Wills Wing Condor
{{Short description|American hang glider}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name= Condor | image= | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Hang glider | national origin=United States | manufacturer=Wills Wing | designer= | first flight= | introduced=2000 | retired= | status=Production completed | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Wills Wing Condor is an American high-wing, single-place, hang glider that was designed and produced by Wills Wing of Santa Ana, California. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied complete and ready-to-fly.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04, page 50. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. {{ISSN|1368-485X}}
Design and development
The Condor was designed as a flight training glider specifically to introduce new pilots to hang gliding. As such it has a very large wing area, low wing loading, a stall speed of {{convert|13|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} and it is intended for use only under very light wind conditions. It was specifically intended for sale only to professional hang gliding instructors for teaching solo students during their early glider-handling lessons. It was designed to be easy to ground handle, launch and fly in very light winds from a shallow hill.{{cite web|url = http://willswing.com/wp-content/uploads/manuals/Condor_330_1st_September_2000.pdf|title = Condor 330 Glider Manual|accessdate = 5 March 2016|author = Wills Wing|date = September 2000}}
It is made from 7075-T6 aluminum tubing, with the control bar and kingpost made from 6061-T6 aluminum. The single-surface wing is covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its {{convert|39.0|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} span wing is cable braced from a single kingpost. The nose angle is 115°, wing area is {{convert|330|sqft|m2|1|abbr=on}} and the aspect ratio is 5:1. Pilot hook-in weight range is {{convert|45|to|120|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}.
The sole model in the line, the Condor 330, is named for its wing area in square feet. It is DHV and HGMA certified.
Specifications (Condor 330)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Bertrand and manufacturer
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=one
|capacity=
|length m=
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=11.9
|span ft=
|span in=
|span note=
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=30.7
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=5:1
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=53
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|more general=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=32
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=24
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=13
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=32
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|g limits=+3.5 ultimate
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|sink rate ms=
|sink rate ftmin=
|sink rate note=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|more performance=
}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://willswing.com/wp-content/uploads/manuals/Condor_330_1st_September_2000.pdf Official Manual for the Condor 330]
- [http://www.soaring.no/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/imgp0173-1277-x-855.jpg Photo of a Wills Wing Condor 330]
{{Wills Wing aircraft}}