Over the last northern hemisphere spring and summer season I flew the Wills Wing T2C-144 (144 sq. ft.). Over the last Australian summer (in January and February) I flew the Moyes Litesport 4 (151 sq. ft.). Recently I have been flying the Wills Wing T2C-154 (154 sq. ft.) and a few days back I had my second longest flight of the year (starting January 1st both here and in Australia) on it.

I was quite comfortable with both the T2C-144 and the Litesport 4, but wanted to give the 154 a chance at winning me over. It has two characteristics over the 144 that are appealing. With a lighter wing loading it would likely climb faster in thermals and it would also launch at lower speeds at shallow launches with light winds, like I expect to find again at Laragne during the Worlds in June.

I had flown a T2-154 previously one evening in Casa Grande just briefly and "felt" that it was "too big." I had flown a Talon 154 previous to that and also "felt" that it was "too big." But those flights were one off's and too short overall to be of much value in making an evaluation. Now I had the opportunity to fly a 154 over an extended period to see really how it "felt."

I've now had seven flights on the 154. My last flight was 213 km from Quest Air north northwest to west of Lake City, Florida. The flight lasted almost five hours including plenty of time waiting around in the start circle.

After spending six weeks flying the Litesport 4 I was really enjoying my flying. When I jumped on the T2C-154 it "felt" much different. It was easy to tow and very easy to land, but it "felt" much bigger in the air than the Litesport 4 or the T2C-144. It "felt" like I wasn't nearly as much in control of the glider as I had been when I was flying either of the other two gliders. I would get bumped by the air and the glider would go off in one direction or another and I had to work hard to get it back around.

I was not really enjoying the flying, although I did well and had long flights on these first two flights. I had no problem actually flying it and the glider was straight and well behaved while gliding fast or thermaling. It just "felt" like it was "too big."

After the second day this "feeling" was gone. I thought at first that perhaps the air was just better on the third day so I asked Dustin how he felt about the air, and he said that it was more turbulent than average. So it wasn't the air. It was me.

After that the glider "felt" just fine. I had no problems thermaling it or gliding with it. It lands as easy as could be. Obviously I had changed and my body was now "wired" to fly the T2C-154.

I weigh 175 pounds. I hook in at 212 pounds. Here are the specifications for the two gliders:

Notice that I fit in near the top end of the 144 (but not all the way at the top end). Wing loading for me is 1.97 lbs/sq.ft. on the 144. My wing loading on the 154 is 1.85 lbs./sq.ft.

On Monday I got back on a T2C-144. The lift was very light and I was off first. I was a bit uncomfortable with the glider, again, my body now had to rewire itself. I hung in there and slowly worked my way up. Carl Wallbank on a Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5 and Derrick Turner on a Moyes Litespeed S 5 were able to slowly out climb me getting about 100' higher over a ten minute period as we went from 1,100' to 3,100'. I think Derrick's wing loading is 2.2 pounds/sq.ft.

I didn't get comfortable with the 144 during the flight that lasted about half an hour for me. I went out in front as others held back and worked weak lift and I went down. Apparently soon after I landed the lift improved, but no one went on the course and everyone stayed inside the start circle flying back to Quest and just circling around all day.

While I was flying the 144 I was hoping that I was on the 154 given how light the lift was. The mind works in strange ways.

Steve Pearson, the T2C designer, weighs in at 155 pounds and loves to fly the 154. He said that in competition he would fly the 144. He states that it is not the size so much (at least for those folks in the hook-in weight range of both gliders), but how they "feel" about the qualitative aspects of each of the actually very different gliders.

This is part one of my comparison and after a get quite a few more flights back on the 144, I'll come out with part 2.