ITW Hydra - Leading Edge Tensioning

[Bumfish]

I got a new Hydra from ITW and the LE is tensioned by a line with a loop at both ends. I tension the LE as described in instructions, but the knot keeps slipping thru the knock during flight and the end cap pops off during flight.

What secret fix have you used to keep the tension line from loosing tension during flight?  I thought about heat shrink tubing below the knock. (I don't un- tension the LE for storage) Has anyone got a better idea?

[John Barresi]

I know @mirecat has some time on the Hydra, maybe he can provide some insight?

Otherwise, reach out to Fortuna Forms on Facebook (same designer).

[Exult]

The Hydra and the Rock of Horror
- a Short Cautionary Tale
      --by Exult (unfortunately)

I've lost one protective cap during a session with the Hydra and then before I realised that, I had cracked the split nock (assuming this order of event). This was most likely against a small rock (as seen in the image) when doing a harder 2-point landing or other impact like ground work.

Reverse engineering of my own assembly

When examining the other remaining wing tip cap and nock I saw that: that there was a crack on the cap and that the string was not tensioned enough (though crack and string tension seem unrelated). I guess that one should monitor the tension in this loop and add a new knot if not tensioned enough. I just assembled it (impatiently) when the kite was new and never thought of it again.

I lost both strings and caps on the Kymera during a session and replaced the lost strings with (several turns of) rubber bands that I have in the kite bag. The procedure of assembly for this kite was much the same, I just assembled it and never thought of it again (and I'm not even absolutely sure I did it the right way, but to my understanding it should be in the same way as the Hydra). I certainly did no inspection after the first session. During the latest session I also cracked the (no cap - unprotected) split nock against a patch of ice on frozen ground most likely, since that was the hardest "object" on the field.

The Red Ice Kymera - a Hard Story of Chilly Demolition

I'm wondering if low temperature is an issue in making the plastic more brittle. I guess that I should always keep the cap on to protect the wing tip and replace it shortly after if it would fall off (why not have the protective caps in bright colour so that it would be easier to see if they fell off?).

Also wet clay like soil might not give your protective cap back after a 2-point landing, landing on one wing tip or a tipstab. This happened with my Fazer XL quite recently. The Fazer XL is so heavy so that landing/dragging on a wing tip on a hard ground can quite easily crack an unprotected nock (even if the original nock is very wide). In my case it was a lime stone rock and there were no hard landings involved. Also that, that kite is typically used in heavier wind also increases the risk.

(So now I have two good reasons to ask/think about the following - how to remove the old damaged split nock from the LLE?. Should one hold the LLE with pliers (possibly using the LS fitting to make the grip milder) and pull the nock with a second pair of pliers, should one try to let it come loose hitting it with a flick from the back side of a knife (as when removing clips), should one instead use the knife to remove layers of the nock until it is no more or should one give up and buy a new spar for the LLE?)

 

[SHBKF]

Just came upstairs from the Kite Dungeon where I was doing wing tip maintenance on several kites.  Seems like when I am flying I don't spend much time stopping to fix lose ends or missing vinyl caps.  Many times, if there seems to be an issue, I just switch to another kite.  Because the winds are so fickle here in the mountains I want to fly as much as possible when I can.  Some kites throw off end caps often & others have retained their caps for years.  Recently one side of a dualie lost it's tension on the leach line while the other side remained tight.  The normally quiet sail started a gentle puttering sound.  Back home I reworked both tips, leech lines & tensioning.  My style of tensioning the tips has evolved over time & I noticed some kites are tied differently on either end.  Ah, the randomness of life, what a great thing it is.

I have not replaced too many broken nocks on my kites.  The damaged ones have not resisted much or have already been knocked hard enough to loosen them.  One nock was glued on so well that I just whittled it off with my ever present Swiss Army Knife.  I have some kites on which the nocks are not secured by anything other than the tension of the line.  When I put a new one on I generally just put a small amount of cyanoacrylate on the spar to hold the nock.  A sharp rap will break the bond if I need to remove it at a later time.

My favorite field repair of all time was when I only had one kite with me one day & the upper spreader went missing.  I looked around a bit, found a nice straight twig, whittled on it a little & kept flying until the wind died.  SHBKF

[RobB]

When I order repair parts, I like to order lots of extras. Plenty of nocks, assorted sizes, for example. I remember making an order once, and asked for 25 end caps. THe supplier asked what I was going to do with all those caps... I'll lose them eventually I told him. Well, looking in my spare parts box, there are maybe 5 left at this point. 

Broken nocks ? Very common where I fly. The grains of 'sand' are pretty big on my beach...

 

[makatakam]

6 hours ago, RobB said:

Broken nocks ? Very common where I fly. The grains of 'sand' are pretty big on my beach...

 

Do you mean under the rocks there?

[RobB]

Nope, there are more rocks under the rocks. It will all be sand soon... geologically speaking !

[Exult]

Finally I took the time to get both the Hydra and Kymera back on-line. I believe that the nocks came off easier after applying heat with the heat gun, but I was reluctant to test it cold by using much force. Not very much heat was applied so a hairdryer would perhaps have worked as well. What was the glue that was used here (at least there was some on the inner end of the nock)? Would this approach have worked with CA-glue as well? The use of locking pliers and LS-fitting to hold the LLE was OK but perhaps not ideal. A small hose and something wider that these pliers would have been better to distribute the load. On the other hand the required force, at least after heating, wasn't very large.

Partially removed Kymera nock after heating with a heat gun. Now I realised how the nocks were attached. Gently pulling with combination pliers worked OK.

The Kymera nock is attached over a 6mm carbon fibre tube. Broken nock is now fully removed.

The Hydra nock arrangement was very similar to the Kymera's. However a carbon fibre rod was instead the interface here.

The old and new nocks were of different outer dimensions, so the new nock needed to be cut and sanded smooth where it had been cut.

Measure twice saw once... Perhaps covering the gap with some heat shrink tubing? And I also need to order some bridle line to replace the rubber bands. The fit of the new nocks were so snug so that I decided to try without any glue.

On 12/26/2016 at 9:27 PM, RobB said:

When I order repair parts, I like to order lots of extras. Plenty of nocks, assorted sizes, for example. I remember making an order once, and asked for 25 end caps. THe supplier asked what I was going to do with all those caps...

You have found the way! I'll never again order just a few caps, nocks, clips... ever. It is so annoying when they are used up! The remaining 6mm nocks I got is even wider than the above spare nocks - I should have ordered more of them.

[makatakam]

Yep -- having the part you need is good. Not having enough of the part you need sucks. I also buy repair and replacement parts by the ton, and carry those most frequently needed with me. It's nice to have what someone else needs also.