Power Kite Forum

i got a free nasa kite very strange

nanna&jordann - 18-12-2013 at 09:41 PM

i bought a brand new 5.5 m peter lynn pepper kite unopened band new still in bag ,got it for 300 nz and when it arrived in the post i opened the bag and my thought was what the hell is all this other stuff in the bag ,so i pulled out the bag ad there was a mass tangle of bridle lines and a small kite so open it up and thought no way its a nasa kite ,i spent half an hour untangling the bridles and wow sure enough it was,all the lines for the pl pepper kites was in a sealed bag and you can see the kite is new ,there was two chunky padded straps and some extra kite line in the bag as well ,the kite come from a kite dealer and the pepper was just old stock he getting rid of,i raced up the road to the park 300 meters down the road and put a set of lines and handles of the nasa kite ,it be 2 meters i guess oh my god it dragged me across the ground i never knew a kite could pull like a train and rip your arms out ,its strange to fly so different to a foil its one crazy behaved kite,i had to stop after 15 minutes and headed home for a coffee as my arms was killing me ,can you fly these with a harness with the handles like how some do ,all advise welcome

John Holgate - 18-12-2013 at 09:53 PM

Check out some of the threads on NASA wings/stars under the review section. You can fly em on bars or handles, with or without 'z' bridles.. There's a fair bit of discussion on all the options plus a few vids too.

rectifier - 18-12-2013 at 09:57 PM

Congrats on the free kite! Not sure how it snuck into the "unopened new in bag" kite bag but...

If you have a strop line between your handles then you can rig it to your harness by passing it through a carabiner or similar clip. Nasas have a ton of drag force and should be kept near the edges of the window at all times if you value your arms! If you are being dragged, you should probably have a quick release on the carabiner and kite killers rigged to at least one brake line.

You may need to hold the handles halfway down instead of at the power lines, as NPW kites require a constant brake input to fly properly. Is it a Nasa Star (2 lines) or someones home build (4 lines)?

nanna&jordann - 18-12-2013 at 10:16 PM

it has 4 lines and it dosnt look home made its black and white ,i will try and get some photos in the next couple of days as going away for the weekend kiting with my grandson

some photos

nanna&jordann - 19-12-2013 at 03:00 AM

photos show kite ad one with front lines and the back lines and one with the line attachments you can half hitch them together ,any help on this kite would be good

001.JPG - 82kB007.JPG - 122kB008.JPG - 93kB006.JPG - 68kB

skimtwashington - 19-12-2013 at 04:40 AM

Looks like a no-name Chinese NPW5. Yes... fly w/strop and harness. What else you need to know?

bigE123 - 19-12-2013 at 04:41 AM

Looks like you have a model 5 Nasa ParaWing, to fly it in four line mode you need to hold the handles with your hands below the top power line, so your top finger is just under the line, it needs constant brake input otherwise the nose will keep dropping, hence holding it lower down the handle. We had some strong winds awhile back and I threw my 3m NPW5 up and realised what a nice kite they are. To put it on a bar, or to hold the handles like a foil you really need a "Z" bridle which hooks the brake bridles to the power lines and holds the brakes on to keep the nose up, but it also allows you use it as a four line for brake turning and back-stalling.
http://freedom2000.free.fr/NPW_plans_eng.html
try this link there is a software link on the page, if you download it and run it, on page 4 it shows a Z-bridle.

Michael Gaylan - 19-12-2013 at 06:06 AM

@nanna&jordann they just called and said they want their kite back..


LOL jk

NICE kite!

Bladerunner - 19-12-2013 at 06:21 AM

Just the fact you had a clue what you got shows how far you have come ! The fact you figured out how to fly it ( with the added brake input required ) says a lot for your skill level as well.

How nice for you to have hands on experience with single skin right when they are getting renewed interest.

abkayak - 19-12-2013 at 07:15 AM

cool story...fly everything you can it's the best education

bigE123 - 19-12-2013 at 07:16 AM

PS it must be a real NASA coz it's black 'n' white!! :D

kitemaker4 - 19-12-2013 at 08:50 AM

You do have a npw5. As others have stated if you fly with handles you can put a link line and hook into a harness. Flying the kite on four lines gives you more control over flying it as a two line. For its size, the nasa wings have tons of pull. I have been flying and making them now for well over 5 years now. Good luck.

Susan (npw goddess)

bobalooie57 - 19-12-2013 at 09:24 AM

:thumbup: You can't beat free! A great way to be introduced to the NPW, too. Must be they sent padded straps/lines so you can fly it in 2-line mode by attaching both power and brake bridles on one side together to one line/strap. You may have already found that they are way more responsive flown as a 4-line kite, with tons of pull for their size.

z bridle

nanna&jordann - 19-12-2013 at 02:10 PM

thank you for you kind words, i will be up for a challenge with this kite as well as learning what i can but also respecting the wind and my own boundaries,i down download the file from the link provided was just numbers for the bridle making,so did a search on here and google for the z bridle and thought um ok so i tied the two lines back together and added another loop its z shaped looks the same sort of thing from a picture i seen ,but i made it more simple for a quick fix only you an tell me if it will work as its beyond my head

2013_12_20_09_53_00_846.jpg - 220kB

2013_12_20_09_54_22_477.jpg - 221kB

bigE123 - 19-12-2013 at 02:59 PM

Difficult to see, it may be upside down! Here you go

nanna&jordann - 19-12-2013 at 05:30 PM

what size o rings would you use and would anyone have a photo of it set up with o rings for a better idea,would you add some of short string pieces to put your line on to instead of straight to the o ring,i went up to the par this morning and had better results flying it by shorting the top line and it flew better that yesterday

rectifier - 19-12-2013 at 05:42 PM

You don't need any rings, you can just tie it up. Depending on your kites factory tuning, you may be able to fly like your pics show.
If you find it flies sluggish or the nose collapses, you will need to make a similar set of extensions on top of the factory ones, allowing adjustment on the kite side of the brakes. You will know it's right when you can fly the kite by gripping the power line attachment points alone.

bigE123 - 20-12-2013 at 12:40 PM

Bang on rectifier ;-)