Nova FACTOR 2 User Manual
Version 1.0
01/06/2011
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NOVA ....................................................................................... 6
The FACTOR 2 ....................................................................... 7
Short technical description ......................................................... 7
Safety ............................................................................................ 7
Handling Characteristics ............................................................ 8
Performance ................................................................................. 8
Target Group ............................................................................... 8
General information bevor implementing ............................... 10
First flight ................................................................................ 10
Registration .............................................................................. 10
Scope of delivery ........................................................................ 10
Modifications on the glider ....................................................... 10
Adjusting the length of the main brake line ............................ 10
Suited harnesses ......................................................................... 11
Weight range .............................................................................. 11
Flying the FACTOR 2 .......................................................... 12
Launch ........................................................................................ 12
Normal flight .............................................................................. 13
Turning ....................................................................................... 14
Landing ....................................................................................... 14
Manoeuvres for fast decent ....................................................... 15
Big ears .................................................................................... 15
B-Stall ...................................................................................... 15
Deep spiral ............................................................................... 15
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C-Stall ...................................................................................... 17
Collapses ..................................................................................... 17
Asymmetric collapse ............................................................... 17
Front tuck ................................................................................. 17
Stall manoeuvres ........................................................................ 18
Spin .......................................................................................... 18
Fullstall .................................................................................... 18
Deep/Parachutal stall ............................................................... 18
Cravates ...................................................................................... 19
Winch launch ............................................................................. 20
Speed system .............................................................................. 20
Mounting the speed system ..................................................... 20
Using the accelerator in flight ................................................. 21
Service and maintenance ...................................................... 21
General advice ........................................................................... 21
Cleaning ...................................................................................... 22
Repair ......................................................................................... 22
Check .......................................................................................... 22
Environment friendly behaviour ......................................... 23
Disposal .................................................................................. 23
Technical data ....................................................................... 24
Overview Glider .................................................................... 26
Line plans ............................................................................... 27
Over all line lengths: ............................................................. 30
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Check instruction .................................................................. 30
Introduction ............................................................................... 30
Personel requirements for performing a check ...................... 30
Necessary documents and devices for performing a check .... 30
Check intervall ........................................................................... 31
Performing the Check ............................................................... 31
Identifying the glider ............................................................... 31
Checking the porosity .............................................................. 31
Checking the cloth strength ..................................................... 32
Visual inspection of the canopy ............................................... 32
Check of the line condition ...................................................... 33
Measuring the line strength ..................................................... 33
Gliders with Dyneema lines on all A-lines and B-lines ........... 34
Minimum required strength for the lower and mid lines ......... 35
Checking the risers .................................................................. 38
Measuring the line lengths ....................................................... 38
Documentation ........................................................................... 38
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Congratulations, for choosing to fly a NOVA FACTOR 2. You have got a
glider, to experience exiting and safe flights for many years.
This manual contains important information and instructions to use your glider.
Please read the following pages carefully before your first flight. For questions
and suggestions please contact us: info@nova-wings.com.
To find further information about this or other products please visit our
website: www.nova-wings.com
To fully use all our maintainance and guarantee services you have to register
your glider on our website. (click LOGIN & REGISTRATION)
For more information on our guarantee services have a look here:
http://www.nova-wings.com/english/nova/guarantee.html
Now we wish you many nice ours in the air and a safe landing at the end of
every flight.
NOVA Team
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NOVA
Since the company was founded in 1989, NOVA has become one of the
world’s leading paraglider manufacturers with their head office in
Terfens/Austria.
NOVA consists of a highly qualified team and most of the team members share
the passion of flying with those pilots, who decided to fly a NOVA glider.
This passion and our Know-How are the fundamental parts of our work. By
now, the passion and the Know-How are continuously growing. This is why we
are for example pioneers in the area of air flow simulations, which allows us to
predict certain properties of a new wing quite accurately on the computer.
Last but not least we have outstanding test pilots who provide a substantial
contribution to make every new wing an unmistakable NOVA glider, which
impresses in every aspect.
But NOVA doesn’t only just stand for the development and the design of
paragliders. We also want to take the responsibility for the manufacture of our
gliders. That’s why the production of NOVA-gliders takes place in our factory
in the Hungarian town of Pecs. This allows us to influence important factors,
for example quality assurance during the whole production process.
Furthermore we can guarantee fair working conditions for about 100 NOVAemployees in Hungary.
We are convinced that the customer benefits from better employee working
conditions, in terms of high-quality products.
What we want to achieve are happy and enthusiastic pilots, because the future
of our sport depends on the enthusiasm of the people who are part of this
wonderful sport.
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The FACTOR 2
The FACTOR 2 is the successor of the well known and very successful
FACTOR 1. The glider is a high performance EN C glider, which is dedicated
to pilots with a solid amount of experience. For those pilots, the FACTOR 2
offers outstanding performance, a very pleasant handling characteristic and a
lot of safety in practical conditions.
Short technical description
The FACTOR 2 has 61 cells. Six of those cells are closed stabilo cells on each
side.
There are three layers of lines. The first layer, the A-lines are red. B and C lines
are yellow. The brake layer, which is not one of the three line layers, is
orange/red.
The risers consist of 4 belts. On the first two belts (red) both A stem lines are
attached. Furthermore the speed system is fixed on the first A belt. On the next
two belts the B and C stem lines are attached.
Safety
No matter if flying accelerated or at trim speed, the FACTOR 2 pilot can rely
on a very stable wing in turbulent conditions. If a collapse occurs, it tends to be
quite small and the reopening occurs without impulsiveness. The responsive
brake and the increasing brake pressure helps to avoid an unintended stall when
counter braking after a collapse.
The rather small aspect ratio makes cravats very unlikely.
The overall behaviour of the Factor 2 is very predictable for pilots with the
proper amount experience.
We recommend to all Factor 2 pilots to test the behaviour after collapses
themselves (during an SIV) to get their own impression.
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Handling Characteristics
To optimise the handling characteristics the Factor 1 was our reference. We
managed to further improve the handling behaviour: The Factor 2 is even more
responsive and can be piloted very precisely. At the same time it offers enough
pitch and roll stability to relax experienced pilots during long flights, as well as
in turbulent conditions.
No matter if you want to fly wingovers, or if you want to stay inside a very
strong thermal: The Factor 2 flies wherever you want it to move. The rather low
aspect ratio and the high stability of the glider lead to a very balanced and easy
handling characteristic.
Flying the Factor 2 is a lot of fun. But we also worked hard to improve the
accelerated flight characteristics: The pressure to push the speed system is very
small and the stability in accelerated flight is very high. This allows to
comfortably use the whole speed range of the glider.
Performance
After the big performance gain, which we could achieve from Mentor 1 to
Mentor 2 our goals were quite ambitious for the Factor 2, and we could finally
reach them.
The Factor 2 glides clearly better than the Mentor 2 and the top speed is
significantly higher.
But glide performance in general and accelerated glide performance in
particular doesn’t help a lot if the glider is not stable enough to fly through
bumpy air without collapses. The Factor 2 excels in such conditions and cuts
through turbulence with high pitch stability. Due to the small operating forces
of the speed system it is easy to perform pitch corrections if necessary.
Target Group
The FACTOR 2 aims to appeal to pilots who have already gathered solid
experience with lower rated gliders and want to enjoy the next level of handling
characteristics and performance. The FACTOR 2 is also interesting for pilots
who used to fly more demanding and who are looking for more passive safety.
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Due to the outstanding performance, the FACTOR 2 is very interesting for XC
pilots, who are looking for an excellent balance between performance and
safety.
Pilots requirements:
The FACTOR 2 is a High Performance glider, which offers a very precise and
dynamic handling behaviour. We only recommend the glider for pilots who are
very well in control of certain techniques, like controlling a glider in turbulent
conditions: The pilot should be able to prevent unwanted pitch or roll
movement in bumpy air automaticly. If the pilot enters a strong thermal, he
should intuitionally release the brakes to stop the glider from pitching
backwards. When flying into sinking air, the pilot should apply more brakes.
The FACTOR 2 pilot should also be able to easily fly steep turns without
unwanted pendulum movement. We think, that a pilot, who is not capable of
those basic techniques will not be able to use the huge performance potential of
the FACTOR 2.
To react quickly and without thinking is also necessary after collapses. We
think, that this can only be achieved by training, which means by inducing
collapses. (for example by attending a SIV) Training can also mean to spend
some time on a training hill to work on your ground handling and take-off
technique.
All this will help you, to get a better understanding of your glider and to
become a better pilot.
Every pilot, who flies on their own has to be able to decide if their skills and
equipment is adequate for the respective conditions. The FACTOR 2 offers a
high level of safety for a pilot with proper skills, but misjudgements may still
have serious consequences.
The best way to avoid misjudgements is a defensive approach to the sport.
Sometimes it makes sense to pass on a flight, instead of getting yourself into
conditions you cannot handle. Regular training improves your skills and
enables you to enjoy your flights, even in more difficult conditions.
If you don’t meet the requirements for such a glider, you won’t be able to use
the potential of the FACTOR 2. You will fly longer, further, safer and with
more joy with a lower rated wing, like the MENTOR 2 for example.
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Please consider these thoughts!
General information bevor implementing
First flight
Every NOVA glider has to be flown and checked through a NOVA dealer. This
flight (date and pilot) has to be entered on the stabilo of the wing.
Registration
To get all warranty and service features, you have to register your glider on our
Homepage. Please choose “LOGIN®ISTRATION” and follow the advice
for registration
Scope of delivery
The FACTOR 2 is shipped with a rucksack, an inner pack sack, a riserbag, the
speed system, a windsock, the manual and a patch.
Modifications on the glider
Any modification (e.g. change of line lengths, changes on the speed system)
causes a loss of air worthiness. We recommend that you contact NOVA before
performing any kind of change.
Adjusting the length of the main brake line
Especially if you use your glider with a motor it might be necessary to lengthen
your main brake line. You have to make sure, that the length of both brakes is
always the same. Further more you have to use a palstek to mount the brake
handle to the brake line. (see picture below)
If you adjust the brake lengths for motor use, do not forget to shorten it again
before flying the wing without a motor. Otherwise you might experience
serious problems at take off.
The brake line must not be shorter than the original length. The black mark has
to be always visible like shown in the picture below.
If the brake line is shorter, this might affect the safety of your glider.
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Palstek
Suited harnesses
The FACTOR 2 is approved for any harness of the class “GH” (without
diagonal bracing). This means almost every harness which is currently
available.
The choice of the harness has a big influence on the flight characteristics of the
FACTOR 2. There are harnesses which allow very effective weight shifting on
the one hand, but which tip to the side in turbulences quite undamped on the
other hand.
Other harnesses don’t allow extreme weight shifting, but they will give the pilot
a calmer feel in turbulent conditions.
A good flying school can help on this topic with individual advice.
Weight range
Each size of the FACTOR 2 is certified for a certain weight range. The weight
refers to the “overall take off weight”. This means the weight of the pilot, the
glider, the harness and all other equipment.
If you fly the FACTOR 2 on the lower half of the weight range, the agility
decreases and the glider will be more damped. In strong turbulences the wing
tends to deform and to collapse slightly more than with a higher wing loading.
If you mainly fly in weak conditions and you are not a fan of a very dynamic
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flight behaviour, you should consider flying the FACTOR 2 in this weight
range.
If you fly the FACTOR 2 on the upper half of the weight range, the agility and
the stability in turbulences will increase. Also the speed will increase slightly.
The self damping will decrease in turns, as well as after collapses, so if you
often plan to fly in bumpy conditions and you want a dynamic flight
characteristic you should go for the top of the weight range.
Flying the FACTOR 2
We suggest performing your first flights with a new wing in calm conditions to
get used to the flight behaviour without any stress. We also recommend to do
some take-offs on a training hill or some ground handling to get a good feeling
for your glider from the very beginning.
Launch
Before every take off the pilot has to ensure that the equipment is in a proper
condition, especially the glider, the harness and the reserve system.
Just before launch we recommend a check routine, which should be performed
carefully. (Many accidents at take off could be avoided by a proper check!)
We recommend the following routine:
1.) Strapped up (Leg strap and chest strap on the harness and helmet strap
all done up)
2.) Clipped in (Risers untwisted and connected to the karabiners, speed
system attached and karabiners properly closed)
3.) Lines (A lines on top, all lines sorted, brake line unlooped between
brake handle and pulley)
4.) Glider (glider lies arched with opened cell openings at take off.)
5.) Wind and airspace (wind suitable for launch and airspace in front of
take off free of other gliders)
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