JoneZ

hehe, duly noted m8 ~Jb

I thought you were "almost" deaf my friend. o.0 My apologies!! Are you 100% deaf m8? If you have any sort of hearing, they have those " exterior noise canceling ear buds" that work great. They're just like earplugs, only with seriously loud music! You may be able to get a little use out of them, being as they are super loud. They go to "11" one could say. These are the ones that I have. Great buds. http://www.target.co...n/dp/B00001P4XA *Bored on a fir. evening -- trying to make a dog stake out of a metal tent stake* Cheers brotha ~Jon

I don't think its age my friend. I've went through that a couple times, and am starting to go through it again now. I would just stop kiting for a bit, and come back to it a month or so later. Then I just learned to play into the regression period and start doing more simple tricks and perfecting them. Do you have an MP3 player or discman? I would highly suggest taking that out with some of ur favorite tunes (if you only have a discman, bring lots of variety). That really helps me get into a good groove after a bad bout of flying. Today I went out and flew for a bit -- bad flying day. Wind is pretty irradic, and it really made me struggle with tricks, so I just loaded up some Boards of Canada on my MP3 player, and practiced snap stalls, tip stabs, and side sliding (was also inspired by that Genesis UL kite vid). Cured my bad mood, and calmed my arse down. hehe Gotta watch this again. hehe was practicing those snap-stall to tip-stabs this guy was pullin off (around 1minute mark). Side Slides Tip Stabs

Anyone seen this page before? http://www.xs4all.nl/~pdj/bridle.htm Be interested to see if anyone has tried this config.

Lookin for the factory bridle measurements for the NTK Cherry Bomb. I've been trying and trying with NTK, emailed and no response, called and got told to send an email. Im pretty frustrated honestly, and don't want to deal with NTK again. any Help would be appreciated guys. Thanks a Tonne! ~Jon

Gotcha. I'll give that a shot. My non-input line is probably not slack enough and causing it to recover. It makes sense, as there isn't a lot of slack there.

The initial pull is a pretty snappy one, is it not? I think you're right. Think I need to load up some new tunes on my Archos. Maybe somewhere in the area of... 90...B..P..M.. (hehe tribe called quest perhaps?)

The damn backspin. The dreaded Backspin. The OMGWTFBBQ Backspin... This dang trick plagues my very soul!! Im having the same problem as you were Dean, with it wanting to recover. And I KNOW its my initial backspin input. I can't get that "sweeping lawnmower" pull for the life of me. For crap sakes, I've learned jacobs ladders by failing at the backspin! LoL All things happen for a reason I guess. hehe But man,, I am SO tired of practicing and failing a backspin. Think its time for JB, Dean and the gang to congregate at PIR again some weekend soon. I'll bring the beers. *wink wink*

All the Modifications I've made to the Widow are scattered throughout this thread, but I wanted to just sum up what I've done, so you all can read it in one place (but do read the entire thread if you are thinking of tackling these Mods for your Widow): -Removed the tail weight (for weight reduction). -Broke out the Inserts in the upper leading edge APA fittings (newer models don't have these inserts, only older models are affected.) [to reduce oversteer]. -Stretched out the factory bridle (to correct flight characteristics). -Made a lightweight bridle from 80# polyester braided spectra (for weight reduction). -Installed a leech line along the trailing edge (to correct flight characteristics). -Replaced the P300 lower spreaders with P200 skyshark spars. Check your leading edges as well, if they are P300 they can be swapped out for P200's with no sacrifice to rigidity or strength (for weight reduction). -Replaced the solid core nock end ferrules with hollow cored ferrules (to reduce oversteer/weight reduction). -Replaced the solid core ferrule at the base of the spine with a hollow core ferrule (to eliminate oversteer/weight reduction). All these mods combined (minus the lightweight bridle) should take a couple days to complete (if that), but I tell you, it is worth every minute you put into it. Add another couple hours and you've got a lightweight bridle too. -cheers Kitelife. ~Jon

OK. There was one final modification to the Widow that I thought would improve the kites precision performance, as well as allow it to fly in even lighter winds. That was to remove the extension ferrule at the base of the spine, and replace it with a hollow core ferrule. I removed the solid core ferrule, and it weigh ed at 7 grams. I had some hollow carbon spars lying around that happened to be the same width as the ferrule I removed, so I cut one to fit (weighed in at 2 3/4 grams) and installed it on the spine. I just got back from my field, and she flew great! The wind conditions were ideal for what I was trying to achieve here. 1-4Mph winds. I strapped on my lightweight bridle (80# poly braided spectra), and my 80ft 50# lines, set her in a flare position, drew the lines up and pulled a rising fade in 2Mph winds! lol Just a simple walk back was all it took. 1Mph winds and I was still struggling backwards, but 2Mph seems to be the magic number for my Widow now. I even pulled off 2 rungs of a Jacobs Ladder (which I've never accomplished before)!! Roll-ups were not affected -- I pulled a multi yoyo with ease. I was able to lock in 90degree turns with no wobble (which I experienced before when locking the turn in, no matter how hard or gentle I was). I highly recommend this upgrade. Its cheap, and relatively easy to accomplish. Mark the ferules position with a paint marker first and foremost, so you'll know how far to insert the new one once you make it. Then just heat up the last 2" of the spine (ferrule sits in about 2") with a lighter (be sure to only use the blue flame to heat), while holding the ferrule with a pair of pliers. Gently twist the ferrule while holding onto the spine. Do this a number of times (heat, then twist), as you don't want to overheat that spar and distort it. Be patient and it will eventually come free. (I've also heard of people sticking spars in boiling water to remove a ferrule, but I've never tried it). Once the ferrule is free, just cut your replacement to fit, mark the insertion threshold, add some crazy glue and insert it into the spine and hold for 1 minute. Let it sit for a couple hours to really adhere and cure to each other, and ur done. Good Winds! ~Jon

I just shined up the rims on my shopping cart. j/k

Aye, I was thinking later on last night that I probably misread that comment. But,, looks like someone went out and picked up those beercans for me. Whoever that was, I am forever grateful, and owe you one, hugely. Cheers KL'ers! ~Jon

Did you just enter me in this drawing?

Wow! With paying off wedding and citizenship expenses, I may have to pick up beer cans on the freeway to afford to subscribe. This is a sweet kite.......... and I want it!! lol ~Jb

Indded Congrats. That Dream on is a sharp lookin one there. Might I suggest putting packing tape over the sig. if you're worried about is coming off? ~Jon

lol Not a slap,, just a re-direction. hehe. Im the same way m8. As a wise man pointed out to me, Im always searching for that perfect Margarita.

You'd be looking at about $90 to swap out all the rods, and even still, it won't fly like a UL. I would just save up for a UL myself, or put that $90 towards a Premier Widow o.0 . Just goto a local kite shop and replace the upper spreader with another 4mm Carbon rod and call it good m8.

Good! To the Gallows, I say! (wow,, Im reading too much Dark Tower series lately. lol ) <rubs fingers together> ...lamma lamma lamma....