kiteNH - 13-5-2008 at 05:59 PM
I really like my new (used) Blade III 6.6, but I'm wondering if this kite has the bridle issue that I read about in some old reviews. It sounds like
some kites had it and some didn't but that one symptom was a horizontal crease. My definitely has a crease, but it isn't very dramatic. I've
attached a picture showing the crease on my kite. Not a great shot, but I think you can see it clearly.
Can anyone tell me what the flying symptoms are? I think that it has flown pretty nice, but I have been a little surprised at the lack of lift. It
has some lift, but I was expecting more. I don't have any trouble holding it at zenith in fairy strong winds without getting lifted. I've also
noticed that it has a tendency to want to overfly (ie fly right over my head behind me) if I don't pull it back, but I don't know if thats just a
characteristic of flying a higher aspect kite or another symptom. I've never flown another Blade in any size or mark so I don't have much to compare
to.
manitoulinkiter1 - 13-5-2008 at 07:17 PM
If you decide you want to try a new bridle I have a brand new one I bought off Davinch on this site I will sell for 40.00 bucks. I bought it just for
the rear bridle for a used blade 3 6.6 I bought. When I got it I was able to use the bridle and instructions to put the original rear bridle on the
kite. I never even took the front bridle lines out.
PM me if your interested.
John
kiteNH - 14-5-2008 at 05:13 AM
Thanks, I might take you up on that if I determine that there is actually a problem. Did you kite have the crease or was the bridle just damaged?
Are there any current or former Blade III owners out there who know anything about the crease?
B-Roc - 14-5-2008 at 09:55 AM
I have an 8.5 BIII without a bridle problem (but I have the free fix from flexi just in case).
The symptoms were a crease in the kite because the A lines stretch more than the Bs and Cs so I believe you get a crease around the B lines but I
don't recall exactly.
Performance problems associated were lots of trouble getting the kite off the ground, luffing and loss of power.
You don't seem to have all those problems. A kite that struggles to get off the ground because of bridle stretch should not then shoot out of the
window.
You do seem to have some funky creases going on in the kite though - what kind of winds were you flying in? Were they low so the kite couldn't fully
inflate and then once inflated shot past the window as the creases smoothed out or were they adequate the whole time.
One thing with the BIIIs is that the bridle legs are so long they often twist around at the tow point if the kite has ever bow-tied. Check that to
make sure twists have not adversely effected leg length and if they are all twisted, undo the tow point, sort the lines and reattach and then see how
it flies.
If that doesn't do it, email flexi for the repair kit (they got me mine within a week). If you put that on and the kite really won't fly, you know
its not the A lines that have stretched.
Or, pick up the new bridle for $40 and put it on - it shouldn't take too long. The 6.6 is an aggressive lifty kite. Did the seller do lots of
jumping?
kiteNH - 14-5-2008 at 12:25 PM
Thanks for the great response B-Roc. I certainly haven't had too much issue getting off the ground. Actually one thing that I really noticed and
love about the kite is that it inflates and launches very easily and can fly in some pretty low wind. The creases are constant though. The kite full
inflates, but always has that crease in the middle. I would say that it is a relatively subtle crease though. You can see it but the kite inflates
fully (as far as I can tell).
I know what you mean about the long bridles. I've sorted them all out in the past and thing that they are okay (ie not twisted) but I should take a
closer look.
The winds were a bit light that day. I didn't take out the meter, but my guess was that was about 10 mph or so. It was enough to get me moving a
little bit on the ATB but I was underpowered. Its possible that I just haven't had it out in high enough winds to unleash the true performance.
Mainly I expected more lift and a little more pull. Also, I might have overstated the overflying and I think that may just be a characteristic of the
kite (that it will overfly if I send it to zenith and don't hold it back) as opposed to a lower lift, lower aspect kite like the Beamer.
I think the last owner used this kite mainly as a buggy engine and not for jumping
I'm not sure what the crease is about but it doesn't sound like I'm suffering from the known bridle issue. Maybe I'll try to get the kit just in case
if they are still available. If I was to replace the bridle with the $40 kit from manitou would it make any sense to just replace the front bridles
and not the rear? And am I correct that the front bridles are the power lines and rear are the brakes?
manitoulinkiter1 - 14-5-2008 at 01:14 PM
Hi.
I bought the kit to put the rear bridle on mine. I guess when guys use the kite in the water they take the rear bridle off and fly two line on a bar.
After I got the bridle kit I realised that I had the original rear bridle in the kite bag but it was just a bunch of different length strings.
All I did was use the new bridle kit to find the right bridle lines for the right spots and used the old bridle.
I just unrolled the rear bridle lines to compare lenghts then rolled them up and put them back.
They are all still labled and unused, I never even unrolled the front lines.
John
B-Roc - 14-5-2008 at 02:48 PM
I would start with an email to Matt / service at Flexi. You may not have severe bridle stretch, but the kite should not be creased in the middle. A
slight crease at the trailing edge from the brakes is all you want to see. My guess is you do have some bridle stretch (or fouled bridles) and its
just not significant at this point (and it may never be significant).
The fix is real simple. You get 4 lines from Flexi with loops on each end (2 As and 2 Bs). You could make it on your own if you had to and I could
give you the dimensions if needed. The cord simply extends the Bs and the As to make them proportional again and allow the kite to fly without the
crease (there might be 6 lines - 2 Cs - but I think there is just 4).
Do a search on "bridle stretch" on the flexi forum and if the posts and links are found you will see the flexi solution and a few homemade solutions
as well.
There is no need to replace the brake bridle so if John only has the power bridle and you want to use that, it will be fine.
As far as the kite not having the lift and bull you expected, that could be due to the crease or the low wind.
I have found that if you can get the 8.5 off the ground, you can jump with it. The 6.6 is plenty lifty with loads of power. Get comfortable with it
in low winds and hold on tight when you get it out in the winds it was designed for. If you still aren't getting mucho traction and lift in those
conditions - address the bridle / crease problem.