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Avian PUMA 13.5 Owner's Manual

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PUMA 13.5

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Summary of Contents for Avian PUMA 13.5

  • Page 1 PUMA 13.5...
  • Page 2 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Owner's Manual Puma 13.5: Serial Number ...... Before flying your glider please read this manual completely, check all your battens against the batten profile (adjusting them if necessary) and do a thorough pre-flight check. AVIAN LTD.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Table of Contents TABLE OF FIGURES............................3 TABLES................................4 .................................4 EVISION ISTORY SECTION 1: USING YOUR AIRCRAFT........................5 INTRODUCTION............................... 5 RIGGING (Q ).............................6 UICK UIDE RIGGING THE PUMA............................6 PRE-FLIGHT CHECK-LIST..........................10 FLYING THE PUMA............................12 POST FLIGHT INSPECTION..........................13 DE-RIGGING..............................

  • Page 4: Tables

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual FIGURE 4: CHECKING BATTEN TENSION......................21 FIGURE 5: HANG LOOP RECOMMENDED STARTING POSITION...............31 FIGURE 6: VELCRO TAB LENGTHS........................34 FIGURE 7: TIP CAP SETTINGS..........................35 FIGURE 8: MEASURING WASHOUT HEIGHT TO BATTEN END..............35 FIGURE 9: CHECKING WASHOUT HEIGHTS.....................37 FIGURE 10: NOSE ASSEMBLY..........................38 FIGURE 11: RUBBER BACKED UPRIGHTS TOP FITTINGS................39...

  • Page 5: Section 1: Using Your Aircraft

    Section 1: Using your Aircraft INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of an Avian Puma 13.5. The Puma 13.5 represents the state of the art in high performance, kingpost-less design but with a kingpost! We hope that you will experience many hours of safe and enjoyable flying on your new hang glider.

  • Page 6: Rigging (Quick Guide)

    It is recommended that you read this manual in full before flying this aircraft. If you are fortunate you may be shown how it flies and how to rig it in person by the previous owner or your Avian dealer.

  • Page 7: Figure 1: Tensioning The Glider

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual the rigging sequence.) Insert the other battens working from the tip towards the centre root of the sail. On a new glider a little silicon spray on the batten ends will help them slide in smoothly. Keeping the trailing edge low and slowly easing the battens into their respective pockets will help increase batten pocket and sail life.
  • Page 8 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual 14. Please note the must be fully off. It should not be pulled on if the glider is laid flat on the ground. To do so could over tension the side wires, bend the tangs, stretch the speed bar etc. The glider should be stood on its control frame before operation of the VB is checked.

  • Page 9: Pre-Flight Check-List

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual 10. Lay the battens on the ground and pair them up, red (for the left wing) with green (for the right wing), and check that corresponding batten pairs have the same profile. This is a good habit to get into as it will reduce the chances of taking off on a glider with a turn caused by asymmetric shaped battens.
  • Page 10 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual closely. Always use the same rigging and packing procedure which will help to eliminate mistakes. After rigging, a pre-flight check should always be carried out. The following must be checked: 1. First stand back and have a good look at the glider. Have you missed anything really obvious like forgetting to tension the glider or put the nose cone on.
  • Page 11 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual 19. Check that all zips are done up. 20. Check that all the quick release fasteners are secure. Pay particular attention to the base bar quick pins. As the glider is moved and placed on the ground the safety rings in the base bar quick pins may contact the ground.

  • Page 12: Flying The Puma

    The response of the glider at different VB settings and different speeds varies. It will probably take some practise before you are able to fly the glider accurately at all speeds and VB settings. Practising this before aerotowing the Puma 13.5 is very strongly recommended. Stall The Puma recovers quickly from stalls but will lose height doing so.

  • Page 13: Post Flight Inspection

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Landing the Puma The secret of a good landing is:  getting prepared for landing while you are still high,  good field selection,  followed by a precise approach with plenty of airspeed. Always plan your landings from high up, check that the VG is no more than ¼ on (the Puma can be easily landed with the VG in the range from fully off to a quarter on, personal pilot preference will determine the precise setting) and make sure you can get your feet out of your harnesses well before landing.
  • Page 14 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual 1. Put the glider keel down and tail into wind. Remove the wing tip fairings and under-surface battens. Unclip all the battens and remove the compression struts. 2. Unzip the washout rod zips and rotate the washout rods so that they are parallel with the leading edges.

  • Page 15: Vg (Variable Geometry)

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual VG (Variable geometry) The variable geometry (VG sometimes called variable billow VB) is used to change the flying characteristics of the glider while in flight. The Puma has a large travel VG and so the flying characteristics are significantly altered by the use of the VG.

  • Page 16: Battens And Batten Profile

    The Puma battens should be maintained in the correct profile. Failure to do this could result in adverse flying characteristics. Batten profiles for all Avian gliders can be obtained from Avian Ltd. The correct profile must be used on the appropriate glider.

  • Page 17: Tuning Instructions

    If you can’t find a problem take it back to Avian and get the glider stripped down for a thorough inspection and all damage repaired. Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...
  • Page 18 Figure 5 on Page 31. It is important to adjust your glider to a trim speed that is safely above stall speed and comfortable for you. (Trim speed is usually in the region of 24 mph on the Puma 13.5 but remember your ASI may be calibrated differently to ours and how the glider flies is the important thing not exactly what your ASI reads.)

  • Page 19: Figure 3: Measuring Washout Height To Batten

    STANDARD TIP CAP SETTINGS page 34.) Washout rod adjustment The washout in the wing of the Puma 13.5 provides pitch stability and should NEVER be reduced beyond the C of A lower limit. (See CHECKING WASHOUT page 35.) However sometimes the rod heights are not quite symmetrical and the glider has a turn. (If your glider had a bad turn when you last flew it, but in previous flights flew straight it was probably miss rigged prior to your last flight.
  • Page 20 The Avian clip batten system was designed to give easy rigging and easy adjustment with maximum sail life. However it should be noted that due to the easy over-centre nature of the clip it is possible to get extremely high tensions in the battens.

  • Page 21: Figure 4: Checking Batten Tension

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Figure 4: Checking batten tension Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 22: Maintenance

    Avian recommend that the Puma has a factory inspection every year or 100 flying hours which ever is the sooner. This is a sensible precaution to take and is offered by Avian. An additional benefit of the strip down is that the latest upgrades can be fitted sometimes for free.
  • Page 23 Any cuts or tears at critical areas such as the trailing edge, sail fixing points or similar high load areas, must be repaired at either the Avian factory or an Avian approved workshop. Small damage to panels, leading edge covers etc., can be repaired with proprietary self adhesive tape. We define small damage as abraded holes no more than 10mm diameter and small cuts no longer than 15mm.

  • Page 24: Repair

    The Puma airframe is deceptively simple, but like all aircraft requires skilled and qualified attention. We do not recommend self repair or re-assembly by other than Avian or Avian nominated repair agents. No replacement parts should be fitted unless they are factory supplied and identified as such. When ordering spares always quote your glider serial number (make a note of it if you have to replace your keel.
  • Page 25 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Removal of the outer leading edge The outer leading edge section slides inside the inner leading edge. It locates on a clevis pin which stops it rotating. The outer section can be removed without removing the clevis pin. (THE CLEVIS PIN SHOULD NOT BE REMOVED ON ANY ACCOUNT.) To take the outer section off:...

  • Page 26: Transportation By Air

    747 over it you will be able to see the tyre marks on the box. If you are lucky you may have a purpose made box or bag. (Avian make an armoured short pack glider bag). It speeds up the process of short packing and provides good protection. If you are making more than one trip it is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

  • Page 27: Trouble Shooting

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual TROUBLE SHOOTING The tension strop gets caught When rigging the glider and spreading the wings the tension strop should appear through the keel-pocket. If it does not, stop and check to see where it is caught rather than force it. Check for any damage to the tension strop before flying.

  • Page 28: What Spares Should I Take On Holiday

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual the hang loops from the rocker past the tension strop and VB through the sail. Free the backup loop so that it is loose at any flying speed. Always fly with a backup loop. The glider appears to be trimmed too fast despite having the hang loop at its furthest rearward position 1.

  • Page 29: Ownership

    OWNERSHIP Please pass on this manual and batten profile when selling your glider. Please notify Avian Ltd. of change of ownership and change of address. This is important so we can let the know about upgrades or in the unlikely event, recall components or gliders.

  • Page 30: Section 2: Technical Details

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Section 2: Technical Details SPECIFICATIONS Wing span 32’ 9.63 m Wing span + wing tip fairings 32’ 9” 13.6 m 2 Wing area 146sq.ft Aspect ratio Min sink rate 170ft/min 0.86m/s 1.75 lbs./ft 2 8.5kg/m 2 ) (wing loading = Max.

  • Page 31: Figure 5: Hang Loop Recommended Starting Position

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual 4. Hang Point Position Range (Pitch trim) (See Figure 5) The hang loop is attached to the keel via a ‘rocker’. It is important that if the hang loop is re-fitted (for example a new length hangloop is fitted) a note of the original position should be made first. The backup loop must be attached as well as the main loop.

  • Page 32: Rigging

    Colour Coding. Avian rigging wires are colour coded so that you can check the approximate that age of the wire. The wires have a small coloured patch on one of the ferrules sealed in with heat shrink protection. If they heat shrink is missing the wire should be replaced immediately.

  • Page 33: Recommended Component Life

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual RECOMMENDED COMPONENT LIFE Due to the nature of their material, construction and position within the structure, certain components have a critical fatigue life and it is mandatory that these components are replaced within the time stated in.

  • Page 34: Checking Velcro Lengths

    CHECKING VELCRO LENGTHS Setting Velcro Lengths in wing of Puma 13.5 Vertical cloth ‘baffles’ join the top and bottom surface of the wing. These baffles (or rib cloths) help to control the under-surface of the glider in flight by providing a limit to how far the bottom surface can move away from the top surface.

  • Page 35: Standard Tip Cap Settings

    If the washout heights are below those specified they should be adjusted up to the correct heights. If it is not possible to adjust to the minimum heights DO NOT FLY. Please refer to Avian Ltd. Recommended method The washout rods are factory set and should not be altered by the pilot except in the way outlined in the tuning section of this manual.
  • Page 36 Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual 2. Support the end of the keel stinger to raise the keel to the horizontal. Use the inclinometer on the main part of the keel, in front of the rear wire attachment point, to verify that the keel is exactly horizontal, adjust the support under the stinger as necessary to achieve this.

  • Page 37: Figure 9: Checking Washout Heights

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Checking Washout Glider Minimum Requirements (recommended method) Figure 9: Checking washout heights Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 38: Section 3: Assembly Drawings

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual Section 3: Assembly Drawings Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 39: Nose Assembly

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual NOSE ASSEMBLY Figure 10: Nose assembly Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 40: Top Of Upright Assembly

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual TOP OF UPRIGHT ASSEMBLY Figure 11: Rubber backed uprights top fittings Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 41: Cross Tube Centre Junction

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual CROSS TUBE CENTRE JUNCTION Figure 13: Cross tube centre junction Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 42: Cross Tube Leading Edge Junction And Side Wire Attachment

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual CROSS TUBE LEADING EDGE JUNCTION AND SIDE WIRE ATTACHMENT Figure 12: Cross tube – leading edge junction Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

  • Page 43: Washout Rod Assembly (Sprogs)

    Puma 13.5 Owner’s Manual WASHOUT ROD ASSEMBLY (SPROGS) Figure 13: Washout rods and wires. Puma 13.5 hand book-Rev-02...

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