Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Relining my Gradient Avax XC3



My trusty Avax XC3 has served me well for the last two seasons.  While it's no slouch - it carried me to my personal best 110 miles in Sept. - I have put more than 250 hours on the lines and can feel the performance and handling getting a bit sluggish.



My last wing, an Avax XC2, was revitalized by the replacement of the lines after 2+ seasons so I decided to get a new line set for the XC3 and fly one more season on it.  This seems the best course with the rule change limbo that we find ourselves in.  My good ole' "Traditional EN-D" is still a lot of fun.

The first waves of a four day Pacific storm are rolling through California so it's a good time to apply the new line set that has been sitting in the cabinet.  My buddy Scott generously offered the use of his big shop, so we were in business.

Gradient does a great job of labeling the lines and provides a line plan with lengths and diameters of all lines.

Scott started clipping the old lines at the wing while I got organized.  Soon I was applying the lines and after a couple hours we had one half of the wing relined.  After lunch we knocked out the second half in less than an hour.

The hardest step (for me, anyway) is the connection of the risers to the lines.  Each set of lines is placed on the mailion in correct order and uses an "o" ring to secure them in place.

The weather hasn't allowed me to kite the wing to verify its configuration, but I am looking forward to the improved, sportier flying with the new lines!

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