makatakam

I'm in.

Looks great, but I prefer my bananas with chocolate on them. Should be awesome in light wind, especially if you skip the chocolate. You may find that the leading edge of the sail flutters at higher speeds. If so, you can slip a very small diameter carbon rod into the seam to eliminate the flutter, or sew a stiffer material strip along it. See the photo I posted, the LE is attached to the front and back on this design for that purpose. I am also making a second kite where it only attaches to the front.

Really awesome. Would definitely be a crowd-pleaser intro to a stack routine.

Hi, alfric, and welcome to the forum. Yep, hang in there, lots of folks from NC here. They'll pop in to say hi once they're done flying this weekend.

I opted for no sleeve to reduce weight. Weighing in at less than 4.5 ounces, including diamond frame, and with about 350 square inches more sail area should make it a light wind demon. However at this point, I realized that I oriented the fabric weave in the wrong direction and will have to make major alterations before the sail sits right on the frame without too much flop in the belly. It will probably be a winter project since I'm too busy flying during the warm months.

This may make you re-think the leading edge. I've built it and it works. The only drawback is that it leaves the LE tube exposed and susceptible to abrasion. Note that the "v" in this design is quite shallow, and this in combination with the change in the angles of the sides of the sail give the kite more than 300 square inches more sail area. The dashed line shows the approximate size and shape of a Rev 1.5 for comparison. The only change from this design that I made was to make the air spaces shorter near the middle and progressively longer toward the tips. Less pressure near the tips should add a bit of stability overall. Post pictures when you are done.

I would be inclined to remove the frame completely and to roll the P20 kite sail around the frame. I mostly carry three Revs when I'm packing light (long walk from parking lot to flying area): 1. Super Ultralight home-made and much lighter than other SUL's 2. Standard Sail 3. Full Vent Those cover 90 percent of conditions. If conditions change, I'll walk back and grab the Extra Vent, or a beer at the nearest pub.

Yep, makes that annoying snag stop interfering with your fun. Eventually, if you stay with flying quads, you will buy or make no snags. I have, but I still use the two sets I modified when I started flying. My handles (six sets and multiplying) spend most of their time semi-permanently attached to the lines I use most often. Reduces setup time. Many other kite mods are possible. The guys at Dunstable Downs will fill you in on the ones they find useful.

Hi, Ferret, and welcome to the forum. You are in good company at Dunstable Downs. Much to learn. They can help. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

@Mike Klaiber So, how did it go? Did you learn anything? Would you have shown up just to watch JB fly? How was the wind? Was the sand clean? The water wet? Sky blue?

With that stack just landing is a trick.

Eddie, John moved Paul's kites here so they weren't in someone else's Zen for sale post (the white one). Send a PM to Paul for prices. These kites are well used, so don't expect them to look like new. These were built specially for Paul, or modified specially to his specifications. The price with the magic sticks and French bridle that Paul prefers, and the other modifications made to the kite will still be a great deal at the price he'll be asking. Just remember that the kites will all have more than the average amount of wear you would expect. Give me a call, or if you are going to Milwaukee this weekend I'll show you a couple that are in similar condition.

Nuts, I didn't even notice the date on the first few posts. Doh!

There's some lovely filth over here. Kind of scary when someone does though. You know, kind of "should I laugh or should I run?".

Back away from the grail.

I may be interested in the hot fade, Paul. How well has it been spanked? Anything falling off yet?

There's at least two more, but they are not active on the forums. You'll run into them at some of the area fests.

Hi, @Koobecaf Uoykcuf, and welcome to the forum -- just thought I'd get this topic back on track.

@Steve Jenkins Are you aware that there is a clinic coming up in the Detroit area on the 24th and 25th. I believe that one is still on. I don't know if that one is full yet or not. You might have a bit shorter drive to that one, like about 7 hours shorter.

That's why I went fishing instead.

If the endcaps keep coming off you may need to tighten the bungees a bit. There should be zero slack in them, but not enough tension to put visible stretch lines in the sail. All locations should be adjusted to put moderate tension on the sail, keeping the tops of the upright caps from sticking out more than 1/4"-ish beyond the leading edge. Although usually tensioned correctly when the kite is made, like everything else, with time it changes even when not used. Temperature, humidity and other factors are the cause, and the tension will need to be adjusted several times during the life of the kite. The bungees are elastic, obviously, and with time will deteriorate because of the nature of the materials they are made of, and will need to be replaced.

I'm not familiar enough with the Micron to be of any help, but hang in there, someone will probably chime in after the holiday.

Welcome to the Midwest where 1 day out of 100 will have decent wind. And, of course, that will be a day you will have to be at work.

Might as well just lose all of the remaining mesh. That should make the kite fly faster in reverse. At this point it only adds weight and blocks air flow. If you don't want to lose the momentum the existing mass offers, the upright tubes can be "strategically" weighted at the lower tips, to increase glide ratio at the same time. Weighting the lower tips of the uprights should also make axels a bit flatter. Can be a win/win/win combination.

Cool beans -- It's great you guys could get together. Make it to some of the upcoming festivals if you can. Check the IKE club calendar to see what's coming up in the area. Hope to fly with you guys soon.