Gin Zulu User manual

Zulu Owners’ Manual
Thank you for taking the time to read this manual.

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Thank you…
Thank you for choosing the Zulu. We are confident that this paraglider will provide you with
countless exciting flying experiences. This manual contains all the information you need to fly
and maintain your paraglider. A thorough knowledge of your equipment will keep you safe and
enableyoutomaximizeyourfullpotential.
Pleasepassonthismanualtothenewownerifyoudoresellyourglider.
HappyFlights and Safe Landings,
TheGIN Team
Safety Notice
By the purchase of our equipment, you are responsible for being a certified
paraglider pilot and you accept all risks inherent with paragliding activities
including injury and death. Improper use or misuse of GIN equipment greatly
increases these risks. Neither Gin Gliders Inc nor the seller of GIN equipment
shall be held liable for personal or third party injuries or damages under any
circumstances.
Please note: The Zulu is a DHV class 1-2 glider and it is suitable for use by
experienced and qualified pilots or may be used by Pilots under advanced
instruction with their school. The Zulu is especially suited to the experienced,
frequently flying pilot who will be able to fully benefit from the Zulu’s qualities.
If any aspect of the use of our equipment remains unclear, please contact your
local paragliding instructor, GIN reseller or the importer in your country.

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Contents
Thankyou…........................................................................................................................................2
SafetyNotice .................................................................................................................................... 2
1.GinGliders...........................................................................................................................................4
2.Introducing the Zulu...........................................................................................................................5
ForPilotsWho...................................................................................................................................5
Cutting-edgedesign …………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
Manufacturing …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
3.Beforeyoufly.......................................................................................................................................7
Pre-deliveryInspection ………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
SpeedSystem.....................................................................................................................................7
BreakLineAdjustment………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
Rucksack.............................................................................................................................................8
Yourharness ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Certifiedweightrange ………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
Pre-flightsafety …………………………………………………………………………………………………………9
4.Flying the Zulu ..................................................................................................................................10
Preparationfor launch.....................................................................................................................10
Takeoff............................................................................................................................................11
Lineknotsortangles .......................................................................................................................11
Minsink/bestglide.........................................................................................................................11
Accelerated flight.............................................................................................................................11
Activeflying…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11
Inturbulence....................................................................................................................................12
Losingaltitude………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13
Steeringwithoutbrakes ………………………………………………………………………………………………15
Aerobatics........................................................................................................................................16
LandingwiththeZulu ......................................................................................................................16
Towlaunch.......................................................................................................................................16
Motorizedflight...............................................................................................................................16
5.Care, maintenance and repairs...........................................................................................................17
Groundhandling...............................................................................................................................17
UVdamage.......................................................................................................................................17
Packinginstructions.........................................................................................................................17
Transportandstorage......................................................................................................................18
Cleaning...........................................................................................................................................18
Inspections ......................................................................................................................................18
Repairs.............................................................................................................................................18
6.Technical Details.................................................................................................................................19
TestandCertification………………………………………………………………………………………………….19
TechnicalSpecifications...................................................................................................................20
LinePlan...........................................................................................................................................21
Materials …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………22

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1. GIN Gliders
GIN Gliders was formed in 1998 by paraglider designer and competition pilot Gin Seok Song and
histeam of engineers 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 an intermediate glider such as the Zulu, as for the world-beating
competition glider, the Boomerang. No glider is released to the market without Gin's complete
satisfaction.
Gin has over 15 years' experience of designing and manufacturing paragliders, and is backed up
by an equally experienced team, both within the company in Korea and throughout a worldwide
network of distributors and dealers. The GIN Team dominated the Paragliding World Cup from
1998 to today and has had countless other competition successes in World Cups, World and
National Championships. This high level of expertise provided by dedicated professionals
ensuresthat you get the best possible product support andaftersalesservice.

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2. Introducing the Zulu
The Zulu is an intermediate wing built around a completely new concept. It is designed by Gin
Seok Song and Robert Graham. They have combined their years of experience to produce a wing
that is uniquely in tune with the needs of today's pilots. The Zulu offers outstanding security
and top performance combined with precise and dynamic handling. This allows the pilot to
accurately feel the sensations of flight, and thus develop an active flying style. Rapid
progression up the learning curve is enabled, as the pilot becomes acquainted with the myriad
of different movements and moods of the air. The Zulu will allow you to experience the full
pleasureof free flight, without ever compromising your safety.
For Pilots Who …
The Zulu is anideal all round glider and is suitable for the new pilotwho demands easy handling
and forgiving wing reactions up to the experienced pilot who flies frequently and wants a fast
and high performing glider with a very high safety margin. The Zulu is designed for all kinds of
flying, from ridge soaring and your first explorations from your regular hill to regular
thermaling,cross country flying and club competitions.
Cutting-edge Design
Gin and Robert have made extensive improvements to the Zulu compared to its predecessor, the
successful Oasis. Performance, take-off and handling have been improved with focus on higher
passivesafetyand more forgiving glider characteristics.
Countless prototypes have been built, tested andcompared to find theoptimum. A new planform,
optimized brake layout and a new profile give this wing an incredible safety, superb handling
andhigh stability.
A special feature on the ZULU is the “Keel” that gives the wing it’s characteristic shape. When
combined with the optimised line layout these innovations give much higher stability,
especially in extreme situations. Inflation of the canopy is easier and it minimizes movements
ofthe wing in turbulent air for your comfort.
The new wingtip shape improves flying characteristics and reduces drag from the tips. These
newdesign elements come directly from our competition gliderBoomerang4research.
Wind tunnel research and new software to optimize the shape of the leading edge has produced
aneven cleaner airfoil.
A double reinforcement at the leading edge with an optimised profile has been introduced. This
improvestake-off characteristics, performance and increases the lifetime of the canopy.
The brake line layout is designed for easy turning, with proportionally increasing brake
pressure for precise and direct handling. This enables efficient and easy climbing in thermals as
wellas using weak lift when ridge soaring.

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Weight and drag have been reduced by using a new hi-tech, lightweight fabric and an efficient
linelayout that reduces the total amount of line.
These and other innovations ensure that by purchasing the Zulu, you are getting the best
possibleglider in its class.
Manufacturing
All GIN gliders are produced in the company's own facilities using the most modern techniques.
Highly skilled staff take extreme care during 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
exactingsafety standards.

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3. Before you fly
Pre-delivery Inspection
The Zulu is delivered with speed system, rucksack, inner bag, compression strap, repair tape
and this manual. Your instructor or dealer should have made a test inflation followed by a test
flightbefore delivery.
Speed System
The speed system increases the maximum speed by lowering the angle of attack with a pulley-
guided, foot-operated system. Up to 12 km/h gain in speed can be realized with the accelerator
atfull travel.
It is important to have your accelerator system correctly routed through your harness and
attached to the risers with the supplied Brummel hooks. The length of the speed bar should be
initially adjusted while on the ground, sitting in the harness so that the legs are fully extended
atthe pointoffullacceleratortravel.It ishelpfultohavean assistant hold theriserstautwhile
makingthis adjustment.
Subsequent fine tuning can be done on the ground following the first flight with the speed
system.If in doubt about this procedure, consult your instructorordealer.
Riser A B C D
lengthat trim speed (XS,S / M,L) 48cm/ 52cm 48cm / 52cm 48cm / 52cm 48cm / 52cm
lengthat full speed (XS,S / M,L) 35.5cm/
36.5cm 38.5cm /39.5cm 43cm /45.5cm 48cm/ 52cm
BC
A
D
D
A

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Brake line adjustment
The main brake line lengths of the Zulu are the same as on the sample that has been used for
the DHV certification test flights. These line lengths have been fine tuned by GIN test pilots,
andit should not be necessary to adjust them.
In soaring flight, it is common to fly with half a wrap on the brakes and hold the handles on the
knot.However, care should be taken to release the wrapsinanyextremesituation.
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. This prevents the
brakes being applied unintentionally when the speed system is fully engaged. We recommend a
doublesheepshank or a bowline knot for the brakehandleattachmentasshowninthe diagram.
Rucksack
All Gin gliders are delivered with a durable ripstop KODURA®rucksack with 160L capacity. This
rucksackis designed for ergonomic carrying comfort and ease ofuse.
The rucksack should be packed carefully to achieve maximum comfort. First, place the glider
inside the harness and then put the top of harness in the bottom of the rucksack with the glider
side next to the back of the rucksack. Finally, tighten the internal and external compression
straps and adjust the shoulder and waist straps to ensure the equipment stays firmly in place
whenwalking. There are also two storage pockets for accessories.
AnXXL rucksack (200L capacity) is available as an optional extraforpilotsthatrequireit.

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Your harness
TheZulu is certified foruse with allharnesses with variable cross-bracing (GHtype). Practically
all modern harnesses are GH type harnesses. Older harnesses with fixed cross-bracing (GX
type) are not certified and should not be used. Check with the manufacturer of the harness or
yourparagliding instructor if in doubt whether your harness isaGHorGXtypeharness.
The adjustment of the harness chest strap controls the distance between karabiners and affects
the handling and stability of the glider. Tightening the chest strap increases stability but also
the risk of twisting after a collapse. With the chest strap in a more closed position the glider
also has more tendency to maintain a stable spiral, lengthening of the chest strap gives more
feedbackfrom the glider but decreases stability.
Gin calculates and draws the plan of the glider with a distance between the carabiners of 44cm.
DHV certification test flights are also carried out with this setting. We recommend setting a
distance of 42cm to 50cm between the carabiners, depending on the size and design of the
harness. There is no need to fly with a tight chest strap setting with the Zulu, as there is no
tendencyfor it to feel unstable, unlike older gliders.
Certified Weight Range
The Zulu must be flown within the certified weight range given in the reference section of this
manual. The weight range is quoted as the total weight in flight, i.e. the weight of the pilot,
glider, harness and accessories. The easiest way to check your total weight is to stand on
weighingscales with all your equipment packed into your rucksack.
Pre-flight safety
Tofly this equipment you should:
Haveappropriate practical and theoretical training and experience for thisclassofglider.
Havethe necessary insurance and licences.
Bein your right mind, unaffected by extreme stress, recreationalorprescribeddrugs.
Onlyfly in conditions suitable for your level ofparagliding.
Wearsuitable head protection, use a certified harness and emergencyparachute.
Makea thorough pre-flight check.

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4. Flying the Zulu
We recommend that you first practice inflating your glider on a small training hill or flat ground.
Makeyourfirstflightswith your new paraglider in gentle conditions onafamiliarflyingsite.
Preparation for 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, turbulence and thermal cycles.
Inspectyour glider, harness, reserve handle and pin, helmet andanyotherequipment.
Choosea sufficiently large take-off area with even ground andnoobstacles.
Laythe glider out according to the planform, and getthelinesandriserssortedout.
Putyour helmet on. Secure yourself in your harness anddon'tforgetthelegloops!
Connect the risers to your harness carabiners, ensuring there are no twists or loops
aroundthe lines.
Connectthe speed system to the risers with the Brummelhooks.
Do a final line check by pulling gently on the risers or lines to ensure there are no new
knots,tangles or interfering branches or rocks. Take extra careinnilorlightwinds.
Pre-flightchecklist
Reserveparachute: pin in and handle secure.
Helmetand harness buckles closed.
Linesfree.
Canopyopen and into wind.
Airspaceclear.
Take off
Thekey to a successful launch technique is to practicegroundhandlingonflatgroundwhenever
youcan.
LightorNilWindLaunch
The Zulu inflates steadily in nil-wind conditions. Simply guide the glider with the A-risers,
keeping your arms bent and hands at the level of the shoulders. Allow your arms to rise in an
arcand wait for the glider to inflateandcome above yourhead- do not pushthe risers. There is
no need topull the risershard. Run positively as the glider comes above your head. Be sure to
look up and check that the canopy is fully inflated before you take-off, and that there are no
tangles in the lines. If any irregularity should occur and you are not yet airborne, abort the
launch immediately by stalling the glider. Onsteep launches, stall one side of the glider and run
parallelto the hill.