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at it again (now what?)


riffclown
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You can also change how much it "talks" by changing the lengths of bridle legs to shift the overall location of the bridle vertically, changing its width from side to side, or just changing the length of the center leg of the bridle on the LE. I will usually make an adjustable bridle on scratch made kites so I can play with bridle positioning as I test fly. Once I am satisfied that I have found the sweet spot, I build a more permanent one. On some, I leave that center leg adjustable, especially the really SUL ones.

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In this case, I had left a loose belly on purpose so the kite would flutter. I wanted to explore some slack sail characteristics to increase sail area without increasing the kite size significantly. Just had to tighten it up a bit to get the flight characteristics I was looking for. I wanted to enhance low wind performance in a sail that was a heavier fabric than a typical SUL. 

I tend to design for distinct flight behaviors. I use slightly higher aspect ratios to make inverted side slides fit my control style.  It also artificially speeds up the sail over a similar production kite. (gives it some of the supersonic characteristics without the undesired side effects of instability.)

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22 hours ago, riffclown said:

In this case, I had left a loose belly on purpose so the kite would flutter. I wanted to explore some slack sail characteristics to increase sail area without increasing the kite size significantly. Just had to tighten it up a bit to get the flight characteristics I was looking for. I wanted to enhance low wind performance in a sail that was a heavier fabric than a typical SUL. 

I tend to design for distinct flight behaviors. I use slightly higher aspect ratios to make inverted side slides fit my control style.  It also artificially speeds up the sail over a similar production kite. (gives it some of the supersonic characteristics without the undesired side effects of instability.)

Exactly! I really, really like a bit higher aspect ratio in an SUL. The additional speed keeps it moving and makes up for the missing amount of mass. If only I could design one that doesn't involve this compromise.........

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10 minutes ago, makatakam said:

Exactly! I really, really like a bit higher aspect ratio in an SUL. The additional speed keeps it moving and makes up for the missing amount of mass. If only I could design one that doesn't involve this compromise.........

The slack sail helps "SOME" but the artificial belly has to be in your mind for anything reverse.. Worth the tradeoff??? maybe.. Trying to find that perfect compromise.. this video is before I trimmed it down a bit.. VERY low wind.. Notice how the sails belly is reacting to input. Remember this is a far heavier sail than is typical for these conditions.

 

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Moving on lessons learned, I've decided to finish out this particular run of kites with the second full sail as clost to this one as possible.. if it works better, I may actually rig this one permanently for lights and night flying..

As several friends have found out recently. Night Flying is an absolute blast.

 

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