On Thursday I had my second chance to fly the latest Wills Wing
T2C-144. The winds were 14 mph out of the southeast, a perfect day for drifting
down wind for 100 to 150 miles, but Greg Dinaur wanted to head upwind and stay
local, and I thought that that would be good practice for upcoming competitions.

I was the first to tow up a little before 1 PM and and just south of the field I
noticed that we were climbing pretty well but I couldn't hear anything from my
6030. I looked over and the vario dial was white, i.e. pegged. The averager was
showing 1,300 fpm. I pinned off and climbed out to 4,500'. The vario sound was
so high pitched that I didn't notice it squealing.

There was a cloud street heading to the southeast and since our task was to get
to Wallaby and come back I headed out under it. Greg was being towed way below
to the south south east to the west of my cloud street over the sunlit ground. I
flew 7 kilometers under the cloud street without finding any lift until the end
where I "hit" 100 fpm. Greg had continued south in the sunshine (blue hole), and
finding nothing headed back toward Quest where he found 400 fpm just before
getting there.

I really didn't want to go back downwind to get the good lift but I headed over
to the west into the sunshine and found 400 fpm myself. What is it with this
lift under the blue hole, but not under the clouds?

Greg and I worked our way south down highway 33 toward 474 intersection. The
lift was broken and the winds were strong but we were able to push up against it
and make our way along getting good lift at the sailplane port thermaling with
numerous sailplanes.

The glider was flying great and I was pulling on the VG and letting it off
often. It was so easy. I was treating the VG rope the same as I had when I was
flying the Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5 in January in Australia. First figure out what
speed I wanted to fly at and then set the VG rope at that setting (which set the
bar position that didn't require any pushing or pulling from me to maintain the
given speed).

Greg got nervous south of 474 and east of 33  (it's a long way over private
lands to get to Wallaby in a head wind from there) and I said let's head back. I
was at the intersection of 474 and 33 and was heading up 33 as I didn't want to
get out over the Branson ranch.

I drifted back to more lift by the sailplane port and climbed to 4,000'. The
6030 said I had Quest made easily so I went on final glide. As I got closer to
Quest and I was sure that I would make it I pulled on full VG (past the last
stop as there is no "bumper" on this glider - it didn't come with one).

The glider flies at 45 mph at full VG with no input from me. But I pulled it in
and got it going up to 55 mph, with my arms half cocked (forming a ninety degree
angle at the elbows). I have never flown a glider that fast without straight
arming the base tube. It got up to speed quickly and stayed there with minimal
input from me. I would have straight armed the bar but there was a bit too much
turbulence.

I played around a lot with the bar pulled in at full VG and the bar pressure was
minimal. I see no reason yet (maybe never) to dial down the sprogs. The glider
goes super fast with minimal effort from me. We'll see how fast I can get it
going when there is minimal turbulence around.

I came back to Quest easily but Greg was down to 325 feet just east of the
sailplane port. He hung in there and was drifting back toward home. He just kept
hanging tough and finally was able to make it in.

This is the nicest T2C that I have flown. It has the stiffer leading edges which
I didn't like the last time I tried them a couple of years ago and carbon
fiber/Kevlar leading edge inserts. The 24:1 VG setup is the hot ticket. I love it
(as I did on the Litespeed RS 3.5). It really encourages me to use the VG. Using
the VG cuts down significantly on pilot fatigue. Just set the rope to the speed
that you want. Then with very little bar pressure you can go to the highest
speeds if you like.

Again I loved the landing. In T2C's I seem to have the habit of grabbing the
base tube with my bare feet at about 20 feet AGL just as I rock up and pulling
in hard with my toes. I can dive that baby in to a couple of feet off the
ground, then push it out a little to coast across the ground. At the last moment
I drop down and flare after a few seconds for a one stepper (bare foot). I'm
tempted just to land it with my feet on the base bar for a modified slider.

You probably won't land this way, but it suits me. Maybe it's the Rotor harness
(Jeff Shapiro has my Covert at the moment). I seems to me which ever way one
lands, this glider makes it easy.