riffclown

LE, Edge binding and prelim all done.. Still to do. wear Strips, framing and making the stack lines.

The Purple flies great as a solo kite..

There's no vendors to trash.. This was my fault and the product wasn't from any of the normal kite suppliers. I was looking at alternatives and this tape looked the same but less than $1 a roll.. The mistake was mine. I got exactly what I paid for. The product was not marked as a sewing product and it wasn't one.

I made a mistake, I bought some cheaper double-sided tape which really gummed up my system and made the machine start missing stitches very badly. LE attachment has bee delayed while I get proper seam tape.. Meanwhile the Purple kite has been finished out so I can test it today..

Todays Progress was the center panels all done. Attaching the LE's tomorrow

I know of one person @Stuart McCullough that has made a convertible quad with removable vent covers. Adding vents to as an existing kite is pretty easy. Adding too much vent is just as easy though. Decreasing venting will require a tradeoff of additional weight to cover the vent with a fabric of some sort. As with everything else. It's a balancing act. I bought a bunch of cheap closeout material to experiment with. It's what I use when trying new design elements. I usually add midnight to the name when I use this fabric. Failure has to be an option or you might not get past the afraid to cut fabric stage. Learn from everything yuh ou build and you will begin to see what works and what doesn't before you start your build.

@DonFibonacci Great question and very worthy of its own discussion.. I spent quite a bit of personal thought into venting options. My thoughts and the thread are here All of that being said, there's a bit of science AND art to venting.. Some of it is as simple as putting a hole where the pressure has a tendency to build too heavily.. That comes with a price though as you can render a perfectly good sail almost un-flyable. I've personally gravitated to what I call the balanced venting where pressure relief is across the entire face of the sail. While that works incredibly well for a flow type of flier like myself, it does indeed load up differently and someone that likes to really load and pop the sail would feel a delay. All that being said, if you are venting your own design, what looks right to you will probably work for you as long as it's symmetrical between the left and right sides of the sail.. If there's a part of your sail you know get overloaded in a gust, that area is probably your target for pressure relief.

@DonFibonacci 's inquiry regarding venting split into separate discussion.

Red panels are done now too..

I hope so. Still waiting for parts.. Had to order end caps and other items..

Orange Panels are sewn..

Both Green & Yellow panels done. Calling it a day..

Laying out both the Yellow & Green today.

The green family (3 greens), Yellow Family, (2 Yellows), Orange Family, (2 Oranges) and Red Family, (3 Reds including a bit of pink) are all cut and ready for sewing prep.. This will be a 6 stack at first. I may go back and add a dark blue and even a wine color to make it 8.

If money is no object, Fly JB out for a week of private lessons.. More expensive than a kite for sure but you'll definitely be able to fly everything in your bag, possibly including the bag itself..

@Lon Honestly, unless the money is burning a hole in your pocket, you have pretty much what you need to learn. I'd make sure you had good lines and handles and wait until you've had the chance to fly other options before grabbing something else.. Literally ask yourself what are YOU looking for that you don't have covered by your current set.

How about Really, It's For Fun!! aka RIFF

The three greens I have. Flo green, Green and Teal. The teal looks more blue in this picture and has the classic rectangular grid.

This is a very tight and opinionated community. Fortunately we also don't always have the same opinions. To my knowledge there are no truly off-limit questions as long as you understand the answer you get might be as much opinion as fact.. Personally, I think the Djinn is a better quad since it suits my flying style and is based on John's improvement to the Hadziki wing. The Fulcrum is also a very nice wing and has some advantage and disadvantages. The Fulcrum is not a flat profile and therefore has some different flying characteristics. The being said, I think the Djinn is a more durable design, especially at the upper limits of the wind window. As suggested above. See if you can meet up with other fliers and try before you buy. When you ask for help with a personal choice you'll get personal choices but the best choice is one you make via personal experience.

And of course the Greens are next. Flo Green, Teal and Forest green. Picture doesn't show the greens very well right now. will try to take a better pic during mock up.

Will edge bind and attach leading edge tomorrow..

Blue is next..