OK I must be doing something really wrong. I am having one heck of a time getting my 7.5m century air born. Once it goes up more than about 20-25 feet, I have a good chance of keeping it there. But that takes a huge amount of effort and frustration and I usually give up after one flight. Immediately after lift off, it will almost completely deflate, turn one direction no matter how much input I give it the opposite way, and stall. If it lands nose down and I reverse launch, it will zip up to about 15-20 feet and I can get it about 90 degrees back around at which point it will start to fly- backwards. I know that my lines and handles are OK as they are the ones I use for all of my kites. I suppose a little more wind would be good but I mean the first time I flew it this past weekend I had like 10-12 mph pretty steady (it was enough to get moving nicely in my bug with a 4m JoJo rm.) I know that there were 2 types of material used to build these and I believe that mine is of the lighter type (shiner, if you're out there, you might be able to answer that one.) The bridles seem to be in order, how ever there is one connection on each side that I don't get.


The blue set (1) has no tension on it at all when the kite is staked, inflated and ready to go. The brake attachment point (4) is 8" up the line with a loop sewn in the end (3). And what is the line with all of the knots (2) ? I wondered if (3) gets larks headed to (2), brake line at (4) and this might accomplish something akin to the power rings that the quadrifoils used, and I also know that the century likes tighter brake lines so I tried both ways but to no avail. If more wind is the answer, then that is scary because this thing all ready gave me the longest, fastest scud I have ever had the third time I fought it long enough to fly it, and that would put the line between power house and lethal really close together. If anyone has some insight as to what the problem is, it would be greatly appreciated- I really want to fly this thing. I have sent PKD some e-mails but gotten no response- don't know if they just don't have the time to help a yank with an old kite or what.

centuries can be a little finicky... your kite is most likely NOT the lighter type (porcher marine, i believe) i bought my 9m from shiner. what color is your kite, that will let us know what year it was produced in. red/blue and yellow/green were the later of the two releases.

that little blue line is a lot like the aaa adjustment kit that flexifoil uses on the blade and blurr. a google search should answer your questions. i avent fiddled with mine at all. the middle knot is the default setting...

i have found that when i am having trouble with the century, that my brake lines have been set up wrong. when i set up my 9m, i had too knot the brake lines all the way to the end.... it seemed wrong, but as soon as i did that, it flew like a dream. even with my smaller ones, i had to re-tie the knots a lot until i found that sweet spot.

my first advice is looses up the brakes. looses them so loose that it seems wrong. if that doesnt work, let us know

I have googled the snot out of this trying to find info and all I really get is racekites.com hits and the PKD website. I have tried loose breaks, tighter breaks, I guess next is brakes so loose it's a dual line with funny stuff hanging off the back:Ange09: Oh yeah the colors are the red/blue. Having no experience with the blade/blurr (yet) I'm not quite sure how the AAA works. I have a good idea but seeing it in person would help a lot. Any Oregon coast kiters have centuries? BTW, thanks for the start, dylan. I REALLY want to fly this.

id go through all the lines very carefully,looking for any tangles at all--sometimes a very small,insignificant tangle can make a kite fly bad--my first idea was loosen up the brake lines,but you already tried that-good luck

I have never seen that set up. I'm sure the Flexi forum could shed some light on it.


We fly a Century small as a 3.5, 5.5, and finally the tank 9.0 all with that blue line connected into the power side of the bridle. Brake line knotted about 6 inches up from the end. I have flown this both with handles and a bar, they fly very strong with this set-up

I'll search the Flexi forum to see what I can dig up.

Tuning :wee:

Here

More here with some pics(unlike yours)


Interesting stuff.

I fly a 13m with the same setup. I’ll tell you how mine works and I am guessing yours is the same.
#3 is where you attach the brake lines, they may seem loose but with mine that’s how they need to be. Fly with long (47cm) handles and then it is not so bad, they take up the slack quickly.

#4 seems to just be a knot that someone put there, probably a fine adjustment. I would take it back out. Every knot that has pressure from both sides creates a weak spot that could cause the line to break. Yours is in the brake line so the chance is low that it will break but if it is not needed remove it. If it is needed move it down to the end of the line so it only has pressure from one side.

#1 and #2 are the AOA adjuster. Leave it in the middle at first. Once you get use to the kite you can move it in or out to either speed the kite up with less pressure (higher winds) or raise the pressure and slow it down (low winds)

The thick yellow looking cord is the attachment for the main lines, but I’m sure you figured that one out on your own.

It sounds to me as if your brakes are too tight, or there is something tangled in your bridle.
Also check that there is not a lot of sand in the cells.

Which PKD website did you use .de or .uk?

Hope this helps!
Chris

Hey Krohn- since there is just a loop there (3), did you tie a knot just above that? Is "in" for the AOA adjuster toward the main power line connection? I need to do something with it because I can't fly it enough to get used to it. I would like more speed and a touch less pull 'till I get used to it in the bug anyway. My e-mails went to info@----.uk, and then another pkd server address that I was given for a guy who knows all there is to know about these, also UK. Thanks for the help- now I need to find enough room to stretch it all out- I think the RS AOA is slightly tangled.

there should be a knot at #3.

I'll send you a PN with a diffrent adress.

If I remember right (I always mix it up) If you shorten up the adjuster (move it closer to the other lines) it will speed it up and have less pressure.

Chris

Thanks for the help to all- I will post this weekend after making some changes and see how it goes.

Good luck!

Ok so I moved the brake knot down to just above the loop at (3) and that did the trick. Thanks all. Also the AOA adjustment seems to be away from the main bridle attachment point (towards (2)) = more speed and less pull. It seems best not to go any farther than the 2nd to last knot though 'cause the kite didn't fare too well at that setting and was heading back to frustrating. To be honest though the wind was kind of crappy by the end of this afternoon.