riffclown

Here's the panels as they are at the moment. Did not want to give the impression they were near a finished state. Just close enough to mockup and get an idea of what they will eventually look like.. Spent the Evening making Leading Edges for all of them. This MIGHT be ready by the Wright Festival.. These 5 are the only kites I'm working on at the moment.. as always, that's subject to change on a whim..

The Spectrum Stack is taking shape.. The panels are sewn now.. I need to make the LE Sleeve and screen. Do the edge trim and get the hardware I'll need. (already ordered, just waiting for the mail at this point.) Picture is just a mockup. Edges and final sizing are not done yet. LE's will be Black. This is a long ways from done but the piecework is done and It's ready for trim.. I plan to edge bind the bottom area since on this design there is no natural hem there.

Thanks Paul these will be a 72" leading edge and I'm targeting B2 sized sails.. The Aspect ratio may be slightly higher. I plan for these to be permanantly stacked with no bridles on any but the front kite. Stack lines will be slightly shorter than standard but I also plan to throw launch this stack regularly. LE for all will be standard materials and construction. Framing will be heavier in the front gradually moving to a lighter frame for the rear kite..

First I will tell you up front that the Hengda Quad is not of the same manufacturing standards of many other quads.. I do own one myself and while it isn't a bad kite the lines that come with it rarely make it to standards.. All that being said there is still hope. Please take all of this as a genuine effort to assist and not an insult to your kite. I own one myself and all of this advice is based on personal experience. First and absolutely foremost, make sure ALL four lines are of equal length. Differences as little as 1/4" can have adverse effects. JB's Line Equalization Video is invaluable here. Because of the lines the Hengda comes with, you may have to repeat often until the lines are all equally stretched out.. The materials they use are more susceptible to stretch and line creep. Not insurmountable but you need to be aware of it. I highly suggest considering some Skybond or LPG lines in your near future.. 2. Suspect everything.. make sure the Bridles aren't wrapped, tangled or twisted. Measure from the attachment point for the line to the face of the kite. Also keep in mind the vertical spar go in the back of the kite and support the sail itself. Hopefully you already knew that but if you didn't, lesson learned and don't tell anyone.. Check the top two bridles. They should be equal to each other and a perfect mirror pair. The bottom two bridles should also be equal to each other.. Laying the kite out flat and tugging on the bridles just enough to lift the kite should give you a visual clue. Repeat with the bottom bridles.. If everything is good (read symmetrical) there you are ready to test fly again.. IF the Bridles are off and you can't fix them, a replacement Bridle for a Rev will work on the Hengda.. Inspect the material of the kite first to make sure you are prepared for the additional investment. Kitelife sells replacement 1.5 bridles and they will work just fine on the Hengda assuming the sail is properly symmetrical.. Fold it along the vertical middle and make sure the halves match. Failing all of that, find an experienced flier to help tune your kite for you.. Be prepared as some fliers frown heavily on what is commonly referred to as knock-offs. Hengda is a less expensive sail for a reason.. It's not a bad kite, but for beginners, the inconsistencies among sails can make the learning curve exasperating. Fly other people's kites for a bit if you can and learn more about what makes the quads tick so you can tune your kite to meet your needs. If this is your first quad, consider seriously getting a used EXP or Similar starter kite and learning from that point. Not saying the Hengda won't work for you, just implying that the venture into quads is much easier when you only have yourself to suspect when the kite isn't flying the way you want.. The Hengda CAN be adjusted and will meet some aspect of your needs once you become more proficient. FWIW, I keep a Hengda that I have installed replacement bridles on, in my bag and have used it to share with others. Good Luck and Welcome to KiteLife.

That sounds like a Terry Murray comment to me..

This is just one of the 5 tails I received today. More cool stuff in store for the future.. I'm really enjoying the facets of how these tails come together to make some really cool designs.. When I sewed the first one a few years back, I had no idea that I would get to fly kites like these, much less make them.. Every kite is a slight modification and application of lessons learned from the predecessor.. I just wonder am I ever going to go back and correct the previous kites at this point or will i just make a new sail instead?? Seems to take about the same amount of effort..

After the positive experiences with the Red White and Blue 96' Transition tails, I decided to branch out into slightly different spectrum.. I decided to get another 96' tail and make a small stack of 5 (Rev II-ish) sized kites. This will be a fixed stack of kites and will always be flown as such. I don't want to give away the finished version entirely but here is a quick spectrum layout for the 5 sails.. The Rulers separate the 5 panels.. Lots of sewing to do on these.

Sent "The Home Mades" picture to David Gomberg yesterday.. He replied today.

Updated my numbers to include the new home-mades and remove the Rev I sold.. 36 now..

Thank You.. I just started a blog for all my kite making adventures.. Will try to keep it updated as new builds are completed and take flight..

The center panel is the excess material from FS#3 and the sail itself is Red White Blue, G-Kites Transition tails in the front and Skywriter tails in the back. My second kite with a proper LE and I did induce a slight curve to the LE to mimic the positive flight characteristics of Mesh #3. This one was bridled today and I expect to fly it along with FS #3 at the 2017 Wright Festival.

This is my first kite with a PROPER Leading edge. As of this posting it has not flown but I expect it to fly similarly to FS#2 since it is truthfully its panel mate. The sail is a touch tighter than FS3. Notice the white markers are offset between FS#2 & FS#3. Epected First Flight will be at the Wright Kite Festival in 2017

I wanted to explore some uneven spacing and was very pleased with the outcome one this kite which also debuted at the 2017 Rogallo festival. Jim Cosca told me this wasn't a good kite, it was a GREAT kite. High Praise coming from a master.. No Video yet was too busy flying to record.

FS #2 My first full sail and kite #1 out of the first Gomberg 96' Transition tail. This kite reused the LE from Tails and was intentionally a loose sail to induce flutter and explore some "artificail belly" While it performed OK I did have Eliot tighten the belly a bit befor the kite's debut at the Rogallo festival in 2017 First Flight was at the point at Whalehead. Video captured by Mike Klaiber and posted to his Peaks of Otter Facebook.. Thanks Mike.

This was created from the "good side/bad side" "lessons learned on Mesh #3. The LE is made from Freilein Kite Bag Canvas. Again first flight was one day after work without video but I kept up the throw launch tradition.. First Video is here.. FWIW, this is the first kite I ever put in the ocean.. Luckily JB was there to help fish it out of the surf. Wet Ripstop is HEAVY..

My first attempt using transition tails. The kite was planned to be full size but this was a lesson in good "side/ bad side" when the kite is formed from one panel. This is also the first time I added a bit of curve to the LE. This kite was finished in Early March and saw first flight without video available.. Throw launch was successfull but this kite has a bit of float and makes the catch a bit trickier. First Video in 20+ Winds is here.

I wanted a finer basket weave and was willing to accept the weight of the sail as a factor in performance. The Reinforcements are Canvas strips I had handy. The Le is a strip of the Gomberg Skywriter tails. JB had flown most of my creations to this point and said this was the best of the group so far. First Flight Feb 2017. Began the tradition of throw launching a new kite for first flight.

A full sail attempt.. While this kite flew and performed decently, the material was not ripstop and I didn't want to keep repairing it. It is now a banner. The LE from this kite was reused to create FS#2. First Flight was the Wright Kite Festival in 2016

My first attempt at a homemade kite. Made with Blue and Black Gomberg Skywriter Tails. LE is the Cheap Amazon Tails fabric and the stretch strips are Gomberg strips added later. Reinforcement points are Olive Drab Duct Tape. This kite was completed Summer of 2015 and first flew at the Wright Kite Festival in July 2015 I have comfortably flown this kite in 35+ MPH winds when others were giving up on flying...

Congrats Ralph. Perfect kite for your new buggy

Ready for Bridling!!!