Anyone have any info on t-arcs or hi-arcs? Why didn't these kites become very popular? What years were they made and how did they fly. I know Bladerunner has a t-arc from his signiture. I'm becoming an ARCoholic and I don't even own an arc (yet)!

Funny you should mention this today. I finally got a friends 6m Hi-Arc out of the bag and gave it a go. A lot more powerful than I was expecting but was reluctant to climb even when I had the brake lines going slack. No safety features and no donkey dick on the chicken loop....which probably accounts for it sailing off over the paddock. I came to the conclusion that it needed some tuning - there's a cord running inside and across the leading edge that is adjustable...I have no idea what it does and I'm probably not the man for the job. The leaf blower did an excellent job of inflating it and it seemed to launch ok. No idea how you're suppose to land it...... didn't seem like much depower either. I'm keen too to learn a little more.....

Well at least you got it to fly - a buddy here has a Hi-6 that I've been trying to get from him for years to do some work on it. We never could get that one to fly. It was a bugger to inflate and we tried a number of times to use a blower but even then it would launch and no matter what adjustments we did to trim it would race forward and collapse. We got maybe 1-2 passes with it before it would nose fold inward collapse no matter how much air etc. And that was with a handful of us trying - all experienced arc fliers from day one. That one was twitchy as hell if you get it to launch at all - but one day I will get it to do some playing around .... one day ......

John it sounds more like the bar set up didn't have a full set up. In the early days we created our own flagging system for arcs - similar to the current method except we set up two lines to flag the kites since they were more rectangular in shape. Flying with friends you could fly it down to the edge and have a catcher grab the kite along the spar of the lower wing tip and pull the kite toward the pilot and at the same time the pilot would go forward to quickly flag the kite out. Flying by yourself - release the safety to flag out (if you have it set up with a safety)

I would love to get my hands on a Hi-Arc. Like Mark said John, the fact that you got it to fly is pretty remarkable from what I've heard. They sound crazy.

@ Snake, Arcs are crazy kites. So many types and so many variations on a theme. The more I learned about them the more I was blown away and addicted. I really, REALLY like the old F-Arcs the most as far as old Arcs go. So fun.

T is for trainer.

The T arc is almost a joke. 4 line but no real depower. It is a trainer and a real pain to handle alone. It does fly OK once launched but I far prefer to put beginers on my Profoil.

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I would love to get my hands on a Hi-Arc.

The one I have is on loan from Mick333....and I believe it's for sale.. here: http://www.extremekites.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&...

I remember seeing this one posted for sale when we discussed hi arcs once before. I was just looking at the photos again and I haven't seen a HiArc with those extra panels along the leading edge on the last three cells. I wonder if that was added on at some point by the owner? I'm curious if someone was doing some experimenting on the wingtip inflation and then covered up the leading edge again - very interesting. Wouldn't hurt the kite if was added after but haven't seen those panels before - maybe this one came with them?

If memory serves me the Hi Arc was designed to be a high speed buggy engine...... that would make sense from the description you give on how it flies....just a thought.....

I got two - T-ARC 130 and ARC 630.
T-ARC was my first foil and it's a bit of trouble to launch it on your own. Kind of fixed bridle kite as I see it now It needs line length tuned and set carefully because when you try to depower it would collapse upon gaining speed. It rocks flying super fast though you need to carefully pull on the lead line to launch it and gain _any_ speed. Kind of trial-by-fire type of trainer - teaches you patience a lot Overall though it's fun to fly, really, and the C-shape looks cool in the air too.
I got the 630 later because it looks exactly like 130 just bigger. It doesn't collapse like 130 in depower but funny thing is powering up just slows it down and depowereng gets it extra kick of speed and that is when it starts pulling (130 pulls a lot when flying fast too). I took 630 to a beach, and had nice jumps when it's depowered.
Both are nice toys, nice to own

I got bored so I started reading up on F-arcs. Sounds like it may be the best kite for upwind ever made. Then I came across this old page. It had some information on S, T, F, and HI-arcs. It says they made F-arcs in a 900 size. I've never heard of a 900 F-arc. Are super rare or something?

Here is the page where I found the information

http://community.fortunecity.ws/skyscraper/techie/1855/arcfs...

Edit: After doing a quick google search I found a PKF thread on the F-arc 900. It sounds like it was never released but was a prototype.

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?fid=21&tid=...

I have two Hi Arc 6m's. One is set up with a minimal front bridle to let it assume an even lower AOA. Still working on tuning, but it definitely makes it easier to launch 'cuz the kite doesn't invert and you can launch it more like a regualr foil. They are both still twitchy as heck and overfly and tip clap until they get filled up TIGHT. It's a fast little kite. The stock one without a bridle I've actually had better luck launching and flying on long handles. Need to play with them more - too many kites, not enough time.

krumly