A Smithi I have flown twice seems to be diving under the wind, flipping over, filling the backside (now facing forward) with a pop, then falling between the lines.

Am I right to suspect it is excessively lax brake lines contributing? I think the winds were marginal and suspect that in better conditions it might not be as big an issue. This happens at or nearing zenith, which is a lot higher with this kite than I saw on two others, a Synapse and an Ignition. With the speed it approached zenith and that it went so far beyond, am I right to suspect it's due to low AOA.

I didn't see any AOA adjustments in the top or middle bridles, but there are adjustment knots on the brake leaders. Is that a suitable way to change angle of attack? I've adjusted them from the end knot to the middle (of three) for now, but don't expect to be able fly it again for a while. Have I made the right adjusment? After reading and watching some tuning videos, I'd had the idea of adding a short length to the front lines to adjust the angle but then noticed the adjustable brake knots.
Thanks for any additional thoughts or correcting me if I'm off track here in my thinking.

Brake tension would have an impact on overflying the zenith and is the correct adjustment for this kite.

No AOA on the Smithi, so moot point.

AOA adjustment involve the A, B, C bridle group, Adding a short line to the front/power lines won't be the same thing.




If you have move your brake lines to the brake leader knot closest to the kite, that should add more brake tension. Tapping the brakes before you hit the zenith should keep it from overflying.

FWIW: I did receive a kite once where the brake leader notes weren't tied in the right location. Even at the brake leader knot that was supposed to induce the most brake tension, there still wasn't enough. I ended up having to add another knot above the exist one.

Remember, you can also adjust brake tension at the control handle leaders, if you want to test things out before adding any knots on the kite side.

When the brakes are tight enough, you should be able to hammer the brakes in the center of the wind window and snatch the foil out of the air.

ATB,
Sam

That is great help Sam, thanks. I see from the diagram, where the extenders won't do what I thought.

I did go one knot closer to the kite, and will test in the manner you mention. They did have what I thought looked like a lot of droop, so I may need to go another, or as you say, can also remove some slack at the handle end. Thanks for your help.

No problem.... post back with an update. The Smithi has always been on my wishlist.

ATB,
Sam

I've had the Smithi out a few more times since, and was able to fly it better brakes adjusted one knot closer to the kite. Then in stronger winds today, 13-15 going by forecast and Windy site, I moved it again, one knot closer, then back out to the original position of the first knot and had a better experience in each position than in the earliy flights. Also, after starting this thread, I checked lengths and stretched my lines a little. There was about a six inch difference between the longest and shortest (each line two inches apart), which I made adjustments for by adding knots on the handle ends. Correcting that, my added time with other kites, and the higher winds today may have helped with it handling better than my first times out with the lax brake lines.