riffclown

Moving on lessons learned, I've decided to finish out this particular run of kites with the second full sail as clost to this one as possible.. if it works better, I may actually rig this one permanently for lights and night flying.. As several friends have found out recently. Night Flying is an absolute blast.

Conversion Time lapse..

The slack sail helps "SOME" but the artificial belly has to be in your mind for anything reverse.. Worth the tradeoff??? maybe.. Trying to find that perfect compromise.. this video is before I trimmed it down a bit.. VERY low wind.. Notice how the sails belly is reacting to input. Remember this is a far heavier sail than is typical for these conditions.

In this case, I had left a loose belly on purpose so the kite would flutter. I wanted to explore some slack sail characteristics to increase sail area without increasing the kite size significantly. Just had to tighten it up a bit to get the flight characteristics I was looking for. I wanted to enhance low wind performance in a sail that was a heavier fabric than a typical SUL. I tend to design for distinct flight behaviors. I use slightly higher aspect ratios to make inverted side slides fit my control style. It also artificially speeds up the sail over a similar production kite. (gives it some of the supersonic characteristics without the undesired side effects of instability.)

First Flight of the full sail out at the point at Whalehead.. the Saill was intentionally loose to make it "talk" more but it was a bit too loose. I had to tighten the sail up a bit but was still pleased with the kite overall from the first toss. IMG_0485.3gp

Found an online shot of my kite (RWB) while I was flying on 240' lines.. The other two kites B-Series are @ACrop & @Khal practicing down in the valley.. I was up by the announcer's tent

So both kites were a great success. Flew pretty balanced very first try.. I did adjust the sail on the full sail to decrease the amount to loose fabric but it flew great on 240' lines. I do however need to get rid of the FSD split caps and put on Rev or Freilein caps. I had a few instances of the bridles slipping out of the caps. No Crash and burns but a couple of landing with less control that I'd like.. The the smaller kite also made me VERY proud on it's very first fly. To paraphrase Jim Cosca when I let him take the handles. "This isn't just a good kite, it's a great kite"

FIRST!!! Welcome to Kitelife. As nice as the pretty new kites are, I'd recommend taking a good look at the used market first. This has nothing to do with Rev current offerings and everything to do with making the right choice for you. Start out with the OPK (other people's Kites) variety.. Fly a few times with local fliers who I'm sure will chime in shortly.. Then decide what you want.. You may even be able to score a field purchase of the OPK variety.. Start with a used kite of the venting level prevalent for your area.. Once you've got the feel for it, then base your next kite on what you like and dislike about your current sail. B-Series do pop up fairly often in the used market and not necessarily at a premium price. A B-Pro will be much harder to find but that's also a different conversation entirely. If you really want a new kite check with some of the online dealers. At least one dealer is blowing out their EXP kites for $135 kite only or $189 with handles, lineset and DVD. As for the reflex springs, they aren't for everyone.. It does change the way the sail flies but not all of us consider it an improvement.. OPK should allow you to make a good choice there as well..

Almost there for this one. 97.5" LE. Only need to attach wear strips, Bottom connection reinforcements and finish bridling..Pretty sure this one will be ready by Saturday..

That's very close to the same thought process I was going through..

Contact Chris as HQ Kites.. I'll message you his email address..

Thank You.. The screen/mesh is for the LE.. I MAY need it for the vents but I'm going to try them "as is" for starters.. My concern is the rectangular openings might flap and create drag more then the typical square-ish ones..

I had enough material left over to make the two solid panels here.. I SHOULD be able to get a Rev I and a 1.5 size kite out of these.. All of this is from 1 96' Transition Gomberg Kite Tail.. Was hoping to get 4 kites out of this tail but it looks like the final answer will be 3..

The kite finally decided what it wanted to be.. The rectangular openings might flap and if so, I'll add some reinforcements like you see at the center peak or possibly even screen in those openings... I do want to try it like this first though.. Kite is approximately Rev II sized but has a slightly higher aspect ratio.. Will also have a decent amount of camber and sail tension once assembled.. I'm out of screening material so might be a few days before I get out to grab more..The bulk of this kite is Gomberg 5" Transition tails. there are a few misc pieces of Gomberg 2" transition tails for the LE trace and reinforcement pieces.. I HOPE to have this air worthy by the Rogallo Festival next weekend.. Flatwork is all sewn.. What remains is LE Sleeve, Screen, Frame and Bridling..

@esinger I have to agree with Cath and Eliot's suggestions BUT this also might be an opportunity to explore.. Maybe a frame you DON'T already have.. Crystal T-0 also works pretty well on light kites. (I use one in my Ghost on occasion.) T-2 is the standard on the Freilein kites. We've flown together and are fairly close in distance. Let me know if you'd like.. I'll let you borrow any of my frames next time we fly.. Going to The Rogallo?? Wright?? I plan to be at both event's Rogallo is only a few weeks away.. I have a P90 frame as well if you'd like to try it.. .

A Heavy Duty Carabiner on a strap will serve the same purpose and also gives you a loop to hang onto.. Clip it on and walk it down.. The strap will also give you the ability to put 2 people on the loop if needed.. Also will not become a projectile if it slips.

I had a subtly different approach in mind.. The Crossing of the lines and spaces between made me think more of the sail panels on your quads...

+1 100% Agree..

Do me a favor and sign it for me before you pack it up.

I think that would be a great idea. Personally, I'm paid up on Kitelife already for a few years and I've been shopping for B2's already. I'd be perfectly happy with the kite. I even have a frame ready for it.. The 5 year subscription extension could go to @makatakam

I agree with you. Was definitely a collaborative effort.

May I ask what element you want to edit? Like you, once I got items where you wanted they were rastored in.

let me see what i can do. the other layered version is like 300mb. all of the vector work was eating up memory. How can I get a 300MB File to you?? I switched from 300DPI back to the 72DPI ye started with.. Does this help?? TKL_logo_v3dl.ai