Nova Tattoo

It's the 6 th of March, forecast Northerlies, bright sunshine and cold air. It feels like the proper start of the new season and I'm on Lords Seat, one of the best sites in England and what's more, I've got a new glider to review!

The Tattoo is Nova's replacement for the highly regarded Aeron in the DHV2 class. The Aeron has a claimed glide of over 9:1 and in glide at least, was seen by many as class leading.

The publicity from Nova for the Tattoo talks of easier handling, better climb in weak lift, slightly improved performance and all in a package aimed in the middle of DHV2. If Nova's claims are to be believed, it seems that paragliders, far from having reached a plateau, seem to keep getting better and better.

So, back on Lords, the cycles are coming through and the wind is gusting with enough strength to make a few people think twice before launching. What followed were absolutely peachy conditions for exploring a new glider. Spring thermals in the morning, a short XC, wave after dinner and ridge soaring as the sun went down. Add to that, several more decent days and the demo from Active Edge can now be described as "slightly used!"

To start with inflation and launch, the Tattoo's behaviour is exemplary. No special techniques needed; just a gentle pull on the "A's" and, despite rising pretty quickly, it comes to a rapid halt overhead. If inflated slightly out of wind it settles overhead easily. Good days often have tricky launch conditions so this feature is a real stress reliever. Only a slight tendency for the tips to fly when trying to pin the glider down in strong wind caused an increase in concentration levels. In light winds, harness pressure alone will do. I did manage to foul up one launch on Nant Sarah's, a notoriously tricky cliff launch. I just gave the "As" too big a pull and it shot up through the marked wind gradient, picked me up, swung me underneath, over flew me and collapsed. Just to prove it was my poor technique, I tried again with a gentle caress on the risers and this time, all was well! Collapsing was better done on "D" risers than brakes, but again presented no problems.

I flew the small Tattoo (80-100kg) in the middle of the weight range and that felt perfect. The trim speed was fast, the sink rate good and the agility excellent. The turn feels really sharp and the glider turns with very little effort. The brake input needed is on the short side of average and this means that the pilots arms are operating in the zone of least effort without taking a wrap.

Within a few minutes of takeoff, I'm in a decent core coming from near the railway tunnel in Edale. As I eased on a little more outside brake the turn flattened and the circling gliders below dropped away. Smugness was short lived as I found myself on the edge of the thermal; there was a reassuring lack of pitch forward, nothing approaching a collapse and a quick let up on the outside brake had the glider whipping round to head back at the core. At this stage I thought the glider relatively gentle in response to weight shift, but backing off the chest strap by 4cm, made a big difference. The climb to 4 grand was high on efficiency and low on effort, very nice indeed!

Time for a glide. A fellow explorer, circling a few "k" down wind gives a strong hint of where to go, but there is a cloud to visit on the way. The cycles are short lived and I only gain a few hundred feet over the snow covered ground, before setting off again. I watch my companion land as I glide on and on, trying to cover the villages and quarries. Pushing the bar through the sink is a pleasure; light pressure and short travel, (27cm for full acceleration). The glide seems very good at trim and on the bar, but I've got no one to compare with now. Eventually the sink turns to scrappy zeros with odd blips of 1 and 2 up. I try to read the feedback; the glider isn't pitching much but its giving me loads of action in roll, through my low hang point harness. I feel the surge under one wing and use the agility to turn back into the lifting column. Far from tending to be spat out of the lift the glider pitches forward slightly and gives the impression of pulling me into the stronger lift. I have noticed this on a number of gliders I have flown; it's not a particularly strong feeling on the Tattoo, but its there none the less. I do manage to get up again, but not for long; the air has changed, the cumulus all disappeared and my ideas have run out.

Its only lunch time and the appearance of a dream retrieve keeps me out of the pub I'd landed next to. Back on the hill, it is like a different day. One unfortunate pilot is unpicking his wing from the barbed wire behind launch and another is walking back, thankfully unhurt after a blow-back. The few paragliders flying are parked into wind and climbing..... wave! Lords is one of the few sites I know which gives useable wave for paragliders and it will often give some decent lulls for launch. The Tattoo again behaves impeccably and is soon in the up-phase over the valley. The fast trim speed is a blessing here and I strongly suspect that the Tattoo's min sink occurs at a slightly faster speed than most others in the class. Quickly I had cruised past and climbed above the other gliders. As I pushed east, past Mam Tor and on, towards Loose Hill, I realised that the wave wasn't aligned with the ridge and I found myself in the sink and turbulence downwind of the rising wave. While I figured out what I had done wrong I was able to admire the relatively calm behaviour of the glider. The main sensations were bumps felt through the risers as they partially unloaded and a easing of pressure on the brakes. My response was to maintain tension in the brakes, by pulling down as they slackened. Again there was little pitching. Sure, it's no DHV1, but for such a sharp handling glider, it was impressive.

With the out and return to Loose hill completed, I was able to sit at 2000' over the floor of the Edale Valley in silky smooth air. Running through the repertoire of big ears, wingovers, spirals and asymmetrics continued to show the Tattoo as a well behaved glider. Pulling down an "A" riser as hard and far as I could show a reassuring reluctance to go more than 50%. As you would expect with a DHV2 glider, there is noticeable tendency to turn, but it is all very controllable and in this aspect, Nova's aim at the middle of the DHV2 range is about right. Some gliders respond well to small brake inputs while remaining relatively reluctant to get very dynamic. Others, for example my Vulcan, need a rather heavier hand, but will burst into acro action if the pilot provokes it. Within my very modest limits, the Tattoo combines the both characteristics. It is beautifully linear in its response; demonstrated best by its transition from tight 360 to spiral dive. You can choose your comfort point without the glider rolling out of the manoeuvre or suddenly locking in. It will reverse its turn quickly and easily, carrying lots of energy from one turn to the next. Wing overs build very quickly after the first turn. Great fun and of real practical benefit when trying to get into a bullet thermal while working a low save. But be in no doubt, especially if you are used to a stodgy DHV 1/2, this is a high performance sports glider. Slope landings with deep brake were nice and controllable though it takes considerably more finesse than say on an Artax (Nova's top end 1/2, recently replaced by the Mamboo).

A different day and a different experience. Conditions were just about soarable in between very weak, small, short lived thermals. Having felt superior to just about everything in good conditions, the Tattoo, while still feeling great, doesn't seem to have top of the stack performance. I do get up but it takes more effort and good timing. My reasoning is that the glider isn't particularly floaty and prefers to carve turns in well defined lift. So, in these conditions it can give the impression of not having a particularly good sink rate, but really it just flies through the lift and out again a bit quicker than other gliders. Once some better lift formed, normal 360's allowed a good climb with nothing outdoing us and some more strong wind flying saw the Tattoo sit above most of the others again.

Comparisons with other gliders suggested to me that the Tattoo maintains the Nova tradition of excellent glide performance. Against Intox's, Aspens and Vulcans, I had the edge in trim speed. It needed a fairly long glide to establish a clear advantage in glide angle. Against an Omega 6 (DHV 2/3) we couldn't distinguish them in speed or glide angle at trim, though I would expect the Omega to have the edge on the speed bar. It's often hard to tell which gliders really do go best until you fly them in racing conditions or into wind tasks.

The glider felt solid throughout my time under it. I had nothing approaching a deflation and the good pitch stability kept things reasonably calm. The liveliness in roll was generally a positive thing, though I think flying with a chest strap much wider than standard is not to be recommended. Behaviour when collapsed deliberately was fine. I didn't fly in any really strong thermal conditions, but nothing undermined my confidence in the glider in the nasty bits of the wave. All these comments are relative to other gliders in the class and some one comparing to low end DHV1/2 gliders would have a different take on things!

Construction wise, the two things which struck me were the use of a lighter grade Gelvenor cloth and the skinny risers. Visiting the Nova web site gave a pretty full justification for the cloth and their extensive tests suggest more than adequate wear characteristics. I'm sure that the lighter material contributes to excellent launch and handling as well as giving the bonus of a smaller and lighter pack. The risers (pictured) really are thin! The Ozone risers along side them are nice and narrow compared to many others. Provided they don't stretch the only disadvantage I can think of is that they have an increased tendency to twist on them selves on the ground compared to wider items. The level of pilot this glider is aimed at (experienced, regular and able) should not be caught out by this. To me it makes perfect sense on any performance orientated glider and I would go further and say that with the recent advances in line technology, gliders of this level should have a thin line option. I didn't like the bag much. It certainly is roomy, but seems to be built for the larger framed person. As well as being uncomfortable, I also found the bag fiddly to use due to the number of clips, buckles, zips and compression straps. I know of far simpler bags which do the job much better!

All the stitching on the glider was fine and the only other observation I made was that the sail isn't quite as wrinkle-free as the cleanest cut gliders, but if there is any loss of efficiency, it certainly isn't obvious! Overall this is a high quality product as you would expect from a manufacturer of Nova's pedigree.

Summary

Nova has produced an absolute beauty in the Tattoo. It has excellent glide at trim and on the bar. The sink rate is good and the thermalling ability is excellent. The inflation and launch are sweet, but best of all is the handling. If you've never had a glider that feels just a little bit better than most of the others on the hill, then the Tattoo would be a revelation. Personally, I loved it. High performance, big fun and low stress and try as I might I just couldn't find any real weaknesses!

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