Thanks to Franco Rinaldi I didn't have to risk bringing a glider
with me

Franco sells and supports both Wills Wing and Airborne gliders in
Italy. I was lucky enough to be able to fly Dustin Martin's former Wills Wing
T2C earlier (for one flight down) this summer and the Airborne REV 13.5 with the
new sail, that Phil Schroder had been flying earlier in Europe (with some better
success with the weather than I), here. I had my first chance to fly it on the
first task of the Worlds last Thursday.

The launch at Subasio is very shallow but with a bit of a breeze up the well
rounded hill it was a light trot off the hill and in a few steps I was up and
away without the slightest consideration. The glider felt immediately
comfortable, very much like the T2C. The VG line was very manageable with no
excessive effort required to pull it on tight.

Thermaling the REV was familiar with a bit of bumping required to get the glider
to respond. The base tube is a tiny bit thinner than the T2C base tube so I had
to wrap a couple of glider numbers around the left side to make for a snugger
fit for my instrument pod (made by Dustin) with the Wills Wing connector.

I had a few opportunities to glide with top pilots. The REV did just as well as
anyone else in glide. I was close to but lower than Primoz after the first
thermal on the course. After leaving the thermal we glided for 7.6 km and 7.7 km
respectively (Primoz and I). My glide ratio was 10.9. His was 10.8. His average
speed was approximately 49 mph, mine was 46.

The REV had right turn with VG off. I noticed that I was not that happy to be turning right, and perfectly happy when turning left. The glider
flew straight with the VG on. The right inner sprog (as I vaguely recall) was
one degree higher than the left one. Tuned by Phil to make it fly straight.

Landing in a ten to fifteen mph wind was without any drama.