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Bridle adjustments


Icywings
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Hello,

 

i recently picked up a kitehouse cosmic ghost tc. All of the bridle attachment points have adjustment knots and I have to say I'm a little overwhelmed with such an bridle adjustment system that offers so many options. It would take me a very long time to explore each adjustment combination. I would like to throw it out to the forum and ask for the basic and not so basic changes in fly characteristics for the differential ajistments possible. I have seen the write up on bridles and sweet spots and understand the concept somewhat but am looking for others experiences and what they've found in relation to this specific kite. I did try writing kite house but did not get a response, not sure they are in business anymore or just not customer service friendly like that. If this belongs in a different forum my apologies and please move it for me. Thank you in advance for any info. 

 

Stay at breezy my friends

Eric

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Leave the bridle the way it is might be the best answer. If I find the need to adjust a bridle, it usually happens in the first hour of flying a particular kite. Usually because the kite isn't flying the way I had expected... once I find the adjustment I like, it stays like that. I never adjust a kite to compensate for wind conditions, each kite has it's own wind. Some have a greater range, say a good standard kite can fly from 3mph-15mph, but I never adjust the bridle differently on that kite once the sweet spot has been found, I would rather change which kite I'm flying.

This is just me, and I have never had the pleasure of flying a Cosmic TC. I have a few kites that are similar, and I would expect the top range of that kite to be around 8mph. The low wind range just depends on how much work you want to do to keep it in the air.

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4 minutes ago, RobB said:

Leave the bridle the way it is might be the best answer. If I find the need to adjust a bridle, it usually happens in the first hour of flying a particular kite. Usually because the kite isn't flying the way I had expected... once I find the adjustment I like, it stays like that. I never adjust a kite to compensate for wind conditions, each kite has it's own wind............

I followed this good advice some time back & I too now leave the kite in the one setting that works best for my style.  My sweet spot seems to be in the mid point of adjustment.  I have received a few kites from very skilled fliers, Rob for instance, and I continue to fly them with the settings that others have preferred.  Some kites I fly are pretty touchy & seem offended if I mess with them too much.  Even in very light wind I don't like the feel of the light wind settings.  The Prism 4D, that I flew so much, was the kite that really showed this to me.  SHBKF

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I get what you guys are saying about find an adjustment setting and stick to it but I still haven't found my sweet spot. Looking for feed back from other cosmic ghost owners. What are their fav bridle positions and why?

 

Wind speed for this kite seems to be (for me) about 3-4mph

 

 

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2 hours ago, John Barresi said:

Most common and practical adjustment is simple "nose back" or "nose forward", i.e. moving the bridle point up (light wind) or down (solid wind) in small increments... Just make sure you have a good mark to indicate the original position. ;)

Did you have this one on video ?

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Sorry to say I don't, but here is what I could find in a quick Google search for "bridle tuning stunt kite"...

http://prismkites.com/download/sportKiteTips.pdf

http://www.ian.ourshack.org/kitedesign/bridling.html

All of these are perspectives on tuning... Basic bridle science and adjustment methods, some flavored by personal styles - different fliers have different sensibilities and tastes.

Some of the characteristics I look for is good pressure in the sail when I pump (kite jumps forward), tracks a solid straight line and can cut a sharp corner without stalling, while still being able to stall it out of a super tight spin if I want to.

Typically...

When the nose is set leaning more toward you, the kite feels lighter on the lines, may launch easier in light wind, but turns get wider and weaker, as do intentional stalls... Nose forward too much, the kite flies forward and can still turn but becomes pretty gutless.

When the nose is is leaning back more, there is generally more pull and pressure in the sail, turns are sharper and stalls or floats get stronger... Too much, and the kite either stalls way too easily or won't fly forward at all.

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now that got me interesting what you wrote ... thanks for the useful tip

I am gonna do the nose leading toward to me trick ... because flying it normal as is in light wind makes me somewhat a huge battle on the handles position to keep the kite steady-ier.

 

isn't it the same thing to adjusting the lines at top/bottom handles ?

 

if not, then explain, please

 

oh, by the way, i finally catch my Thunder ( rev b ) after yank the top lines and throw it back to air flying again 5 times in a row, after like 50 yank tries today ... it's required how much yank to make the kite nose forward just right ... approx 22 ft lines


 

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11 hours ago, DeafThunder said:

isn't it the same thing to adjusting the lines at top/bottom handles ?

Dual vs quad, yes, but with different tolerances.

On a dual line (and most single line), you move the bridle point.

On quads, you change the length of top or bottom lines to similar effect.

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24 minutes ago, Wayne Dowler said:

icywings - can you post a pic or two? From your original post, I got the impression that your kite was a single line (SLK)?? Or is it a stunt kite? It will make a big difference in how the adjustments work!

Original post mentioned a Cosmic Ghost, which I believe is a high end European dual line kite.

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2 hours ago, Wayne Dowler said:

icywings - can you post a pic or two? From your original post, I got the impression that your kite was a single line (SLK)?? Or is it a stunt kite? It will make a big difference in how the adjustments work!

At work for the night and the kite is at home so no pictures tonight. Basically it's a dual line sul with a bridle that allows for adjustments on the out hauls, in hauls, and up hauls. I can't remember if it's a turbo or three point style but I want to say three point.   

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