Gunnar has a video on youtube of him goofing around with a depowerable bridal for the Twister

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeYkiLDhAVg

I'm gonna start the bridal work myself soon as well on the Twisters I have here. It seems simple enough for those that want to try it out. Maybe we can all work on a specific kite size and post line lengths that work the best.

Gunnar told me to create 6 more Bridle legs for the B and C as they are all connected with the As. Use the same length as the lines that are holding the the A B C together. I'll try and post some numbers if I come up with something that works for me.

Credit to Gunnar for taking the project on and making it work!

dang, that thing is fast :alien:

Which Twister was that? Awsome speed and power, and the de-power looked to work beautifully! Bob

Since he's a team rider, a twister II. I'm excited to try it!

Has anyone else tried this yet? This weekend I was able to seperate the A,B,C and Z and made the bridal lines to setup the pulley system but didn't have enough time to finish. I'm just spitballin a length estimation for the 4.1 I'm working on but thought I'd see if anyone else had taken this project on yet as well? I think I'll have it ready by the weekend to fly. I'll report with my findings for the 4.1

I have also messed with older kites switching them to depower. I modeled it after the Paraflysurf UDS. What i really want to know is can we get Gunnars opinion on how much power was lost on the kite after the conversion. Popular opinion is that a depower kite has considerably less power then a fixed bridal kite. Enuff to be considered like a size or two smaller.
We here have a kite that was switched from fixed to depower so its apples to apples.

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Originally posted by bobalooie57 Which Twister was that? Awsome speed and power, and the de-power looked to work beautifully! Bob

That's got to be the Twister II 5.6m unless he has a special color in another size, the 5.6m and the 3m come in that color scheme...

I'd like to see more and details...

That would be fun to mod my 7.7m...

Yeah, I would assume it has alot less power going from a fixed bridal to depowerable.

That's sort of the reason to do it I'd think. The Twister is perfect right now as a fixed bridaled kite. No need to mod. But Peter Lynn hasn't come out with an open cell depowerable kite yet which I've been waiting for for a while. We're mostly a snowkiting nation up here and I'd love to have that option for snowkite trips across lots of ground. These Twisters pack up alot smaller then my ARCs and the useable wind range could potentially increase for fewer kites to pack in my pulk.

I'll do my 7.7 after I figure out this 4.1.

its a ver 2... looks just like mine, only orange (mine is blue... way cooler lol)

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Yeah, I would assume it has alot less power going from a fixed bridal to depowerable

why would you assume this?when the kite is fully powered would it not have the same shape? wouldnt the only difference be in extra bridal weight and drag?
Can we get gunnar to comment on this?
I believe there is only minimal difference in power when fully powered up.

i just setup my Twister II 7.7m using a UDS System from U-Turn.

havent flown it yet, waiting for the weekend.

pictures and report to follow.

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I have also messed with older kites, switching them to depower...

Hey snobrdr, how are ya? Just wonderin' what was your observation on your conversion? Way less power, or just a little? ( It seems Gunnar doesn't check these forums or he would've answered and removed all doubt.) I think your observation would be just as valid. Bob

you can sent Gunnar an email if you'd like.

he can be reached over at: www.arc-kite.com

Hey bob, I didnt have enuff time on the kite i converted, it was an old concept air, 7.3M. I think it was origionally a 3 line which i did a home made UDS on. It came with a bar and i had to guess on setup, and only flew it once or twice that way. After the conversion most of my flights were in light wind, doing setup and really never got a feel for it. So thats why i wanted to hear others comments on this. I will try to contact Gunnar and get his opinion.

I assumed this because changing a kite from fixed bridle to depowerable involves changing the kites tow point. When you move the tow point from a grouped A,B,C point to 2 points A,B and C,Z it changes how the kite flies. That's why you can see a guy out on a 13M Frenzy and while someone else is on a 6M fixed. I would take my 7M Psycho2 out in winds I won't dare take that 7.7M Twister out in. I'd probably hurt myself really bad.

Here is the email to Gunnar

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Hello Gunnar We are having a discussion on power kite forum about your depower conversion on a twister. What we would like to know is how much power was lost in the conversion. Popular opinion is that a depower kite has considerably less power then a fixed bridal kite of the same size. So a 5m depower is like flying a 3M fixed bridal.I believe that the power lost is only small due to extra lines which is extra weight and drag. I know being a depower you can drop the power in the kite, but the max power is not that much less then the fixed bridal version. Please if you can give your opinion on the conversion, and max power of both versions Thank you.

And Gunnars responce.

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I my experience it depends on how much depower you want to get out of the kite On my attempts with our twister 2s I have managed to dump about 30% of the power, without much loss of overall power When you want a to get rid of 50%-80% of the power, then you will have to make compromises for stability and then you will loose low end.

So i would guess on a depower kite fully powered up the loss is only minimal. Gunnar didnt say but im sure he stuck with the 30% depower so kite handeling wasnt affected. Anyway 30% depower is probably better then what c kite depower is. He in essence extended the wind range of the kite.

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That's why you can see a guy out on a 13M Frenzy and while someone else is on a 6M fixed. I would take my 7M Psycho2 out in winds I won't dare take that 7.7M Twister out in.

Thats the beauty of a depower. Thats why the wind range is bigger. You can depower a 13M down to what a 6M is. And if your 7.7 twister would depower like your psycho2 you wouldnt have a problem using it in higher winds.

Now on depower kites to get the range of depower im sure they are designed a bit different then a fixed setup so there will be some loss in total power but i dont think it is the 2 or 3 kite size difference everyone talks about. You can dump that much power, but total power of the kite is still there.
Again it all depends on the kite.
This was just a time when apples could be compared to apples and a good time to prove a point.

I guess I don't know what sort of apples to apple point your trying to make. You won't get the same power size per size from a depowerable kite then you will a fixed. If you change the tow point you change the lift/drag of the kite. Full power on a depower bridal may never equal full power on a fixed point. I guess there is only one way to test this, and that's to finish it myself and see first hand.

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On my attempts with our twister 2s I have managed to dump about 30% of the power, without much loss of overall power

That pretty much states it all. A pro says you dont lose that much and you still argue?

Oh and the apples to apples means wear are compairing the same exact kite in both depower version and fixed version.

But there is loss of power, so you in fact would be wrong. Gunnar even says so. Even a little means that there is not as much power. Basically man, you've turned this topic into a war on the fact that you believe a fixed and depower kite of the same size should have the exact same power when in fact they do not. Can you take this war to a different topic and leave this one just for the stated topic. A depowerable Twister and the conversion process. We all know that the end result of this conversion will result in kite that has a larger range, "not much loss of overall power", and a fun project to take on during windless days.

If your read my posts i never say that it has the exact same power. I only state that the loss is not the 2 or 3 kite size that everyone thinks.

I am not making a war of it. I wanted an opinion of someone who had done it. I emailed Gunnar got his opinion and posted it.
You seem to be the one who does not agree.