Klingberg Wing

[Michael Manlove]

Last Saturday I was out flying at Coyote Hills (a nice slope site in the San
Francisco Bay area). I was sitting around warming up my fingers when a
fellow showed up with one of the new 100" Klingberg Wings.

Well, it turns out the fellow was Rol Klingberg. He's a nice guy. He
chatted with us about designing, the kit business and stuff in general. He
also gave everybody a chance to fly the Wing, which was a pretty sneaky move.
I just know I'm gonna end up buying one of those things.

Conditions were good for sloping: about 15 mph and generally smooth, but with
with some burps here and there. Rol said "just fly it like a normal plane,
but don't try any aerobatics", and sure enough, it flew more or less like a
normal plane. It didn't do anything scary or surprising, but then I didn't
do any radical turns or dives. It had no problem staying up; it easily
outclimbed my Sparrow. Pockets of turbulence didn't seem to upset it at all.

Control response was very positive in pitch. It seemed a little less
sensitive in roll, but I think this has to do with how you fly it. Rol was
whipping the thing all over the place. I didn't get a chance to play with
the flaps, but he said they're very effective on landing (he also admitted to
being prejudiced...).

The only odd aspect of flying the Wing was its appearance in the sky. I had
some orientation problems with it, but I think this would pass quickly.

Three stars (can't give it four without a longer flying session, including
some thermalling). Mike-bob says check it out.

mikey (Mike Manlove) (mi...@cup.hp.com)

[Robert Weinberg]

A fellow was flying a Klingberg Wing at Fort Funston last Fall. There were
several other planes up, and the lightness of the wind prevented much in
the way of aerobatics. Still, the Klingberg was doing more aerobatics than
the other planes. In fact it was a very impressive performance in a light
wind.

Rob