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First serious freestyle kite


ofted42
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I checked your post at the "other place", thanks for the suggestion ;) I e-mailed Jon and asked for some advice, it did seem odd to me that it seemed to fly worse than my Quantum. maybe I'll take a trip to the beach tonight and see how it goes with more consistent wind.

The bridle is definitely different than what I've seen up to now with the double adjustable knots and such. Looks like you can adjust this thing every which way but loose, and probably screw it up royally in the process!

You might be better off giving Skyburner a call rather than waiting for an email. They always answer the phone during normal business hours. I don't have a Widow Maker, but the lower priced version, the Widow NG, and haven't any of the problems that you are describing, so it sounds like something is amiss. Did you remove the tail weight? On my Widow NG, there is a Fast Bridal adjustment which is shown in the NG owners manual. Maybe the Widowmaker bridle setup is similar, and I move mine to the closest knot to the kite frame, and it still spins on a dime.

WidowNG018.pdf

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My advice would be to not adjust the bridle. Verify the bridle measurements with Jon T. Make sure that the bridle isn't wrapped under the spreaders when you assemble it. As I mentioned in my other post, my Solus came through with a mis-tied bridle, the measurements were off by more than an inch from the right side to the left side. When it didn't fly right, I couldn't figure it out until I sat down with a ruler and measured it out.

That was disappointing, but actually led to the development of the Solus Comp.

Bridles must be a tough thing to get right, I also have a Quantum Pro SUL that has never flown because the bridle is mis-tied. I was so frustrated with that kite that I have yet to give it the time to figure it out.

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Yeah, I reset the bridle back to the way it was. My Quantum and Jazz both came with misadjusted bridles too, I had to reset them once I understood what was going on. I e-mailed Jon and got a response already, he wants me to send it back for analysis. I'm going to give him a call, maybe we can figure it out without having to lose it for another week or two, already took almost a month to get it in the first place.

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I should probably clarify, my comments before weren't a knock against Skyburner in any way, I'm thrilled with their service so far. Once I get this thing set up I'm sure it'll be great, and I've already been telling people about Skyburner and their service. The waiting for a month remark wasn't a dig either, rather wait for something that's a quality product than some junk off the shelf. Definitely made the right choice.

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Patience is a good thing, especially with kites... sometimes you have to wait weeks just for good wind to fly in. I hope it can be figured out over the phone, sending it back is kind of deflating. You bought a quality kite that should last you for 10 years or more, and once you have it in proper flying order for a while, this will all be forgotten. I 'lost' my Solus for over a year while different people tinkered with it, but it was worth the wait in hindsight. The kite exceeds my expectations in every way.

Not everything off the shelf is junk, but it's just not the same as a quality, high end kite.

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Well, I talked to Jon today and he was really helpful. He sent a diagram over for the bridle lengths and I measured them when I got home. Looks like the outside ones might be long by around 3/4", not a lot but we'll see if he thinks that's enough to throw things off. If so he's already offered to either have it sent back on their dime and rebridle it or send me a completely new one to put on. I can see why Skyburner has been in business this long. Whatever I decide to get eventually for an ultralight kite, you can be it'll be from them.

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