So the thought is that instead of being attached through the front bridles and steering and de power woth the rear..

could I not be pulled through the brake bridle ?

attached through the rear lines and still turning with the front, does the kite not de-power if I lean further foreward or completelly flag out on brakes should I let go ? ( still being attached through the rear lines )

I am just contemplating new ideas here.. getting back in the saddle so to speak Sproting a new Titanium ankle .

:wee:

i suppose it is better to sy attached through the brake bridle as I would still be feeling pull through the bar/handles.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean. But if that you meant is hook up the breaks to the center of the bar and the LE to the ends, I did that as a noobie who got a "killer" deal on a 05 North Vegas. It steers backwards... I made a very good imitation of a plow.

I would imagine that when you got a gust (assuming your power lines are now at the ends of the bar) it would be very hard to hold onto - the bar would go as far as it could toward the kite powering the kite up more or stalling it depending on your settings. Lots of stress on the outside of the bar too. edit: now that I think about it, with a lot of force on the ends of the bar which presumably is on the stopper, the chance of breaking the bar would be pretty good. I would also assume the kite would be an absolute slug to turn. But I should never assume. It makes an ASS out of U and ME. !!!!

Try it and let us know what happens. But perhaps pick a light wind day.

I suppose there would be a way with some serious modification but anyone who has ever accidently connected line backwards will tell you it probably doesn't work so well.

You have to remember the bridle is designed so that most of the pressure is on the front line so that very little pressure is on the brake lines. You would have to be Superman to control the kite via the front lines. Imagine flying a large fixed bridle kite strictly on handles. After 5 minutes , your arms want to fall off.

Also, if you reverse the line, in order to depower, you have to pull the bar in instead of letting the bar out. If you think about it, that doesn't make sense. You are being over powered, so the bar is gonna go out, not in. Basically , depowering would not work because you will be powered up when you let go of the bar. It's pretty much a death trap.

The center of pressure of every kite changes when you initiate a turn or depwower it - that's why it turns. But that point generally stays well ahead of 50% of mean chord. Maybe 20-30% of mean chord most of the time. On kites with reflexed sections, like Arcs, that point can even at the leading edge or momentarily ahead of it with the kite totally depowered (low AOA). So most of the load is on the front lines. The only kites I've flown that are really rear heavy are NPW's.

Depower kites steer with the rear lines - think of wing warping the trailing edge or ailerons/flaps. 2-line foils steer by changing the center of pressure location and direction relative to the lines by deforming the canopy to one side or the other. 4-line kites on handles can mix the two methods, with some kites biased more toward canopy steering (on the fronts) and some more toward altering the trailing edge.

Van is right - if you let the bar out and the kite can't completely backstall while you're hooked in, you are hosed. Killing the kite by backstalling means you've had to go up the lift curve and pass through the point of maximum lift to get the stall. if the kiet doesn't dump the lift instantly, you get yarded. If you kill the lift by front stalling (luffing) you are dropping down on the lift curve as you lower the angle of attack. The kite's lift-to-drag may increase for a bit and the kite speeds up until you get to the luff, but [I think] it's generally a better way to dump power.

Be careful - I presume one titanium ankle is enough.
krumly

Hey

I think your thinking about this all wrong.
A 4 line fixed bridle kite and a depower kite are totally different.
There are no brake lines on a depower kite. You have your center lines (front) and steering lines (rear). Like everyone says if you switch them you will not be able to turn the kite, and will get dragged.
The kite depowers by changing the kites angle to the wind. You control this by making the back lines shorter(pulling the bar in, more power) or making the back lines longer(letting the bar out, less power).
I know my Flexifoil Blade 3 (fixed Bridle) could be flown on two lines, without the brake lines without doing anything to the kite except taking the brake bridle off.
I don't know of any depower kite you could fly off two lines.
There are places that can explain all this better if you google it.

John

everybody has given you good technical advice but my question is why would you want to?
its not as if its going to fly any better then it was designed to or it would be flown that way in the first place.