates. Wills Wing hang gliding products are not covered
by product liability insurance. As a hang glider pilot, you are entirely responsible for your own safety.
You should never attempt to fly a hang glider without having received competent instruction. We
strongly recommend that you not participate in hang gliding unless you recognize fully and wish to
personally assume all of the associated risks.
Please fly safely. Technical Information and Placarded Operating Limitations
The Talon 140, 150 and 160 have been tested and found to comply with the Hang Glider Manufactur-
ers Association (HGMA) Airworthiness Standards. At the time of this writing, an application for a
certificate of compliance has not been submitted to the HGMA for the Talon 160. The Talon 140 and
Talon 150 were granted HGMA Certificates of Compliance on October 30
th
, 2002. The Talon 2002
140 and Talon 2002 150 were granted HGMA certificates of compliance on May 3
rd
, 2003.
The HGMA 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 speed for the Talon for this test was 65 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 neve