I didn't know you could still buy the mandibule kites !
http://www.mandibule.fr/

Possibly the koolest and floatiest non depower kite I've seen ? Sure looks so from videos I've seen .

Why the heck aren't there any of these that I know of in NA ?

What came 1st the mandibule or the arc?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38v1SYd2Pqw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-PMkw6aj4A&playnext=1&am...

Cool looking. Dual line only?..

That's the old French jumping machine. I looked for one of those for a really long time. They are wicked expensive

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Originally posted by flyjump That's the old French jumping machine. I looked for one of those for a really long time. They are wicked expensive

Agreed. I looked at these about 12 years ago and believe aside from the lack of imporation, the price, had you been able to get them in NA, would have been prohibitive for most.

Looks like a Sputnik from the stunt kites book :D

When people used to rave about how good the flexifoil blade was one of the best jumper kites I would always think back to this kite instead. I've never seen a non depower kite jump as high as this thing. I think they are crazy using these things without break lines, but I think the wrist straps would be way more comfortable for jumping high. You wouldn't have worry about losing grip as much as you would with 4 line handles.

I have never talked to or heard from anybody who has actually used one of these, but I would love to give it a go. If for some reason anybody on PKF gets ahold of one of these I would love to see a review or even "pass the kite"

This is not an ARC at all but a heavily bridled 2-line foil. Kevin is right about the "Sputnik" look and it appears to be the same vintage of early 90's

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Originally posted by acampbell This is not an ARC at all but a heavily bridled 2-line foil. Kevin is right about the "Sputnik" look and it appears to be the same vintage of early 90's

Ha Ha, I expected to get called on the arc bit ! I agree that it is heavily bridled and arguably not an arc. Great attention getting method though !

I can always count on Angus and a few others to keep me in line ! You passed the test and continue to hold my greatest respect !!!

I always thought these were out of production and extremely expensive if you can find one. Guess they are still in production and while expensive do seem to be value for money? If static jumping is your thing at least. Wonder why you don't see them and ATB ?

Looking further it looks a lot more slick than the old Sputnik with a much more slender and refined airfoil. The Sputnik had a blunt trailing edge and was something of a slug.

Big keewee's to be jumping like that though :o nice technique!

The WindDance 1, 2, 3 are kites of about the same generation (the 3 was almost my first foil). They were made by SeattleAir Gear and boy did he have a beef against framed kites. His site is sadly no longer on the internet in any form at all and that's a pitty as he went on and on and on these crazy rants. His kites were not known so much for power but for speed and agility and the ability to not distort based on their "pefect geometry and bridling without spars".




Here is one of his kites in action

That's not sped up?!?! Hell's bells!

Some of the video appears to be chopped up creating the illusion that the kites are faster than they are but they were zippy little kites and very stable. Came in 1, 2, 3 meter configurations and looked great with 50-100' tails on each side. You can see in the picture of the kite that he actually included attachement points on the TE for tails.

The bridle looks very similar to my two line Peels.

I think Mandibules could be built closer to Paraglider specs?
Or are just French Cottage Industry one-offs with decent quality?

They are DEF. insane, tho! :tumble:

(you don't usually see Mandy jumpers being slapped around like rag dolls under them - Blade style. So maybe - even with no brakes - they are relatively manageable and gentle....or it's just editing!) ;-)

Landing them could be interesting...

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Originally posted by lad I think Mandibules could be built closer to Paraglider specs? Or are just French Cottage Industry one-offs with decent quality? They are DEF. insane, tho! :tumble: (you don't usually see Mandy jumpers being slapped around like rag dolls under them - Blade style. So maybe - even with no brakes - they are relatively manageable and gentle....or it's just editing!) ;-) Landing them could be interesting...

If you look at the wing / TE profile you will see that mandibules more closely follow the wing profile of an airplane then typical kites like the Blade. I would think that has a significant impact on their glide ratio as evidenced by the videos.

Also while they seem somewhat floppy / deforming note the # of cells. Quite high per meter compared to non-race kites and even a bit high compared to those. While floppy, that canopy must be super rigid, if you know what I mean, once inflated. That too has a huge impact on float / glide / stability.

hi guys!
I live in France and can tell you that mandibule foils are always available...

I'm jumping with my Flexifoil blade (FB) III 8.5 but know a lot of people who own this kite (6, 8 and 10m²)..
These foils are expensive because the manufacturer (this man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dqp3dv5-3g) makes himself and alone these kites.

I usually try these and can tell you that it is really powerfull, you jump high quickly I think even more than with blade 8.5... but you need a minimun of 14/15 kts to compete with FB...

However, mandibule is a little less floaty than Bl at the end of the jump (you can see that in the 2 first vids of this topic); but when you can not hold the blade (too windy), the mandible still will be there (less lateral traction...), so best jumps..

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Originally posted by cheezycheese The bridle looks very similar to my two line Peels.

The WindDances are much smaller than the Peel, but cross-bridled like the Peel.

They pack down really small in tubular bags, you can probably fit a Winddance 1, 2 and 3 into a very small knapsack.

The do look pretty cool flying with tails. I preferred Premier Combo Tails because they were low drag and the packs came in 6 15' segments in different color themes you could mix/match.

The Winddance's were eerily quiet in flight even in higher winds. When 1 of each size came up for sale a couple of years ago, I snagged the full set.

And yes, they are wicked fast... especially when the wind is up.

ATB,
Sam