Pump your wing

The inflation pressure of your wing ensures the rigidity of its inflated structure. However, you have to be careful because even a basic pump can set a pressure capable of blowing up a wing. So before inflating your wing, carefully read its user manual which includes all the precautions for your specific model (inserting battens if necessary, valves, maintenance, storage, etc.).

  Here is a general reminder about the inflation of a wing:

Choose a suitable area

Your wing must be inflated on a ground that will not damage it by piercing or scratching it. If you can, try to inflate your wing on sand or on grass. Beware of frictions on the pavement for example, pine needles on the ground, etc.

Secure your wing

As soon as the wing is out of its bag, you must immediately attach the wrist leash to the loop intended for this purpose on the leading edge because it will allow you to secure the wing once inflated.

When inflating the wing, if you have a cord on your pump, attach it to the loop intended for your wrist leash.

    If you don’t have a cord, use your wrist leash as follows.    

Once your wing is secure, you can unroll it. To unroll it correctly, the leading edge must be perpendicular to the wind and placed upwind. Never put the trailing edge of the wing on the side where the wind comes from.

If you need to insert battens into the batten pockets, do so before inflating the wing. These fit through the center of the gusset on 2020 models and through the back on the latest models. Again, read your user manual carefully. If you lost it, it is available online 😉

The different valves

The inflation valve is the one located on the leading edge. The valve on the central strut only serves as a deflation valve. Firmly close the two valves and inflate the wing with the valve on the leading edge. Don’t forget to check that the anti-return clip of the one pump system is open.

 

Inflation of the wing

Open the leading edge valve top cap and attach the pump hose to the wing. On GONG wings you do not need a particular nozzle, the hose of your pump is to be fixed directly on the valve.

 

Checking pressure

To check if the pressure of your wing is good, we recommend a simple manual test which is reproducible on all the GONG wings of your quiver. Press with your hand on the leading at the level of the central strut:

• If your wing folds quite a lot, it is not inflated enough.
• If your wing folds slightly, it is inflated enough. A flick on the leading edge should make the wing resonate.
• If your wing does not fold at all, it is probably over inflated.

When performing this manual test, you can also rely on visual cues. On a perfectly inflated wing, you should only observe creases at the level of the central strut when pressing with the hand (see the two examples below). If you see creases elsewhere, the wing is not inflated enough. If there are no creases at all, release the pressure by gradually opening one of the two valves.

• Example 1: Wing perfectly inflated with only a few creases next to the central batten when pressed with the hand. There are no creases on other parts of the inflatable structure.

 

• Example 2 : Wing perfectly inflated with only a few creases next to the central batten when pressed with the hand. There are no creases on other parts of the inflatable structure.

The use of manometer

We do not recommend using a pressure gauge to inflate your wing for several reasons:

• As the inflation valve is equipped with a non-return seal, it’s not possible to read the pressure gauge when not inflating the wing (which adds even more pressure). In addition, the needle of the manometer moves quickly, which does not allow an accurate reading of the pressure.
• The reliability of the pressure gauge is very low on most pumps on the market;
• The reliability of the pressure gauge is not guaranteed on a quality pump as the tightness of the hose can quickly deteriorate, especially when used in an environment with sand;
• The pressure depends on the size of your wing*, which can lead to an inflation error when you have several wings in your quiver (while the manual test described above is reliable regardless of the size of your wing).

*Good to know : the pressure required to inflate a wing with a voluminous structure such as a SuperPower 6m2 is less than that required to inflate a Neutra 4m2 due to the phenomenon of surface tensions.

To use the surface tensions to provide the much needed rigidity, a wing whose structure represents a large volume, with for example a leading edge diameter twice as large as your usual wing, will need a much lower pressure (because the evolution of the volume is an exponential of the diameter).

Remember that applying such pressure on a small wing would not be enough to ensure its rigidity and that, conversely, applying the ideal pressure of a small wing on a large wing can make it explode. An additional reason we believe in the use of the manual test described above, as it is simple, reliable and reproducible.

 

Close the one-pump system

Once your wing is inflated, you must clip the anti-return system of the central strut. By separating the central strut from the leading edge, an inflated (and therefore floating) part is ensured in the event of a major leak on one of the two parts.

You can easily clip the anti-return system without having to roll up the neoprene part. The photo below illustrates how the system works: press the part parallel to the tube of the one-pump to close the clips and move the part perpendicular to the tube away to open it.

 

When your wing is inflated, attach the leash to a firm point so that your wing does not fly away. It can be on the foil of your board if well oriented, but also a bench, a trash can, your car, etc. See our tutorial about how to secure your gear on land.