Hey all.

I was flying my 5.5 pro-foil and am wondering if power-rings(like people do on the begos) would be a worthwhile mod.

The only reason i wonder is that in the lower wind it seems to have some brake line drag.

Anyone done this?

Thanks,
-Dusty-

They are simple enough to put on if you want to give it a try - not sure if it will make a difference or not. I'm sure many kites see some benefit from them but likely the only kites that see real benefit from them are the racekite style kites like the quadrifoils, firebee MK1 and even the bego (flies like a race kite though I don't think it was designed to be).

I'm not familiar with the profoils so I can't tell you it would make a world of difference - likely not too much difference but you won't know unless you try.

IMO, if you launch the kite in the middle of the window and it doesn't stuggle to get to the zenith in the right wind conditions for that kite - than you don't need them and the impact of adding them will only be marginal.

All kites will struggle in the lower wind range for that kite - power rings aren't necessarily the answer though adjusting the brake lines can be (to some extent).

Thanks for the response.

My real question now. How did the guys come up with the measurements for them? Are they trying to keep the brake lines parallel to the power lines? I mean it this way. If the bridles are pulled straight from the kite, do they want them spaced like that? or were they raising the brake line some?

-Dusty-

mine came with the kite and there were many before me (and DaVinch) who posted what the best lengths were for begos - likely they found out by trial and error.

The goal of the ring is to reduce the amount of weight from the brake lines pulling on the TE so if you put a ring on, instead of 80 - 100 feet of line haning on a bridle it is hanging on a ring and only the bridle leader itself pulls on the TE.

If I started out of the blue I'd larkshead a line to my power bridle about 6-8 inches long and tie a knot every inch in the line then larkshead a loop to a ring and then larkshead that loop to the line and move it an inch at at time until you find the sweet spot.

That should get you started.

That exactly what i did.. I'm hoping to go fly today, but the depends on whether the wife holds that baby in for today.

-Dusty-

I think i need to test it more.

I got the kite up yesterday with the rings on, and it was flying well.

I took the rings off and i was fighting to keep it up. Problem is that i don't know if the wind changed much between flights. So it is really a toss up. I guess i need to try it again and see what happens.

-Dusty-

Has anyone tried the rings on Flexifoil Blades?

Scott

Someon posted this week on either race kites or the FF forum itself that they put them on their 6.6 and 4.9. They commented that they felt it made the kite somehow better but couldn't explain in what way.

The 10.5 is a notoriously ssllllllllllllllllllooooooow turning kite. I don't think the power rings will help you as much as getting the brakes as tight as you can before you stall it out entirely so you can really use them to crank the kite around. I like tight brakes so you can balance the kite on the brakes as opposed to only using them as killers.

I usually fly on a bar. :-P