borntofli - 10-8-2010 at 06:14 PM
Was out today, wind was 10 kts and was doing ok on the 140 mako... Still needing slingshot starts a lot of the time...
Wind dropped to 8 kts, struggle to keep kite up..... Hmmmmm, whin I replaced the lines I had to lengthen the center lines to get it to fly
right...... I pulled out a couple 3" pigtails and lengthened the center lines some more.... Can't hurt to try...
Launched the kite, and noticed I had a lot more static pull.. Moved the kite around and it seemed ok....Out to the water..
Got up easy, but the kite would stall if I pulled in the bar.... Pulled the trim strap in a bit and tried it again.. Not quite as snappy start but
kite flew better, could keep going...
Nest start let trimmer out, got up and quickly pulled the strap in... zoom, up and over the waves I go... Not upwind but good run..
Kind of a pain in the @#* but it beats waiting for those extra 2 kts....
Wind let off a little more and I was done....
Only kiter out.....lol....
PHREERIDER - 11-8-2010 at 06:04 AM
this kite was sealed right? hows it looking?
new lines ...one time i replaced new front lines and failed to remember the stretch factor and the first session with the new stuff was wacko... it
was doable but far from a usable normal. got back rechecked the front length against a known standard and the stretch was almost a one foot!
adjusted it and back to the normal.
krumly - 19-8-2010 at 07:19 PM
I think a lesson learned flying single line kites and dual line stunters static applies here as well: In lighter winds, rule of thumb is to bridle
the kitte further forward to effectivley lower the angle of attack and get the kite to point higher. That's equivalent to shortening the front lines
on your kite.
But if the wind gets TOO light, that low angle of attack may cause trouble even developing enough lift to keep the kite and line aloft. So you
actually end up bridling the kite back, letting it fly at a much lower angle and with more drag to just keep it in the air. No way it will point as
high, but at least it flies. And that's equivalent to lengthening your front lines.
krumly