Bridle Question

[JoneZ]

When I was flying this weekend, I noticed some slack on my bridles (on the inhaul lines). It didnt nerf the performance of the kite, as far as I could tell, but then again, Im new.. heh

I started readin gup on dynamic bridles this morning, and I've got a question on them (actually 2).

Firstly, should I even try out a dynamic bridle? I have a Cherry Bomb Kite. Being as its a beginner-intermediate kite, Im wondering if this would be a good thing.

secondly, if I do try a dynamic bridle system, how and where would I attach the "3rd leg" (between the upper and lower outhauls) to it?

From my understanding, where the inhaul line attaches to the upper/lower outahul line is where the the 3rd leg would normally go, but it cant, since the yoke connects in that spot (Im referencing this from the guide listed @ http://www.kfs.org/~abw/kite/bridle.html ).

Any insight would be great.

PS Had a great weekend at cannon beach. Not much wind, only got to fly friday (messed around with weighting -- fun stuff), but got some great scenic pics. I'll have to post them in my profile when I get some time.

Cheers.

~Jon

[Dan]

For a nice discussion of bridles, I recommend Andy Wardley's and Ian Newham's pages. Great stuff!

In depth discussion of Active bridles:

http://www.wardley.org/kites/bridle/index.html

Also good stuff and rules of thumb for static and dynamic bridles:

http://www.iannewham.com/kitedesign/bridling.html

~Dan

[JoneZ]

Great. I read the one on Andy Wardleys page before about dynamic bridling, but couldnt find an answer to the 3rd leg issue, as the example does not have a 3rd stabilizer leg. I guess I don't need it attached, but I kind of want it, for higher wind stability.

I'll read up on some of the other active bridle systems on that site, see if I can answer my own Q.

Thanks for the pages Dan.

~Jon

***edit

Yep, I definitely do not have a standard 3 leg static bridle.

I've uploaded a pic diagram I drew in paint.

The red arrowed line is a single line (both left and right side are attached where the inhauls intersect - making the entire red line system essentially 1 string.), making up the inhaul line to the upper-outhaul line.

The blue arrowed line is the lower-outhaul line.

The white arrowed line is the 3rd leg stabilizer line.

The green line is the tow point (which is an extension of the lower outhaul line - folded and 2 overhand knots made about an inch apart - which the other lines are attached inbetween the knots with larks head knots.).

If I want to convert to a dynamic bridle, would I first have to make new lines? Or could I just use the existing lines - detaching the single line that makes the inhaul and upper outhaul line, snipping it in half to detach the left from the right bridle line, and making them single line upper/lower outhaul lines, then swaping the lower outhaul line to the inhaul?

phew... hope that made sense. lol

then I would just have to find out how to attach the 3rd leg stabilizer (if I need it at all).

OR

Am I thinking this to to the 10000th degree, and theres a way simpler way to accomplish a dynamic bridle with a 4 leg static bridle?

Thanks in advance people. I really appreciate all the info, and input thusfar.

~Jon

[JoneZ]

I took off the stabilizer lines (white arrowed line, as shown above) yesterday, and the kite worked just fine without them, although I did notice the leading edges flexing quite a bit more in the gusty winds. I think I may just leave them off and use them only when its necessary.

And on that note, I switched to a dynamic bridle setup. I unstrung all my lines, and split the long line in two(the left/right inhaul to upper outhaul line [red lines shown in above diagram]), swapped it to a upper/lower outhaul line. Then used the old Lower Outhaul Line/tow point as the inhaul line/tow point. The lengths of all the lines were such as I didn't have to snip or add any.

Now I just need to wait for some windy weather to try it out.

And btw... I was thinking the issue of the stabilizer lines (white lines as shown in the diagram above) to the 1000th degree. All I'll have to do, is resize them to fit the dynamic setup, and larkshead loop them to the base of the Yoke, before I tie the yoke to the tow point.

Heres a pic of the updated lines (without the stabilizer lines, I havent sized them to fit yet). You can see where the stabilizer line should go (between the upper/lower outhauls) - a little hole is there. I don't want to put them on yet, because I haven't flown it with the dynamic setup, and I don't want to go cutting these lines, until Im sure A.) I like the setup. and B.) til I have it tuned up for flying.

Does it look like I've got everything right? The nose lifts off the ground about 4 inches before the rest of the body picks up, so I think thats around 5degrees or so.

Also, the yoke is made from the upper/lower outhaul lines. In my searching, I've seen the yoke made also from the inhaul line. Any difference? From my point it looks basically like the same thing, just strung differently. ?

[JoneZ]

I just keep answering my own questions. hehe

So I sped out to the park in the 15 minutes that it was sunny here (before it started hailing), and tried out the new bridal I made.... Wow. Its like a whole new kite. With having all the lines taught give you SO much more control and preciseness. Not to mention stalls are about half as hard to pull now. Recovering from bad stalls, and dive bombs are a breeze. The kite doesn't want to get wrapped up in its own lines as much on a nerfed a trick (and I nerf about 95% of the ones I try. lol)

Lovin the dynamic bridle. Although it is a little harder to launch in lighter winds, its still a friggin superior design.

Thankful for the info on this site, I tell ya.

~Cheers.

[JoneZ]

Should I even reconnect those stabilizer lines? I mean, asides from higher wind stability, what other uses would they have?

Im thinking the less lines, the better. Am I wrong?

[Dean750]

It seems like the 3rd leg is only there to keep the leading edge from distorting in the higher winds. In lighter winds it seems like there should be a very slight amount of slack. If they are to tight the 3rd leg with change the angle of attack and mess with the turning ability. I think anyway. My indoor Synchro has the 3rd leg. Just there to keep the leading edge from distorting if you happen to over power the kite or get a gust.

[JoneZ]

aye. I just ended up removing them entirely. Having the dynamic bridle helps that kite out like 10. Although I should think about shortening the yoke. Its about 4 inches in length. It really helps the precision turning, but can oversteer very easily.