Manta Fledge 3 ET. Serial No 141

Hi guys
Have an un-flown, but damaged, Fledge 3 and wish to restore it to flying condition. It must be 20yrs old. Its sail and tubes condition are much like new.
[A hyster ran over the nose plate and leading edge tubes as it lay in Cape Town docks, whilst being delivered from Manta to a friend all those years ago].

It appears nearly complete, 'tho the replacement leading edge tubes are lying loose and unfinished.

The batten shape drawing is present with all the battens too.

Does anyone have rigging info, close- up photo's of specific parts of the glider, any manuals from Manta or can advise about rigging to flying state?
For instance, do the wing poles have to come apart to rig - unrig? There are pins locking the halves.

I presume there was a tensioning device between the upper nose plate and the King Post? What is its dimension from pin to pin centres, when tensioned?
There is quite a difference in style of landing cable wiring over the tip of the King Post.
The post would be unable to move sideways once the wing cables are rigged, due to the built in 'stops', but the post would seem to be able to move back and forth when the keel landing cable is rigged, as there are no 'stops' on this and only the tension would keep it in place. Further, the keel landing cable is PVC coated, which will certainly be deformed once slotted over the tip of the post.
The glider is built so precisely this seems quite odd. Any ideas anyone?

Is there any chart or info about flying speed against all-up weight available anywhere?
The stalling speed against weight?
Does anyone know what the total flying weight could be?

Any help would be appreciated a lot and probably save much fiddling about and future calamities.
Best wishes
Paul

Hi Paul, I really am not all that into the Pfledge III, but thought perhaps asking a schematics from the manufacturing company might be a good idea?

Thanks Copper.
Sadly the company, Manta, is long gone I am told. Another company made a powered version based on the wing and they have disappeared too and became DFE. This company appears to have gone as well, as I can't raise it.

I do find some interesting info on the PTimes site, which deals with the powered version of the wing long ago.

Best wishes
Paul

Ah, that's a pity I am trying to figure out how you can best obtain an old schematic. There must be somewhere someone who still has one?

I owned and flew a Manta Foxbat trike with a Fledge III. I sold the trike and built my own trike and flew it for a while. I later sold the whole set-up and now which I hadn't. It was like brand new.

As far as documentation, I never had any. It seems like it should be fairly easy to reconstruct. I am curious, what kind of flying are you hoping to do with it?

Chuck

Hi Chuck
Thanks for your message.

I intend using the kite for un-powered ridge soaring.

The slide arrangement on the cross bar, for the rudders, looks a weird business to use. I presume that when sliding it one would pull the body weight across to that side and assist the wing dropping. Does it?
Seated in a powered version one could exert almost unlimited sideways pull, but suspended? Looks strange, but obviously works.

There are several things that are not obvious to me on this kite. Perhaps you can help me with some info.
For instance, on each wing interior there is a cable leading from the upper surface of the rear spar, attached near the outboard compression strut, that leads inward towards the keel. I presume this is a strain cable that would help prevent the wing assemble moving rearwards during high speed? But, where was it attached? I would think that it could only go onto the nose plate main wing bolt. Does it? On to the top nose plate bracket or the bottom? As this thing was never flown there are no rub marks to indicate where.

Does one have to part the wing spars to de-rig the kite? I will find out eventually, when the new inner front spars have been made. But it would be nice to have your input.

The keel rear landing wire seems to be too long, and I can't see how it will fit anywhere. It is long enough to go over the King post and half way forward to the nose plate. Yet it isn't made for that as the front wire comes back to the King post correctly.
The nose wire goes back to fit into the slot on top of the King post and has a 'stop' swaged to fit there, and the PVC sleeve is missing too, to fit into the slot. However, the rear keel landing wire is far too long. Perhaps the previous owner has made changes, but somehow I don't think so. Any ideas?

Was there a tensioning device on the keel landing wires, somewhere? I can't see where it could fit at the moment. Only at the rear, where the nose wire ends behind the King post, but the rear wire is far too long.

The tubes are probably 6061-T6. On other web sites the opinion was that 7075 tube only appeared after year 2000.
My feeling is that if the softer tube was OK back then, it will still be OK now, for ridge soaring at least.

Another comment I saw was that the wing tip 'Washout' rendered the Fledge 3 wing unsuitable for power pod, and that is why the Fledge 2 design of
wing was used. I would think more washout was better actually, but at high speed would become a liability, I hear.
But your experience was different Chuck?

My friend, the previous owner of this kite, said the Fledge 2 accelerated very quickly and became very pitch sensitive at speed. Also the stall often caused a loss of 400 ft altitude.
Makes one ponder, yes?

Hope to hear from you
Paul

I have a couple of Fledge 3 wings (Fledge 2 as well)

I'll dig up some docs this weekend if I can and send copies.

Stephen

Hi, I am currently flying a fledge 3 with foxbat trike I can take pictures of anything you need to see.

I also have the manuals scanned if you need them.

Ken

Hello, i am looking for a fledge III. I am located in vermont and have over 500 hrs in a fledge. would you consider selling one or know of anyone who would? thanks. Tim Bush 802 496 2626

Hi Tim
Your post has come to rest in the topic I started some months ago.
I have an un-flown Fledge 3 that needs a new owner. It's in excellent condition.

However, it is in Cape Town, South Africa and a long way from you. I think the cost of transporting it to USA would not be worth it.

If you'd like more info please contact me.
Best wishes
Paul

Hi Paul, Thanks for responding! The fledge III is my favorite glider in the world that I have ever flown and being almost 50 years old I look at this as my big last stand at hang gliding and am very interested in playing this thing out. How much for the glider and any shipping suggestions, air or sea. Pictures and a Phone # please.

Thanks ,

Tim Bush

Hi Tim
Thanks for your message. Please give your e-mail address so that contact can be easier.

The info you require will take a week or more. The weather here is appalling and photo's will be late.
I will contact shipping companies next week and try to get costs.

Best wishes
Paul

Hi Paul,

Email is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thanks;

Tim

Hi Paul, Just curious about the color of the sail, top surface, leading edge, under surface, and rudders so i can dream in my head.

Thanks,
Tim