I'm a retired engineer in Raleigh NC and am studying power kite design. I am looking for an injured (aka inexpensive) Flysurfer Peak to disassemble,
measure, model, analyze and test.
Over time I will also be electronically modeling other styles of power kite (LEI, foil, single line, etc) to build a database of contemporary design.
If you have other 'trashed' kites that you would be willing to part with, please let me know.
Thanks!
Tom Steigelmann
If anyone has already electronically modeled the Peak, please contact me.
abkayak - 30-3-2015 at 07:41 AM
imo...if anyone has destroyed a peak yet they wont fess up...but you never know
good luck B-Roc - 30-3-2015 at 09:43 AM
I'm not sure how Flysurfer and other kite makers would feel about someone making electronic models of their kites. They spend a lot of time
engineering their wings and I doubt they want to make those models readily available and easily copied.tsteigs - 30-3-2015 at 10:40 AM
I totally agree. R&D is expensive and needs protection. This research is not for commercial distribution or use. Thank you for your concern. I
should have addressed this integrity issue in my first post.
We are on the same page regarding proprietary rights of possession.
TombigE123 - 30-3-2015 at 12:27 PM
Have you thought of using kite plans available on the internet to do some modelling, you would not need to dis-mantle anything, you would be able to
get all the details from the printed-out plans and have no worries about copyright / patent problems.acampbell - 30-3-2015 at 01:17 PM
I'm not sure how Flysurfer and other kite makers would feel about someone making electronic models of their kites. They spend a lot of time
engineering their wings and I doubt they want to make those models readily available and easily copied.
I agree with B-Roc. anyone here remember JonesBand and his Montana II knock-off? He was banned after that and under three other similar names.
Save yourself some time and buy a Flysurfer. Looking at your quiver, you have a bit to go first anyway. Sorry if that sounds terse or mean but...tsteigs - 30-3-2015 at 01:49 PM
Thanks for the suggestions. If I were trying to Fly kites on the cheap, you are exactly correct - buying is faster, easier and results in a better
product than almost any homemade kite. However, my interests are academic and not economic. The only reason that I posted on this forum was in an
effort to spread the budget for this project over as many kites as possible for research purposes.
According to http://www.windalert.com/spot/17828, my geographic location only receives about 43 days per year with winds over 15 mph. I need something to do
the other 322 days, and am hoping spend many of them learning about kite aerodynamics and design. bigE123 - 30-3-2015 at 02:41 PM
:D I'm glad you said almost any home made kite. I still think you would learn a lot from "open" kite designs, the ones I've just built have
paraglider origins, much like the Peak and I bet others won't be too far away from that design either, so it would be extremely easy to see the
design, try your own variation to it and get in to the theoretical side, my 12m in fb mode will happily fly in 2-3mph by 6mph you're mobile switch it
to de-power and the whole flying range is increased but the ultra low end is lost.
Rather than trying to copy a manufacturers design go for one of your own, you do n't have to make any compromises like Flysurfer have done to keep
costs down. tsteigs - 30-3-2015 at 03:02 PM
Ian - Glad to hear that your newest kites are working out so well. I've enthusiastically followed your NPW work as well as your new collection.
SingleSkin 0.3, Surfplan and Foilmaker all occupy my desktop. I've sewn probably a dozen kites (including one from your NPW21 plans - thanks! ) Your
work and experimentation is impressive indeed.
My aim, for now, is to study and learn. Hopefully I will be able to contribute to the kiting community the way that you have.bigE123 - 30-3-2015 at 03:06 PM
:D Thanks it's only by sharing we all learn and faster! Try this one as well http://sourceforge.net/projects/singleskin/ There are a lot of parameters to play around with.ssayre - 30-3-2015 at 03:57 PM
Quote:
According to http://www.windalert.com/spot/17828, my geographic location only receives about 43 days per year with winds over 15 mph. I need something to do
the other 322
You won't need over 15 for your 7.7 twister I assure you. :cool2:Bladerunner - 31-3-2015 at 04:41 AM
I believe that Peter Lynn has open sourced his plans for a single skin fixed bridle kite. It might be a good kite to try 1st?
I am not sure if you know of Peter Lynn? He is the original " wing nut " and somebody of interest to somebody like you . You should check out his
OFFICIAL site.
You shouldn't have to destroy a single skin to measure one and make templates? You could buy used measure and then sell? Then you can have flown a
manufacturer designed kite and truly compare your work to it? + it may be the only way to get your hands on a Peak for a while?
What you are doing is cool but I think we all agree that it wouldn't be right to post templates of commercially available kites. I am glad that isn't
your intension. Jonesband ( and some of the china kite companies) has left a folks on here a bit touchy on here about respecting R+D. Balls on you
trying to copy a Flysurfer. May as well look at top quality as your example!
You have actually found the right forum for discussing power kite building. It is topic that has a few followers these days.
Welcome ! tsteigs - 31-3-2015 at 07:18 AM
Bladerunner - Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Several good suggestions. I am a fan of Peter Lynn and subscribe to his newsletter.
Had I known about the copyright infringement problem in the kite industry, I would have approached this forum and project differently. Kudos to all
who have expressed concern about protecting this sport and its manufacturers.
(Caution: one paragraph of defensiveness on my part) My understanding is that in designing a structure less kite (foil or single skin) - more than
half the R & D is designing the bridle. Fysurfer freely publishes this data (http://www.flysurfer.com/files/dlm_uploads/2014/11/PEAK2_LP_...). Plugging these numbers into a 3-D modeling software, one can calculate
quantities such as canopy curvature, AoA & wingtip twist. Based on the fact that Flysurfer publicly shares this data, I made the assumption that
measuring the few remaining parameters for my personal study would not be met with disapproval. This is largely an academic exercise and a way to
feel productive in retirement. (end of justification.)
The type of questions that I would like to explore are: How can the sophisticated bridling and leading edge stiffeners of the Peak be adapted to
improve the wind window of the NPW? Why does the concave edge of the SLE Bow design create such a large depower difference? Can the self-adjusting
AoA quality of a reflex airfoil be used to make kiting safer? grigorib - 31-3-2015 at 12:03 PM
