Nova Rookie 

 




The Nova Rookie is a low end 1-2 glider which is targeted at the   
straight out of school pilot but it can also be flown and enjoyed by   
much more experienced pilots seeking a style of  relaxing and stress   
free flying that may be difficult to find under higher certified   
gliders. The Rookie is the choice of paraglider for both the Nova   
designer, Hannes Papesh and the MD of the company, Wolfi Lechner,   
whose home flying ground is the Austrian Alps near the Nova   
headquarters in Innsbruck. 
 
The Rookie was launched in 2006 and is the successor to the Syntax.   
The Syntax has an interesting design philosophy which is based on the   
fact that reducing the aspect ratio of a glider has a performance   
penalty in theory, but the lower aspect ratio machine that results   
from this can be supported by a much smaller amount of line. The   
reduction in drag from the reduced amount of line can offset the   
lower aspect ratio, and in fact sometimes a higher performance   
machine can result, but with the passive safety of a low aspect ratio   
glider. The Rookie shares with the Syntax the planform, aerofoil   
section, number of cells and long brake travel. Changes, including   
the line reduction mentioned above are a lighter hybrid sail, more   
sail tension, a different curve to the wing and a redesigned brake   
geometry. 
 
The Rookie is going to be available in five sizes, and will cover   
weights from 55 to 130 kg all up, the glider is still being certified   
in some sizes but the small, medium and large are all certified as of   
the end of July covering weights from 75 to 130 kg. The glider   
supplied for the review was the medium, weight range 85-110 kg and   
was flown at 109 kg. The UK importer is Dean Crosby at Active Edge.   
[http://www.activeedge.co.uk/] 
 
The Rookie has a hybrid sail, using Gelvenor OLKS for the first 25%   
of the chord, then using Porcher Sport Skytex 9017 (40 gm) D911 for   
the rest of the chord, on both top and bottom surfaces. D911 is a   
slightly different version of the long life water based E85A coating   
developed by Porcher Sport. Lines are a mixture of Technora and   
Dyneema,  with Technora in the lower cascades, and Dyneema in the   
upper. The glider is also equipped with swivels in the brake lines,   
the first time I have seen this on a Nova glider. The glider comes   
with a manual, rucksack, inner bag, compression strap, windsock and   
speed bar. The glider comes with 3 years materials and workmanship   
guarantee with the one year .Nova Protect. covering accidental damage. 
 
The rucksack the glider is made from is very spacious and has now had   
all the little niggles sorted out. Compression straps, pockets for   
things like helmets and comfort were all good. I was going to praise   
it to the skies until a plastic buckle on the shoulder strap broke,   
rendering it useless. Nova has agreed some problems with bags have   
occurred, which will be sorted out under guarantee. 
 
Laid out for take off the Rookie seems quite low aspect ratio, but   
checking the manual shows it's 5.11 flat. Using the inner As or   
simply leaning back in the harness gives a very simply inflation, the   
only issue arising here is that like all low end DHV1-2s or DHV1s the   
brake travel doesn't always allow the pilot to keep the glider on the   
ground easily in stronger winds using the brakes. As the D riser has   
only one line on it going to the centre area of the canopy, use of   
the C risers may be necessary to kill the glider in stronger winds on   
landing or to keep it on the ground prior to launch. Asymmetric   
inflations work well too, and once the glider is overhead keeping it   
there is very easy. 
 
Once in the air the Rookie is simplicity itself. Flying is very   
relaxing as there are no surprises and it simply needs to be guided   
where you want it to go, with small amounts of active flying if it's   
very strong. If active flying is needed on this this glider, then   
it's pretty certain that the conditions are not for beginners. On   
encountering the first thermal, you are reminded that brake input   
needs to be a bit more than for a top of the range 1-2, but the   
Rookie banks up very easily and then starts to climb. The climb rate   
on the Rookie is very rewarding, and its ability to make the best of   
light lift is top notch. In this respect, it is the equal of any   
glider in any category. In turbulent or broken thermals, there is   
good quality feedback via brakes and harness, and the chest strap   
setting can be used to good effect here. The more experienced pilot   
can open up the chest strap in line with Nova's instructions in the   
manual, suggested range 37-50 cm, making the glider more responsive   
to weight shift, and thus more agile. This makes the glider very good   
in the small pieces of lift found on the smaller sites in the SE UK.   
This glider is good fun to thermal, and will tolerate mistakes made   
doing so and doesn't collapse on the edge of strong thermals if you   
aren't spot on. 
 
Bigs ears are very easy on this glider and any size ranging from very   
small to very big can be made using the outer split A riser. The ears   
resist the pull in at first quite hard but once in are not difficult   
to keep there. On release they roll out quite quickly and evenly. B   
line stalls are firm to pull in, but once in pressure drops and a   
classic B line stall results, with the glider first dropping back   
then as the descent rate builds up the glider comes forward and sits   
slightly forward. The descent rate is quite high if the stall is   
maintained, but on release it snaps out of the stall immediately and   
flies away without any need for pilot intervention and in a very   
confidence inspiring fashion. 
 
Pulling asymmetrics on one side (both A risers) is quite hard as the   
Rookie resists quite fiercely. Pulling the collapse in doesn't result   
in any loss of height and only a very small heading change unless the   
collapse is held in, even then things happen quite slowly and the   
resistance is very high, with the glider inflating immediately you   
release.  The tips do seem to be slightly more fluid than the   
Syntax's, as I noticed the odd little tug when the stabilo line   
pulled tight after going slack in turbulence, but the tips did not   
fold in. Again, this only happens in conditions that are not suitable   
for low air timers. 
 
I had a whale of a time spiraling this glider. The first spiral for   
me on any new glider is always tentative, so I can see how fast it   
goes in and how slowly it comes out. The Rookie enters into the   
spiral in an easy and refined fashion, and will recover smoothly but   
quite quickly from a spiral. I noticed that flying with the wider   
chest strap setting, I had more of a tendency to weight shift into   
the spiral, and therefore slow the recovery if I did not deliberately   
centre my weight on releasing the brake. On the tighter chest strap   
setting, exit is immediate and very confidence inspiring. I   
investigated further and ended up going off the scale on my Bräuniger   
IQ-Compe, something I have never had the confidence to do on any   
other glider. Sometimes if I delayed the exit by converting speed to   
height I could just catch the very tail end of the wake from the   
spiral, but only just. Asymmetric spirals also worked well. 
 
The speed bar is light to use and gives me 42km/h on the first stage,   
and 45-46km/h with occasional excursions to 47 when driven flat out.   
The glider seems to have exemplary stability on the bar. Trim speed   
is between 37 and 38 km/h so the glider is no slouch for something   
certified at this low level. I felt very sure of the bar and used it   
often, obviously with the caveats for avoiding very turbulent air. 
 
The Rookie is great when you are trying for the spot. The glide angle   
goes up a long way when you are in the harness, and degrades very   
noticeably when you are out. It also tolerates very deep braking to   
degrade the glide angle further if you are overshooting the spot.   
Landing it in  stronger winds I find I can reverse concertina it onto   
one tip, but the C line pull also kills the glider well. 
 
Overall the Rookie is great machine, and is fantastic fun for the   
level of  passive safety it offers. There is not much I can find   
wrong with it, although talking to some low airtime pilots they don't   
like the name  Rookie as they feel it associates them with being   
novices. It puts them off, but then bearing in mind the experienced   
pilots flying and enjoying it, why are they worried? Should a name   
put you off a glider that is ideally suited to your level of flying   
just because it has a name that isn't quite what what you want? The   
same people were impressed with the very few lines and performance,   
and the Tattoo/Mamboo colour scheme. The name made not the slightest   
difference to my enjoyment of the wing, and I would thoroughly   
recommend it to anyone looking for a low end 1-2, and also to the   
experienced pilot with other commitments who does get the chance to   
fly often or remain as current as they would like. Performance, fun   
flying and no stress, and an excellent wing from Nova. 
 
Pluses 
 
Performance with simplicity 
High passive safety 
Handling 
Very easy flying all round 
 
Minuses 
 
Rucksack shoulder strap buckle broke after a week 
Name not cool enough for some 
 
************************** 
 



Steve Uzochukwu