NOVA Paragliding (NTT & COS)

We have reworked our check system completely which now offers a lot of improvements for NOVA pilots. The main purpose was the best possible check and maintenance of all NOVA gliders during their whole life span. One big focus was to measure the exact trim, and then adjust the wing to its original trim setting.

This is very important, because the trim of every glider (of any manufacturer) changes in the course of time. (more information about the elongation of lines) The effects of a wrong trim setting on safety, performance and handling can be serious. Many pilots don’t know that e.g. bad take-off behaviour, or a bad reaction on collapses, of their wing is in many cases just a result of an inaccurate trim. In such cases a competent trim adjustment would seriously improve flight characteristics.

Therefore every new NOVA glider, bought from 2007 on, will get a precise and computer aided trim adjustment after one year at the latest, or after 100 hours of use. The pilot receives a wing that corresponds to the new wing in terms of safety, performance and of course in terms of pleasure of flight. This “small inspection” is called NOVA TRIM TUNING (NTT) (more information on NOVA TRIM TUNING) and it is free for every NOVA glider that was bought from 2007 on in Austria, Germany or Switzerland. (please ask for the price for other countries)

Every pilot who lets his glider be checked with NTT within one year (at the latest) or within 100 hours gets 4 years of warranty for his glider, and has to do the next full check not until three years after purchase! To get 4 years warranty and the three years interval for the first full check, you have to register your glider on the NOVA website. (available soon)

Besides NTT there we have got another innovation in our check system: With COS (COMPUTERIZED ONLINE SERVICE) all check works and trim settings are stored centrally on a server. So every authorised check company can access the exact state (trim setting, performed repair works, …) of the wing after its last check. Changes on the wing, especially trim changes can be judged better with COS, because the check company can compare the actual state of the wing, with its state after the last check. This makes the work even more efficient and more precise. Furthermore the pilot can recall the check protocol of his NOVA glider with a personal, password protected access. (available soon)

The trim of the measured glider is judged on the PC, to find out the best possible trim changes.

Checking the inner life of a glider for damage.

We are convinced to have achieved a big advantage for NOVA pilots by the introduction of NOVA TRIM TUNING and COMPUTERIZED ONLINE SERVICE. Because only a proper trimmed glider can guarantee the performance, the handling and the safety, NOVA-Pilots rely on.

The following check intervals and regulations are valid for all NOVA wings bought from 2007 on:
Pilots who let their wings be checked with NTT after the recommended time (100hours/1year) have to do their next full check three years after purchase. In addition the guarantee is extended to 4 years. Pilots who don’t check their wings like recommended above, will only get 2 years warranty. Of course NTT may only be performed by authorised service points.

For all gliders which were purchased before 2007, the old check intervals are still valid. But of course also these wings will be checked with NTT and COS.

A short overview about different line materials, and their advantages and disadvantages:

Quasi all paraglider manufacturers use lines from the brands “Liros”, “Cousin” and “Edelrid”. These lines either consist of Technora/Kevlar (Aramid) or of Dyneema. (highly-compressed polyethylene) Both types of lines have typical advantages and disadvantages. Roughly said, Technora lines have the advantage of keeping their length quite good, but they loose strength during use especially by bending.

Dyneema lines almost don’t loose any strength and are resistant against bending. But they change their length more, than Technora lines. By the way, there is no type of line, without elongation effects during use. Even Technora lines change their length, but considerably less than Dyneema lines.

NOVA decided – like most other manufacturers – to use a hybrid line setup. This means, that every type of line is used, where their respective advantages outweigh their disadvantages. In practice, the Dyneema lines are used, where high load has to be expected, so mainly on the front line levels. A consistent level of strength is important there. The rear line levels are loaded less, so a Technora line is still strong enough there after intensive use and provides a higher level of length stability. (Dyneema lines would shrink a lot under such little load)

To summarize:
The ideal of a wing, which has a consistent trim geometry, can’t be build with today’s line materials. That’s why we try to get the optimum out of the available lines, by using a thought-out line mix. At the same time we go a step further by introducing NTT to be able to adjust the wings trim as precise as possible.

What exactly is NTT and how does it work:

The basis of NTT is the exact measurement of every line length, because the trim adjustments can naturally only be as precise as the measurement. That is why all authorised service points use a computer aided measurement system, which enables to measure every single line with a defined load. So we can avoid measuring errors by measuring one line with higher load than an other line.

Ralf Antz, the developer of NTT is measuring the lines with defined load.

After measuring, Ralf evaluates the best possible trim changes on the PC.

The computer transfers only those measurement values, which were evaluated with proper load. So the first thing, which is done for NTT, is to measure every single line. After that the checker has a first look on the line lengths. This is an other big advantage of NTT: The checker doesn’t see the values during measurement. If the checker used a measuring tape, he would be tempted to e.g. load the line a little more, if it was too short. This may even happen unknowingly. With NTT this is impossible.

A screenshot of the analysis software: The upper table shows the difference between every line length and the must value. The table in the centre of the picture shows additional information, like symmetry or the evaluated pitch of the glider. On the bottom of the picture you see possible changes in trim, which are first done virtually, to judge the effect on different parameters (e.g. pitch) first, before setting the trim on the glider.

Now we get to the actual core of NTT: the analysis software. This software offers a large number of important information, which could not be seen from the bare line lengths, with a simple measurement-tape. One such information is the average angle of attack. If the software shows a higher angle of attack than the must value, the checker first does the necessary trim changes virtually, until the result is satisfying. (To change the trim, the checker can loop, or unloop the stem lines on the shackles.) With NTT he can do all those changes virtually first, to be able to find out the perfect adjustments to achieve the best possible trim setting. If the virtual result meets the requirements, the changes are performed on the glider.
That’s why NTT enables very precise trim corrections. The pilot notices this in terms of increased performance and safety. And of course by more pleasure of flight.