Power Kite Forum

Shortening bar throw on HQ Apex 3

rectifier - 30-10-2015 at 12:33 PM

Just took what is going to be my wife's 5m Apex 3 for an underpowered static fly at lunch. It seems a nice well-behaved engine but I can barely reach the bar at full depower. I actually can't reach the trim straps or the top hat unless I claw them towards me. Being underpowered I really had to stretch my arms out to get it to fly high... not much fun

I'm not tall but not particularly short either. Her arms are far shorter than mine and as a beginner I sure want her to be able to reach the safety! Is there a way to get all that stuff closer?

cheezycheese - 30-10-2015 at 12:56 PM

I have the same issue. Can't wait for someone to chime in here.

B-Roc - 30-10-2015 at 01:16 PM

Someone posted directions on how to shorten the chicken loop and hopefully they will chime in with the link.

I have long been interested in HQ kites but have never pulled the trigger because of that constant complaint and the fact that I'm not very tall. Simple problem for HQ to have fixed a long time ago and a true shortcoming from this bystander's perspective.

ssayre - 30-10-2015 at 01:20 PM

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=29110#pid28...

there is the last thread I remember about shortening the chicken loop.

windrider1 - 30-10-2015 at 03:03 PM

gemini6kl - 30-10-2015 at 03:04 PM

Buy some colored climbing rope and attach a strap a few inches long to the depower and power straps respectively. I have done this with one of my bars for a SLE inflatable kite as it needed a long throw to get 100% depower when u let go of the bar. You can technically shorten the depower line which would bring the bar a little bit closer. All kite equipment can be taken apart and adjusted to your liking, its just a matter of how handy you are with tools and how brave you feel.


rectifier - 30-10-2015 at 03:28 PM

Cool, I'll have a look at shortening the chicken loop as described. I thought I would have to adjust the line lengths in some way, but that's a lot easier.

I had another thought. I usually ride with a climbing harness with carabiner clipped to it at the belay point, rather than a harness with a hook.
I can loop the chicken loop through the inner part of the harness, like one would a climbing rope, and that would bring the bar quite a bit closer. Might not work when dressed for the winter, but worth the experiment

abkayak - 31-10-2015 at 05:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl  
Buy some colored climbing rope and attach a strap a few inches long to the depower and power straps respectively. I have done this with one of my bars for a SLE inflatable kite as it needed a long throw to get 100% depower when u let go of the bar. You can technically shorten the depower line which would bring the bar a little bit closer. All kite equipment can be taken apart and adjusted to your liking, its just a matter of how handy you are with tools and how brave you feel.




i think i know somebody who can expect my Apex in the back of their car...only be returned w/ all sorts of cool mods
im really happy about this :D

nate76 - 31-10-2015 at 07:13 AM

I had good success with both methods: creating a shorter chicken loop and also using a a harness like the Ozone Access that had a loop rather than a spreader bar. You could thread the CL through the loop for a real short connection (I loved that harness for that reason alone).

Here is the CL I made (it should be noted that this isn't in any way endorsed by HQ):



I made mine out of some 1/4" sailing rope I had laying around from when I modded my old Ozone Access kite to an adjustable depower system. If I remember right, the tubing came from a used up Slime bottle. Mine was a little on the short side, but worked fine.

I'm hoping this problem gets resolved in the new Apex V. They are still using the older CL, but are moving to a clam-cleat depower which I believe was causing some of the problem before. The original Matrixx had the same CL/ clam cleat setup as the new Apex V will have. The depower throw length never seemed to be an issue on that kite, so I'm guessing the problem will be fixed.

rectifier - 31-10-2015 at 12:00 PM

Went flying today. Looks like I'm great with the existing chicken loop just hooked through the close loops of my harness - we'll see what happens come winter and snow pants. My wife... not so much. She still can't reach the top hat and it's a stretch to full depower.

I have some spare Amsteel lying about so I think I'll make her a short loop. Does the tubing serve any real purpose if Amsteel is used? That stuff is incredibly abrasion resistant, but is there another reason for the tubing?

nate76 - 31-10-2015 at 12:35 PM

No, the tubing is really just there to protect the line. If you stitch through the tubing, it also serves to lock your splices so they don't slip out. I personally wouldn't recommend leaving the tubing off. There's probably a reason why every chicken loop manufactured has some sort of sleeve/tubing.

gemini6kl - 1-11-2015 at 09:48 AM

my hourly rate is very expensive u knw. :lol:but when I'm done with it it will fly better than the manufacturer intended. :wee:


Quote: Originally posted by abkayak  
Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl  
Buy some colored climbing rope and attach a strap a few inches long to the depower and power straps respectively. I have done this with one of my bars for a SLE inflatable kite as it needed a long throw to get 100% depower when u let go of the bar. You can technically shorten the depower line which would bring the bar a little bit closer. All kite equipment can be taken apart and adjusted to your liking, its just a matter of how handy you are with tools and how brave you feel.




i think i know somebody who can expect my Apex in the back of their car...only be returned w/ all sorts of cool mods
im really happy about this :D

rectifier - 16-11-2015 at 11:22 AM

Went flying with the wife yesterday and her arms were still too short :)

So I made the new CL last night, similar length to Nate's there. It's about as short as it can be without being useless. The only tricky part is getting enough bury length. I.e. you can't get enough bury length.
So I double stitched it and then whipped it on top of that. Stuck a rod through the loops and pulled until I bent the rod, guess that ought to be strong enough!

Quite a bit shorter, I hope it will do the job. Hope I can find some time next weekend to test it with her, deer season opens Friday...

B-Roc - 16-11-2015 at 01:08 PM

There's a season for deer to fly kites in Canada? Wow, just when you think you've heard it all ;)

cheezycheese - 16-11-2015 at 02:19 PM

Quote: Originally posted by B-Roc  
There's a season for deer to fly kites in Canada? Wow, just when you think you've heard it all ;)



:dunno:

windrider1 - 16-11-2015 at 02:49 PM

Eairlier I think I was not clear when I said to shorten the chicken loop I meant shorten the depower line not chicken loop line and that should bring the straps closer to u but may require u to take apart the bar . The easiest method is to just add some rope to each strap I instead of altering your bar.

rectifier - 17-11-2015 at 10:54 AM

Won't shortening the depower line result in decreasing depower range? If shortening the CL is enough then that will be great, otherwise I'll look into doing some further mods.

My main issue is not the trim straps (reachable by stretching, really don't need constant adjustment for a beginner) but that she can't reach the top hat if she needs to pull it. Perhaps lashing a rope around the top hat and then attaching that rope to the bar where it is easily reachable could be a solution.


cheeze you hit the nail on the head... kite eating antlers. Gotta get rid of those deer and keep them safely in the freezer

gemini6kl - 17-11-2015 at 11:44 AM

May be u can swap the HQ bar with another in your quiver or just look into buying another bar because I think time ure done the bar will be really modded to a point its dysfunctional. Look into getting another on ebay with a shorter throw and get a leash so u can attach it to the brake line handle when u activate the safety release.