Gin FLUID 2010 User manual

FLUID2010owner’smanual-English
Thank you fortakingthe timeto read thismanualbeforeusingtheFLUID.

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Thankyou…
Thank you for choosing the FLUID. We are confidentthat this Speedridinggliderwillprovideyou
with countless exciting and fun experiences and will enable you to make good progression in
your Speedriding career. This manual contains all the information you need to fly and maintain
your glider. A thorough knowledge of your equipment will keep you safe while enabling you to
maximiseyourfullpotential.
Pleasepasson this manualtothenewowner ifyou do resell yourglider.
Havefun!
TheGINTeam
Safety Notice
By the purchase of this equipment, you accept all risks inherent with Speedriding activities,
including injury or death. Improper use or misuse of GIN equipment greatly increases these
risks. Neither GIN gliders Inc northe seller of GIN equipment shall be held liable for personal or
third party injuries or damages under any circumstances. The user is fully and solely
responsible for the safe use of this equipment, if there is any doubt regarding the use or safety
of this equipment then itshouldnotbeused.
Warning: Speedriding is a potentially dangerous activity. It is the user’s own
responsibility to assessall weatherand meteorologicalconditions,theflyingarea, the
snow conditions, all equipment, off-piste safety conditions, etc, before you use this
equipment. Speedriding gliders should be used only while skiing. This equipment was
not designed for any other use than that of Speedriding as described in this manual.
This equipment should be launched by feet and must never be used for any of the
following: Parachuting, BASE jumping; jumping from any aircraft, or high object;
building, antenna, bridge, cliff, etc. You should wear a helmet as well as all safety
equipments required for the practice of off-piste skiing or paragliding. It is strongly
recommended to learn Speedriding in a specialised school. When Speedriding, always
choose a safe, open area enabling you to keep a wide safety margin. Speedriding is
strictly forbidden on ski slopes. Do not practice Speedriding in the vicinity of ski lifts,
cliffs,rocksoranyotherhazards.Thisequipmentrequiresconstant carewhen it comes
to maintenance and handling.

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Summary
Thankyou…....................................................................................................................................2
Safetynotice..................................................................................................................................2
Summary..............................................................................................................................................3
1.GinGliders........................................................................................................................................4
2.Introducing Fluid..............................................................................................................................5
Forpilotswho….............................................................................................................................5
Cutting-edgedesign........................................................................................................................5
Manufacturing.................................................................................................................................5
3.Before youfly.................................................................................................................................6
Pre-deliveryinspection ..................................................................................................................6
Risersand Trims.............................................................................................................................6
Brakelineadjustment.....................................................................................................................7
Rucksack.........................................................................................................................................7
YourHarness..................................................................................................................................7
Weightrange..................................................................................................................................8
Essential.........................................................................................................................................8
4.FlyingwithFluid...............................................................................................................................9
Preparationforlaunch....................................................................................................................9
Pre-flightchecklist........................................................................................................................9
Take-off..........................................................................................................................................9
Minimumsinkrateandmaxglideratio............................................................................................9
Acceleratedflight.........................................................................................................................10
Activeflying.................................................................................................................................10
Intubulantconditions...................................................................................................................10
LandingwithFluid ........................................................................................................................10
5.Care,MaintenanceandRepairs........................................................................................................11
Groundhandling...........................................................................................................................11
UVdamage....................................................................................................................................11
Packinginstructions.....................................................................................................................11
Transport and storage ..................................................................................................................12
Cleaning........................................................................................................................................12
MaintenaceInspection ..................................................................................................................12
Repair...........................................................................................................................................12
6.Reference.......................................................................................................................................13
Technicaldata...............................................................................................................................13
Lindplan.......................................................................................................................................14
Description...................................................................................................................................15

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1.Gin Gliders
Gin Gliders was formed in 1998 by paraglider designer and competition pilot Gin Seok Song and
histeamofengineers and test pilots.
Gin’s philosophy is simple: To design gliders that he, and any other pilot, will love to fly. This
philosophy applies equally for a Speedriding glider such as the FLUID, as for the world beating
competition glider, the Boomerang. No glider is released on the market without Gin’s complete
satisfaction.
Gin has over 20 years experience of designing and manufacturing free flight equipment, and is
backed up by an equally experienced team, both within the company in Korea and throughout a
worldwidenetwork ofdistributorsanddealers.
The GINTeam hashad countlessother competition successes in World Cups, Worldand National
Championships. GIN was a pionner in Speedriding equipment and still leads the scene today.
This high level of expertise provided by dedicated professionals ensures that you get the best
possible product supportandaftersales service.

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2.Introducing theFLUID
The FLUID is an Expert Speedriding glider designed by Gin Seok Song. The FLUID offers big
evolution for your practice of Speedriding, unequalled behaviour in this kind of activity, with
great precision in the turn and excellent manoeuvrability. This allows the pilot to feel confident
while developing the active and dynamic piloting skills needed to get the most out of the best
level of this sport. The FLUID will allow you to experience the full pleasure of Speedriding, at
thehighest level.
For pilots who…
The FLUID is a high-end Speedriding glider: It is adapted to experts pilots looking for an
performent glider, able to give you the speed, the precision, the steepest angles to express the
highest level in Speedriding. If your practicing level is not that ambitious, prefer the other
model,the Nano,whichwouldbemore adaptedto yourskills.
Cutting-edgedesign
Thetake-off andhandlingcharacteristics,are thebest currently on the market.
Theplan form, the profile andoptimised line scheme,conferexceptional behaviour to this glider
aswell as outstanding manoeuvrability and performance.
Manufacturing
All GIN gliders are produced in the company's own facilities using the most modern techniques.
Highly skilled staff take extreme care throughout the entire manufacturing process. Stringent
quality control is made after each step, and all materials that go into each wing can be traced.
These measures guarantee that pilots fly with the assurance that their wing meets the most
exactingsafetystandards.

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3. Before youfly
Pre-delivery Inspection
The FLUIDis delivered with rucksack/harness, inner bag, compressionstrap,repairtape and this
manual. Your instructor or dealer should have made a test inflation followed by a test flight
beforedelivery.
.
Risers andtrims
The front risers of the FLUID are fitted with trimmers that enable the pilot to adapt the glider’s
behaviour according to his level and the chosen slope. Trimming the front risers enables expert
pilots to enjoy a more reactive glider, with greater speed and lower flight angle, to follow the
steepest slopes. Ask for the advice of an instructor specialised in Speedriding in order to better
understandandexploitthe trimming system.
Caution : The big trim range on front risers modifies strongly the behaviour of the glider.
Instruction and training, as intense practicing are the keys of mastering the glider in these
extrem configurations.
#8,#9,5,#11:riser front
Neutrallength 60cm
Trimrange 8 cm

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Brakelineadjustment
The main brake line lengths of the FLUID are the same as on the sample that has been used by
the GIN R&D team. These line lengths have been fine tuned by GIN test pilots, and it should not
benecessarytoadjustthem.
If you do need to make adjustments to suit your harness, body and flying style, we strongly
recommend that you test fly the glider with every 2cm of adjustment. There should be a
minimum of 10cm of free brake travel when the glider is flown hands-off. We recommend a
doublesheepshankorabowlineknotforthebrake handle attachmentasshown in the diagram.
Rucksack
The FLUID is delivered with the rucksack/harness FREERIDER, especially designed for ergonomic
carryingcomfort and easeofuse.
Your harness
The FLUID was developed with the FREERIDER harness specific to Speedriding.Before using your
glider with any other type of harness, please contact the harnesses’ manufacturer or dealer
shouldyouhaveanyquestionregardingit’suse.
Adjusting the chest belt controls the distance between the carabiners of the two risers, which
alsohas an influenceonthe glider’s behaviour.
There is no need to use the FLUID with a tight chest belt adjustment, as there is no tendency to
feelunstable.

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Weightrange
The FLUID should be used in the weight/level range for which it was designed. The weight range
isdefinedaccordingto the pilot’sweight,including clothes.
FLUID #8 #9,5 #11
Weight/piloting
level Veryexpert Expertlight
Veryexpert
Heavy
Heavyexpert
Advancedlight
Essential
Inordertoflywith this equipment,you should:
*Havereceivedtheoreticaland practicetuitionforSpeedriding.
*You should have sufficient practice, the knowledge and the experience necessary to correctly
usethisglider.
*Havesubscribed tothelicencesandinsurances necessary forthepracticeof this sport.
*Beinnormalphysicalandmentalhealth,notbeunder the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
*Fly only in meteorological conditions fit for the practice of Speedriding (and adapted to your
level and experience).
*Wear a helmet and all safety equipment necessary to the practice of off-piste skiing and
Speedriding.
*Havethoroughly checked all yourequipment.
*Beawareof allthe information contained inthismanual.

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4.Flying withthe FLUID
We recommend that you first practice inflating your glider on a small training slope with skis.
Make your first flights with your new Speedriding glider in gentle conditions in a familiar area.
Thenkeepondiscovering stepbystep allthepotentialof yourglider.
Preparationfor launch
Following a consistent method of preparation and pre-flight checks is vital for safe flying. We
recommendthe following:
On arrival at the flying site, assess the suitability of the conditions: wind speed and
direction,airspace,snowconditions.
Inspectyourglider, harness, helmetand anyotherequipment.
Chooseasufficiently large take-off area with even groundand noobstacles.
Laythegliderout according totheplanform, andget thelines and risers sorted out.
Putyourhelmeton.Secureyourselfin yourharnessand don'tforget thelegloops!
Connect the risers to your harness carabiners, ensuring there are no twists or loops
aroundthe lines.
Do a final line check by pulling gently on the risers or lines to ensure there are no new
knots,tangles or interferingbranchesor rocks. Takeextracare innilorlight winds.
Pre-flight check list
Helmetandharness buckles closed.
Lines free.
Canopyopen and intowind.
Airspaceclear.
Take off
Thekeytoa successfullaunch techniqueistopracticegroundhandlingwheneveryou can.
Keeping your brake handlesin your hands, the FLUID inflates very easily, with or without risers
in hand. Keep your arms slightly bent and hands at shoulder height. If you are using the front
risers,yourarmsshould rise in a curve. It is notnecessarytopull hard on the risers.
Make visual check on your glider before taking off tosee if it iscorrectly inflated and that there
areno knots ortangles. Ifsomethingis wrong,stopthe take off. Aslightpressureon the brakes
andtheglidingofyour skis alwaysmakes thetake off easier.
Minimumsink rateandmaxglideratio.

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Theminimumsinkratecanbefoundbypulling the brakesabout20cm.
Accelerated flight
Once you have become accustomed to flying the FLUID, you can practice using the trimmers on
the front risers, which enables you to increase the speed of your glider, and to decrease
strongly your flight angle. Caution: when flying accelerated, your wing will react in a more
radical manner in turns and the glide angle will be a lot steeper. The active flying is important
inthese moments.
ActiveFlying
The FLUID has a high internal pressure, high resistance to collapses and a high level of passive
security. However, it is recommended with this type of glider to adopt an active handling style
that will help you to fly safely. The key to active handling is to keep your glider above your
head. If the glider has a tendency to lag behind, raise your hands. If the glider has a tendency
to shoot forward, then control it with the brakes. In all cases, always remember to keep
sufficient air-speed and avoid over-piloting. Apply the same active piloting on the groud while
skiingwith your canopieabove,anticipatingunloads.
In turbulent conditions
The FLUID is a very stable glider and collapses on one or both of the front risers are almost
impossible. Extreme turbulence could generate a collapse but the FLUID will resume normal
flight in almost all configurations, so in case of doubt, keep your hands at shoulder height and
letthegliderfly.
However, if the glider shoots forward violently, control it with the brakes immediately. To help
your glider resume flight more rapidly, it is recommended to have an active handling, without
beingoutoftimewiththewing’smovements.
Caution:
The FLUID is not designed to perform manoeuvres outside the normal flight configuration. Our
test pilots have tested the various reactions in extreme situations; however we strongly
recommend that you do not perform stalls, manoeuvres and spins. It is also strongly
recommendednotto flyaerobaticswiththe FLUID.
Landing withthe FLUID
Choosealandingareafreeof obstacles. It isrecommendedto flaircorrectly,itwill enableyou
toobtain a nil vertical speedandtoslideon yourskis.Donotmakeyour lastturn atlow height,
ormakearadicalturnclosetotheground.