Tridude, BeamerBob or Wexler, When you guys had the Ace 4.0 what knots did you find worked best [or at all!] I had the Ace out today for its trial flight and it was not pretty. Simply put, it would not fly in the power zone unless it was at 12:00 above my head. Any other angle and it felt like there was a weight pushing the kite to the ground. Winds were 10 or so with small dropouts. The Bullet flew with no issues.
I was flying on the factory settings- no mods done. My other Ace has the same issue from 12 feet off the ground and under. This one has it at all heights. So let me know how it flew for you and any mods that helped.

Anyone else have this issue?

Hey,

Every Pansh I've flown including yours doesn't really kick in until you get the brakes loose enough that you just have enough to land it with full brakes. If there is tension on the brakes it will kill the forward motion of the kite. You want the brakes to droop until you are landing or helping a turn. I usually fly one with the handles tilted back somewhat so I make sure not to tap the brakes. Every time I've flown a pansh for the first time, I spend some time seeing how loose I need to get the brakes so the kite will fly. It usually takes 1-4 adjustments to get it just right. Then you will have a fun kite that looks great in the sky. Of course you would still tap the brakes if you approach the edge of the window too fast and need to stop it from overflying the edge, or if you need to help it turn faster. Good luck and let us know how this works.

If I remember correctly, Pansh makes their brake lines a little longer than the power lines to help avoid all the adjustments.

Retracted due to brain flatulence.
(You might have to make some pigtails to lengthen your power lines at the leaders.)

Correction:
If you are making pigtails, make them for the brakes to help them be plenty long, but I've always handled this by tying knots on my handle leaders for the powerlines, and having the brakeline attachment at the kite as long as possible

Yelp sounds like to much brake.

Susan (npw goddess)

I have my lines tied off at about an inch up from the handle, power that is. And kitemaker, you can't just take my sig idea!!! :P

NPW
i
c
k

I think it might be the brakes too but wanted to cut to the chase and ask you 3 since you all have flown it before. I figured you already had to tweak it and I could just ask you what worked best and avoid all the trial and era.
Bob- You mentioned make the power leaders longer. I was thinking the opposite. Make the brakes longer. If I make the powers longer that would cause the kite to "sit back" in the AOA right? My thought is that would worsen the issue- or would it? I am thinking I I need to turn the top leading edge "down" towards the ground for more lift. Or am I overthinking this whole issue?:puzzled: Thoughts?

I do not want to tie knots in my handles because that would throw off my other kites- extensions is the way to go

I got my thoughts crossed up on that one. Post above has been corrected. You would want to make your brakes long and powers short. You will definitely want to use pigtails if you are sharing lines and handles among kites. I would never have the patience for that at all. I have handles for every kite and even have one extra set as a backup. How do you deal with tangles that are more possible once you have the lines detached? You can find good handles for $20, which was well worth it for me.

http://www.coastalwindsports.com/servlet/the-92/4-dsh-line-t...

Parapacking, My dear friend! Which seems to be the other topic of the day on this site!

As for the handles, I have about 5 extra sets in my goodie bag [ 2 pansh, one Rhombus, one Profoil] But as usual... I stick with the Flexifoil!

I will give the old pigtails a try.

I've got a couple of small ACEs and you have to fly brake neutral ,any brake input should be very slight.

Quote:

[/qoute] Make the brakes longer. If I make the powers longer that would cause the kite to "sit back" in the AOA right? My thought is that would worsen the issue- or would it? I am thinking I I need to turn the top leading edge "down" towards the ground for more lift. Or am I overthinking this whole issue?:puzzled: Thoughts?I do not want to tie knots in my handles because that would throw off my other kites- extensions is the way to go

The AOA on a fixed bridle kite is ....  fixed . Brake ( D ) input only warps the trailing edge. Many newer fixed bridles AOA can be manually adjusted. To accomplish that you are adjusting the other 3 rows  ( A,B,C) of bridle .  Adding extensions to the brakes sounds like your solution.

Beach,

Sorry for the delay........looked at the handles that came with the 4m. I had the power lines about 3 inches in on the leaders and the brakes on the leader end knot. I had Peter Lynn lines on the 4m and when I set the kite up all four lines were equal length. Sounds like too much brake. Might want to have a look at your power lines to make sure they havent stretched. I linked pics for you to look at approximate brake slack. This picture was taken while flying with a strop/harness. Looks to be too much brake slack but she flew nice. With the handles off the strop/harness, basically neutral brakes.........

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2389/2003301089_fabbb4b047_b....

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/2003218855_63158f79b1_b....

Tri- thanks for the info. I have not been able to fly since last week and it is pouring out today so I am going to have to wait some more! You gave me the info I was looking for which was the 3 inches on the leaders. I might use a different set of handles just for this kite.

As for the pics- I do not have the "telephone wires" for brakes that you had! I definately have a tight brake issue now that I saw that! Mine are loose but need another 4 inches.

That yellow is really a beautiful kite against the clear blue sky. That is an excellent example of how the brakes should be set up on a Pansh Ace or Blaze IMHO. Tridude, I remember when I flew the 4m Ace, I did something to increase the length of the brakes. Seems like I added 2-3 inches to suit my tastes. Can't remember if I did it at the handles or if there was adjustment available at the kite.

no luck on the adjustment- it has to be done adding piggys or move up the powers on the leaders. I am going to West Marine to buy 2 feet of line and have the salesman give me dirty looks for a lousy 2 feet! Maybe I will make his day and buy 4 feet so I can make another strop!