Thank you for choosing El Speedo BOBBY! This manual will help you
to get maximum information about your glider. This is informa- tion about the design of the BOBBY, advice how to use it best and how to care for it to ensure it has a long life. The manual also includes technical speci cations and line plans. We hope that BOBBY will give you a lot of wonderful flying hours.
BOBBY is suited for all pilots, including pilots under all levels of training. BOBBY-S,M and L are EN “A” certified.
BOBBY is a marketing name of the glider for middle and western Europe. The glider was certified under the name Muscat 3.
Warning!
Paragliding is a high risk activity. We strongly recommend to learn paragliding only in certified schools and to choose only the equipment which is correspondent to your flying skills.
Risers
BOBBY has the risers scheme A2 A’1 B4 C3 (4 risers).
The risers are equipped with accelerator, that increases the speed range of the glider. Accelerator travel is 12 cm for S, M and L sizes.
BOBBY does not have trimmers and any other adjustable or removable or variable device.
Warning!
You are not allowed to change the paraglider construction except adjusting the brake lines, because it might lead to unpredictability in flying and make the paraglider dangerous in certain flying situations.
Pre-flight check
– Lines are clear and leading edge is open – Karabiners and Maillons are tight
- All harness buckles are closed
- Helmet is on
– Check reserve parachute
- Wind direction is perpendicular to the glider
– Airspace is clear
Launching
Your BOBBY can take-off with both forward and reverse techniques.
Use forward technique when the wind is light, or there is no wind. Move forward and your glider will start to inflate. You must maintain a constant pressure on the risers until the wing is overhead. Brake it a little and launch.
Use reverse technique in light to strong winds Pull the glider by its A-risers. When it is overhead, pull the brakes to stop the glider, then turn and launch.
Practise ground handling a lot! It will help you feel your glider better.
In Flight Characteristics
BOBBY has long brake travel, light brake pressure and turns very well. It also has high resistance to deflations in turbulence.
Maximum symmetric control travel is 60 cm for S size, 70 cm for M and L sizes.
Speed control
You can change speed by simultaneously pulling or releasing the brakes or using accelerator. When brakes are pulled approximately 30 cm, you get minimum sink rate.
Turn control
In order to make BOBBY turn with a minimum sink and radius while pulling the internal brake you should pull very slightly the external one too. Use weight shift to decrease the spiral radius. If the thermal ow is narrow and strong, increase the tilt and the rotation speed by releasing the external brake.
When you need to turn fast, you should swing BOBBY in the opposite direction and then pull as hard as needed the internal brake.
Using accelerator
BOBBY reaches its maximum speed when you pull the accelerator to its maximum and release the brakes. Use this mode for long distance flying and in strong winds. When using accelerator you will have a maximum speed of about 50 km/h.
Remember, that when you use the accelerator, your glider is more likely to collapse. We do not recommend to use accelerator, if your altitude is less, than 100m. If collapse occurs, release accelerator immediately.
Descent Techniques
Big Ears
While holding the brakes you should symmetrically pull the А’- risers. For directional control of the glider use the weight shift. When you do big ears, the horizontal speed increases slightly. In order to return to normal flight, you should release the A-risers and pull the brakes a few times, if necessary.
Spiralling is not permitted with big ears, because of the increased load on the remaining lines so that they can be physically deformed.
B-stall
When you need to lose height quickly because of the sudden worsening of the weather, risk of entering a cloud, etc, we recommend you B-stall.
Holding the brakes you take B-risers near the connectors. Forcefully but not suddenly, pull down the risers 25 – 30 cm and hold them as long as necessary. The wing gets a fold along the entire B-row and sinks at a rate of 8 – 10 m/sec. In order to return to normal flight simply release the B-risers and your BOBBY will get out of the B-stall with a small front dive. You can use the brakes once the horizontal speed is gained. BOBBY does not normally tend to go into deep stall once the B-risers are released. If this does happen (possibly for bad adjustment or under-loading), you should either pull the A risers or swing the wing with the brakes.
Spiral dive
When you hold either brake down for a long time, the glider goes into a fast sharp turn and loses a lot of height. The sink rate could be more than 15 m/sec. To get out of the spiral dive you must release the inner brake. Mind that BOBBY may take one more turn after releasing the brake.
While spiral diving, the pilot experiences considerable overload up to 3 – 4 G, so you can lose orientation.
Flying in turbulence
You can help your glider to avoid different collapses in turbulence – you must fly actively for it. When the glider pitches forward, use the brakes to slow it, if it goes back, release brakes. These movements can be symmetric or asymmetric.
Let us remind you once again that you should be very careful choosing the weather to fly.
Landing
In light winds, when you have 1 – 2 meters to the ground, you should pull the brakes gently to your arms’ full length, so that you put your BOBBY in stall at a height of about 0.2 – 0.5 m and the horizontal speed is zero.
In strong winds you must land facing the wind. If necessary you can fold the ears. As you approach the ground, you should take В risers while holding the brakes. As soon as you hit the ground, you must turn towards the glider and pull B-risers running towards the wing. If the wing is flopping about a meter above the ground, release the B-risers and pull the brakes hard to your arms length. We do not recommend you to use the brakes in the strong wind, as the wing could catch the wind and pull the pilot.
Do not let the glider overtake you and hit the ground with its front edge, which leads to increased pressure in the wing and may damage it.
Deflations
Asymmetric collapse
Every paraglider may collapse in turbulent conditions.
Asymmetric collapses can be controlled by weight-shifting away from the collapse and applying a small amount of brake to control the flight direction. At the same time you should use the brake to re-inflate the canopy.
Remember that the deflated glider has higher stall speed and smaller brake travel. That is why you should be careful not to pull the brake too hard to avoid stall.
Symmetric front collapse
BOBBY comes out of symmetrical front collapse by itself. You can shortly pull the brakes about a 20 cm to speed up the re-inflation.
Deep stall (parachuting)
To get out of this mode you must pull А – risers or swing the wing by pulling and releasing the brakes (preferably the first one).
Full stall
Full stall happens when you pull both brakes too hard. To return to the normal flight you must release both brakes. After this usually comes a front dive with a possible front deflation.
Just because BOBBY warns the pilot about stalling by increasing the brake load, it is highly unlikely for you to enter it unexpectedly.
Asymmetrical stall
It can take place when you pull one of the brakes too hard, or while spiralling at a small speed in turbulence you increase the angle of attack. Rotation in the asymmetrical stall is called negative spiral. This is one of the most dangerous flying situations. In order to get out of an asymmetrical stall, just release the brakes. There may follow side thrust forward with a following wing collapse.
Self-rotation
Increasing rotation usually takes place when the pilot has not reacted properly to the asymmetric collapse of the accelerated paraglider.
Try to slow down the rotation by counter-shifting your weight in the harness and pulling the outer brake. If the self-rotation is increasing, toss the rescue parachute quickly in the direction of the rotation. This mode can also take place when you make extreme turns of the overloaded paraglider.
Cravat
If the collapsed part of the canopy is entangled in the lines, you must try to release it by pulling the ear-line (BOBBY has it on the B riser). If you cannot do it and the rotation is increasing, you must use the parachute.
In flight damage
Estimate the damage. If a brake has untied – no problem as BOBBY can be steered well by weight shift and pulling the back risers. Even if the damage allows for a sustainable controlled flight, you should land as soon as possible. If normal flight is impossible, you must use the parachute.
Packing Your glider
The paraglider must be folded cell to cell so that the plastic rods at the leading edge lie at on each other and don’t get bent. Try to pack your BOBBY as loosely as the rucksack allows, because every fold weakens the cloth.
Avoid packing the glider if it is wet or contains the abrasive particles (sand, ice…). If the glider was packed wet and/or contains abrasive staff – unpack it, let it dry and remove the trash from the canopy as soon as possible.
General Glider Care
Take care while using Your glider. The inappropriate and/or inaccurate use may cause the damage of the canopy and lines, and the glider may become dangerous in flight.
Follow these rules and your BOBBY will be in good condition:
– Do not expose your glider to the sun any longer than necessary – Keep it away from water and other liquids
- Do not let the front edge hit the ground
- If wet dry BOBBY in shade. If soaked in salty water, rinse the glider thoroughly in non-salty water
– Keep your glider away from fire
- Do not put anything heavy on your glider, do not pack it in a rucksack too tightly.
- Regularly inspect the canopy, lines, risers and harness. If you find any defects, contact your dealer or the manufacturer. Do not attempt to self-repair the paraglider!
- If you detect a damaged line, inform the dealer or manufacturer about the line number according to the line plan
- Keep your BOBBY in a rucksack in a dry well-ventilated place under neutral temperature and humidity conditions
- If you do not use the glider, then once a month you should unpack it, ventilate it well, and then pack it back in the rucksack.
- Do not wash BOBBY. Do not use detergents or solvents. Clean dirty places with wet soft cloth or sponge.
Warrantee and Wing Repairs
The producer guarantees the correctness of the declared characteristics and the paraglider’s normal performance for two years after the purchase date, but no more than 200 flying hours. Warrantee for the lines is 100 hours. The producer conducts special, and after-warranty repairs and maintenance at the owners’ request for an extra price.
We recommend to inspect your paraglider (including checking suspension line strength, line geometry, riser geometry and permeability of the canopy material) one time at two years, or every 100 hours of flying time (whichever comes first); those inspections must be made by manufacturer or dealer.
If damaged, your BOBBY must be repaired by manufacturer, or dealer. Small holes in Skytex may be repaired with sticky rip-stop tape.
Attention please!
The producer bears no responsibility for non-compliance with the stated characteristics if:
– the user manual is not followed,
- the paraglider structure is changed in any way,
– the paraglider is self-repaired.