flying a vintage Trlby

[Staceyk2]

New to the forum and have been sport kiting a couple of years now. Hooked of course.

I am finding I need some expert advice, which is how I stumbled across your forum. What a fun and passionate group!

Yesterday I saw an ad in Craigslist for a 3 stack of Trlby kites new in an unopened package. Great price. I made the assumption (wrong) that they would be made of ripstop nylon and produced within at least the last 10 yrs. (wrong again). The older man was so sweet and he was so happy that someone wanted to buy the kite that he found cleaning out his Dad's house. I didn't have the heart to not take it because it was not what I expected.

Well, I got it home and opened it up. Turns out it is from the early 80's. At that point I started to get excited and had a great time putting it together. We retaped the sails and needed to temporarily tape on the tails. Anything with adhesive was shot and even the rubber bands that hold the different components together in packaginf practically disintegrated upon contact.

There were great winds tonight, so of course I had to see if it could still fly. SO FUN! I only flew it for about 5 min. because now that I know it has potential to actually still work, I needed to get some expert advice before I completely wrecked it.

#1 Will polyethylene material hold up? What do you think the max wind speed is?

#2 Does unused line deteriorate? Is there a reason it has handles with a lot of line, or do the more modern ones have the straps and a set amount of line?

#3 Any other suggestions to keep it flying?

Thanks!!!!!

Stacey

[--Pete]

Welcome to the forum!

Those combination winder/flying handles are an abomination! It is almost impossible to get the lines exactly the same length (within a quarter inch or so). You can make line sets (pairs of lines) which are matched in length for whatever distances you plan to fly. The (nylon or Dacron) lines that came with the kite are likely to be a bit stretchy for good flying, but can be used.

While you are converting the lines from the handles into line sets, try breaking one - that will tell you if those lines have deteriorated. If they have been in the dark for 30 years, they may still be OK.

Those original lines are probably 100 or 150 feet long. Those are good lengths for Trlbys. The extra length gives you time to react. When you get more experience, you might try shorter lines - 50 feet or even less when you get really good.

(If you are already sport-kiting, you may have line-sets and handles available.)

Check out John Barresi's video on line management. It is about quad line-sets, but everything he shows applies to twin-sets as well.

When you make line-sets, make a 4-6 inch loop at each end. Learn to tie a Lark's Head knot to use those loops to fasten the lines to the kite and to the handles. Those fishing swivels/clips are mostly just annoying and add unneeded weight to the kite. You will need to replace the clips with a short pigtail (a short loop of line with a good knot in the end) to fasten the Lark's Head to.

The film that the Trlbys were made from can last a long time if they were left in the dark. I would fly them, make tape repairs when needed, and have fun. As you say, the adhesive and rubber has a much shorter lifespan. Sharp objects are the enemy of film, but tape is the great friend.

Trlbys like a bit of wind; 5 mph of perfect steady wind might be enough - maybe a bit more if it is a bit unsteady. They should handle 15 mph easily and probably 20.

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I realize that this may be a lot more than you asked. I figure it never hurts to be over than under. (And I also re-read your original post. Since you already fly sport kites, a lot of this is old news to you.)