we are considering developing a Pansh Depower Kit to convert the Ace from fixed bridle to dynamic bridle.

kit would include parts and instructions to convert it and a bar with optional chicken loop.

any interest before we R&D?

I would be interested in an adjustable bridle, but not in depower or a bar at this time. I'm very uneducated in bars and depower but understand how an adjustable bridle works aka Blade IV. That could make the Ace more versatile. Since I'm not doing anything on wheels or water at this time, I'm not sure a bar would help me flying static.

Since Pansh kites have a lot of appeal for the budget conscious, I suspect that the price of the kit would be a big factor in determining interest.

Do you have any estimates on how much such a kit would cost?

John,

Have you mentioned this on RK or Pansh forums? A few takers there Im sure. Are you going for a patent on this as someone will probably duplicate your idea? Ok let me stop being so political. Some lazy a$$ will prosper thru your hard work!

the kite could still be flown on handles.... just swap the bar for handles. the depower sheeting action would be utilized by the brake lines. it could even be "locked-out" and flown as 2 line.

cost would depend on accessories... bar or no bar, chicken loop or not, pulleys or rings, etc... i would be personally making each one custom.

the end-user would be ultimately tuning the kite as they would be installing it. its a good chance to further mentally and physically grasp bridling kites and AOA concepts.

the "base model" would be the 5m but could be scaled up or down proportionally for different sizes.

it would not be beneficial to patent this..yeah, someone could copy it... we have accepted that and we're not going to fuss too much about it.

as far as other forums... 2 is enough. PKF and foilzone are the best anyways.

for those of you belonging to other forums, feel free to post the idea on those and further the discussion.

Powerzone,

You may want to have a look at Mee's site. He goes over two retrofit kits that are already on the market and quite popular that already do basically what you're after.

http://www.powerkite.me.uk/

Both the Pegas Wing Warp(WW) kit and the Universal Depower System(UDS) seem to work well, but different, the WW kit is a bit more choppy on the operation, but doesn't lose much of the kite's low wind pull, while the UDS is much smoother, but does trade off some bottom end.

I've made a UDS system from scratch after looking at his site, worked well, but I wasn't happy with the way the kite flew on it. Not as quick to turn and lost a lot of bottom end. I put the kite back on handles.

thanks Pablo, i've been to that site. i can't do similar systems without being sued for copyright issues. that's why this would be Pansh Specific.

the UDS has too many pulleys and is heavy.

Good luck with that ... be interested in what you find. The Ace isn't the ideal candidate for depower due to the bridle layout, but will stand about 6 degree plus AoA changes.

Have fun ... and report back ...


PS - two forums is NEVER enough ..lol

initial depower rigging proves positive... it depowers well and should be an awesome medium trainer kite when done.

too busy modding Speed kites to continue.. perhaps later in Feb or March.