8thelephant

Thanks frob, I'll try them again this week

Thanks for the info frob, I'll try the Tennis business. Just hoping they'll continue to make great kites.

Does anyone know if NewTech Kites is still around? I recently purchased a new-old stock Orion and the bridle promptly broke on the first flight. NTK was contacted via email and also voicemail but I haven't heard back from them in a couple weeks. -8th

Wow, I never knew that could happen. It's common for internal ferules to hide like this...a real pain to remove them. Thanks for the update.

Glad I could help yajna. I flew the AcrobatX yesterday and there are definitely knocks at the end of each leading edge tube. Mine was used and missing both the knock caps and vertical sail support standoff connectors. Me thinks those extra rods would make the kite fly with more precision.

Thanks makatakam, I did fly it yesterday and concluded that the sails would benefit from some added tension. I tend to like my sport kites quiet with some precision, but not too twitchy. I haven't found the official flying wings parts yet but I've got a bunch of carbon/glass rods and a bag full of connectors...surely something can be rigged up I might add a leech line to it as well.

Not the best, but here you go.

Indeed. Thanks for the advice TubaKite.

Are the vertical sail tension standoffs really necessary? I've just acquired a very well used AcrobatX and It seems to be missing the spreader standoff connectors for the two vertical sail tension standoff rods. The included rods are also too short to reach the upper spreader from the sail pockets. So are those two pieces required for freestyle and sport flying?

This being my first post in the Power Kite Section, I hope it's in the right place. I've been teaching some friends to fly Dualies and decided that if I have to lug the control bar (I prefer using padded straps) for the Prism Tantrum 220, I might as well have both #150 & #300 line sets on one bar. A set of 2 RC car swing arm pins (35x3mm) where cut in half and epoxied in the plastic bar end pieces which were drilled through the first wall. The pin guides protrude about 10mm from the plastic wall at just below the midpoint just below the molded cross support. Thus far, it's working well but I welcome suggestions on better ways to do it of course as I'll be modifying a second bar for the Tantrum 250 as well. Happy Soaring, -8th

Thanks BobL. Kite Shoppe looks like my kind of place

Great tip Rob! I've gotta try that the next time out with stacks. Aside from the great info already mentioned here, I'd just like to add that making the stack lines equal lengths can be critical for most Dual-Line and Quad-Line kites. If the winds are smooth, the kites are the right distance apart, sails/frames are in good shape; and you still get a little wobble....your stack lines could be a little off. My Neutrino 3-stack did some violent wobbling upon it's 2nd launch (gusty day+newbie silliness) and I discovered that one of the stack line hooks had managed to attach itself to the upper spreader instead of the leading edge which shortened that line about 10mm. This was very hard to control I've since replaced the hooks with pigtails+looped lines which works wonderfully.

I'm looking to upgrade a few older sport/stunt kites with better bridle lines. Does any one know where I can purchase bulk bridle line in multiple colors or striped patterns? Fair Winds, -8th

Another great idea. I will consider this if more sand appears

Thanks Mark, I've followed your excellent advice and removed quite a bit of sand from the sail. A hairdryer on the cool setting (no heat) inside each channel helped to extract about 80% of the debris and I did a little wiggling for another 10%. I've been contemplating the addition of a little slit/opening so I can feed a long piano wire+pipe cleaner in the trailing edge and either sewing or retaping it after cleaning is done. A few grains in there is ok for now though since I will continue to use this kite to teach others to fly

After many years with my faithful Prism Snapshot 1.8, I've noticed a fair amount of sand in the sewn channel in the trailing edge. Are there any special techniques to remove said sand?

The Zero G and me finally came to an understanding today After a nice long session with several Dualies, the wind dropped down to about 2mph. So up the ZeroG went while taking everyone's+Glider Geeks suggestions into account and I managed to keep it aloft for a good 8min or so. I discovered that launching this glider a few degrees to my left or right provides just enough of an offset to gently manage the change in return velocity. Successive launches went higher and higher and the dynamic of walking the kite suddenly made perfect sense. Now, totally excited to try using all the line instead of just 15 meters. Thanks again Wayne & Rob for your insights. -8th

Ah 15 meters! That's the problem....I tried a dead launch with about 2 meters of line. Needless to say, Zero-G didn't stay aloft for long. Thanks again foe the advice Rob

Thanks so much Rob & Wayne. I'll try those techniques and see what happens. Glider Geeks is great...I should have know my buddy Patrick (iFlite) is already on there

Ok, so I've had great success with the iflite & iflite 2 and decided to try something even bigger and more complex...The ZeroG! Took it to the park yesterday in no to light winds and tried manipulating the 2 canard adjustments but just can't seem to get it to return/fly/glide as shown in the videos. Did a multitude of glide tests/adjustments and it well sail away in a nice even decent until I attempt to pull on the string. Does anyone have some tips for this kite? -8th

That's a great tip. I'll go get some pvc caps too

Sure is. I take the Link Lines and add a loop to each end that usually has the hooks. These have to be equal length of course. Then I take some economical Dacron line and make loops with large knots for each attachment point. I loop those around the frame with the large knots pointing forward and attach the new Link Line loops to the knots with a larks head. I've been flying a couple stacked Nexus airframes like this for a while and it takes me about 3-5min to hook the 5 lines together. There hasn't been any noticeable difference in flight performance with the little Dacron lines attached when flying a single kite. Two of the kites in my stack Neutrino have full bridles, so I just tie them together when using them in the stack.

I'm guessing the hooks are a compromise for the novice stack flyer. They're relatively easy to attach but not necessary for those of us who have extra bridle line for the frame and are comfortable with knots & loops. Another thing I'm finding a little bothersome is that the little snap for the tail on the neutrino card winder keeps snagging my lines during unwinding. And the velcro on the winder can catch/tear up the dyneema line if not fully closed. Prism took care of me regarding this, but I'm hoping the design is improved for further production runs.

I’ve attached a photo of the link line clips mentioned earlier. These are different from the spring clasps that attach line sets to the bridle. The issue I have with this hook style connection is that it can easily snag the sail or dislodge from the frame during acrobatic flight. The possible solution is to slide the frame out of the sail enough to connect the link line loops with a larks head knot or to make short attachments for each of the four link line connections to the frame.

I was planning a review of the Neutrino. Got a 3-stack and love their flight characteristics for the most part. The only thing I'd really change are the link line clips that connect the stacks. They tend to come out and sometimes dig into the sail when flying with the stack aggressively. The stack bag is a must (just as it was with microns) if you're planning impromptu soaring sessions. As for build quality, they're different than the microns and would seemingly be cheaper to manufacture but no less fun to fly. No regrets from me so far.....and yes, stronger lines than stock are a must when flying in a stack above 5mph. Hope this helps, -8th