Caller Stephen

Hi Windward, Looking very closely at the photograph I am not sure that it is stiches that have failed but the material that makes the pocket has frayed and pulled through the stitches. If that is the case then you will need to do something to stop the fraying continuing. i think that this means bonding the warp to the weft of the pocket fabric so you donot have a raw edge. if the edges of the pocket material are raw edges and the material is dacron, polyester or similar then it might have originally been heat cut/sealed to melt the raw edges to prevent fraying. it does not look like heat sealing the edge of the fray is an option for you unless you are very brave as you have little material to work with. Fortunately the fray is at the open end of the pocket and not too severe. I would try the superglue on the edge of the pocket material to bond the warp and weft threads together and stop the fraying getting any worse. The pocket material edge is very close to the stich line on that side so anything that you can do to reinforce the warp/weft bond strenth will help. Worst case will be replacing the pocket eventually if the fray works further down the side. For openweave fabrics there is a glue called Fray Stop to prevent the unravelling of raw edges but i would not suggest using it for kites. Cheers Stephen

Hi, Is this Vintage 'GO FLY A KITE' #15258 Rainbow Triplane 40" Wingspan 120' Flight Line or this of any assistance? Cheers Stephen

Knock Knock, RNG Where are you?

Is this of any use? Cheers Stephen

Hi there, The long line that you wish to tension should enter the central hole of the bead, pass out and back into the two holes on the side of the bead and leave throuch the other end of the central bead. You might need a loop of fine thread/floss to act as a pull through to route the bridle line through the side holes. Once threaded through is the bead has a third side hole then create a loop and thread the end of the line back into the same end of the central hole and out through the third side hole securing the end with a figure of eight knot. If there are only two side holes then either back up the central hole and then knot it or if there is enough room out thorough on of the side holes and knot it. The long line that you wish to adjust has the added friction of passing through four right angles going from the central hole, through the side, along the side and finally back though the side and into the central hole. When under tension this creates a lot of friction and will maintain the tension. When not under tension the bead can move and the size of the spare loop adjusted. The bead acts a little like a Prussik knot, slips when not under tension but holds under tension. Much harder to describe with words than a diagram would be. A different technique for using beads for tension is http://www.fighterkitecentral.com/pdfs/manny's 1 bead spine tensioner.pdf Hope this helps. Cheers Stephen

Another alternative is a yacht chandlers. A visit can often yield some interesting items for kiting. Shock cord in 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm etc. is usually available by the metre with the advantage of seeing what you are buying. Also available are spinnaker repair tapes, for those little accidents, and insignia tape for adding wear strips. Cheers Stephen

Hi Cliff, Glad you were able to meet up with Graham and Bill and that they were able to help you along. Two really nice gents. I have known Graham for over ten years and he has always been very encouraging and helpful. There is nothing quite like flying with others. If you fly with them again, which I hope you are able to do, say hi from me. Graham should know who I am. Cheers Stephen

A really nice collection of kites and nicely documented. I would agree that kite 102 looks very much like a Lee Sedgwick U-FO "Ultimate Flying Object". More details can be found https://windstarkites.com/UFO.htm including a video and instructions on Lee's Quad sticks handles. Cheers Stephen

Very nice Jeremy. I always find your videos so inspiring. Thanks so much for taking the effort to make them. Cheers Stephen

Did I miss something?

Hi Cliff, Being based in Bedfordshire then Bill (oapbillf) will be the one to contact. No doubt he will be along shortly. Dunstable Downs on a Sunday is the best time to expect to meet other Quad line kite fliers. Bill and Graham form a pairs Quad team "Dunstable Downs Old Gents" and I believe still fly there on Sundays from 10am. It is/was trhe base for the Quad Kite Flying team "The Flying Squad" but I am not sure of their status and how active they are. The best advice is to meet up and talk, fly with and experience flying in a group. You might try dropping Bill a direct message. Cheers Stephen

Have you tried emailing Tim Benson. He can be contacted via the email on his website. He should be able to tell you what your version of Outerspace was framed with. I did find this spec for the outerspace that might match yours. The framing being a combination of Structil standard and Structil Hi Mod. "The Outer Space is framed in Hi-mod, a light, stiff and reasonably robust pultruded carbon. Tradewinds' excellent fittings are used and bungees at the tip and Velcro at the spine hold the sail taut." He still makes the outerspace http://www.bensonkites.com/kites/outerspace.html

Err? I think that as this is a post in the Single Line Kites Forum and talking about Dacron lines the poster is not interested in stacking lines for a Revolution style kite stack but rather flying several single line kites of a single line. For Dacron lines there is possibly not much to choose from to make the decision. There can be bad batches of line but if it breaks you can tie a knot. Do bear in mind that knots in lines does reduce their breaking strength so you need to be careful. 300lb line is not that strong so unless your kites are small you will not fly many off thar line.

There I was thinking that you have not posted a dog stake video for a while and you go and post a tutorial. Another great video Jeremy. Particularly like the safety warning along with the scratched glasses.