Jet Stream Speed

[Breezin]

Went out earlier with winds gusting 8 to 12. Put up the Widow for about a 1/2 hour until winds got higher.Was on 150 # 100' lines. Put it away got the Addiction. Set it up and before launch got a 24 and 28 hit. !!! Came in called Into The Wind and I am going to Boulder tomorrow  to get a Jet Stream. Bought a Pfaff 1122 sewing machine yesterday to build a Faux C. Patience my donkey ! When I want to fly by golly I'm going to fly even if I have to sit on my butt getting dragged around to do it ! Need 2 high wind kites anyhow. Then I am absolutely done buying kites. RIGHT ?

[John Barresi]

I’m on a Pfaff 1222 myself. [emoji1303]


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[Breezin]

I'm thinking It's good enough to get started. Didn't want to go over $100.00 so it took awhile to find a Pfaff. Between learning to fly and sew I should be busy for the next couple days. Maybe more . Hoping ITW will let me see their work space tomorrow. If not no offense but am going to bring doughnuts.

[John Barresi]

Nearly all metal, reliable, great choice for a entry machine. [emoji1303]


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[Breezin]

[Breezin]

Put up the Jet Speed in 15 to 20 mph 18 degrees this morning. Crashed about 20' off ground not going very fast and broke tee. Had battens bowed out. Kite didn't come with instructions so maybe assembled wrong ? Kite should be more durable then that to fly up to 38 mph I would think.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Breezin
wrong info

[Breezin]

Tried to assemble kite yesterday and broke whisker. Went to repair and found out kite came with 18.8 cm x 3 mm instead of 17 cm x 2 mm rods as specified. Got 20 + today. Kite is going to fly by gum. Learned to maybe check measurements before forcing and complaining. So far the QC on all but the Pro Dancer kinda sucks. Not bad, bad just kinda. Difference between Corvette and Ferrari I suppose both bad ass but one is also a piece of art.

[Edmond Dragut]

you speak about Ferrari, right ?

[Breezin]

Yup even though they'll be lucky to place 2nd in F1  this coming season !! Going to go to ITW in the morning. This kite sucks. Above 15 hard right crash. Launch below 15 and wonky feeling. Can not figure it out.Guess is the bridle is off.

[Kansas Flier]

On 1/26/2018 at 11:59 AM, Breezin said:

Tried to assemble kite yesterday and broke whisker.

You need to stop doing this, please. 

I read your post about breaking a lower spreader on your Widow NG. Last weekend I broke a lower spreader on my Widow NG. I have never broken a lower spreader on any kite before.

Today I broke a standoff on my Black Dog, in flight. Another first.

I was gonna blame it on the cold weather, although it was nice today, but I'm starting to see a pattern.

On 1/15/2018 at 8:02 PM, Breezin said:

not going very fast and broke tee.

So, I should expect a broken tee in the near future...

Be very careful with your sails! We don't need any sail damage. 

[Breezin]

Sails on the Widow and Zephyr already repaired . They were very minor so you can breath easy . Flew my Neighbors Black Dog just before breaking the Jets whisker and his stand off repair is awful looking. Kite was a blast to fly though. Today I got to fly the Zephyr for several hours . Lucky for you no damage. The down side is female Alpaca spit on me, another stepped on my toes. Male kicked me in the shin. Hollered loudly and upset the guard dog so he knocked me down. Going to collect eggs attacked by rooster and pecked by a couple hens. Walking back to the house goose began biting the back of my legs .While getting away stepped in dog poo sigh. Be very careful tomorrow !!

[khsidekick]

Dang Breezin I’m not so sure anymore if I want to meet up and fly with you? 🤷‍♂️


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[Breezin]

Could be very regrettable Khsidekick but we can just fly mine LOL. Talked to ITW Fri. about the Jet. Very cool dude. Positive I got a faulty kite. Was going to go there to resolve issues. Put the kite together again this morning trying to figure out whats wrong. Dropped whisker behind freezer and found instructions . Elliots pdf is for the Jet Stream Speed not Reloaded. Whiskers correct at 18.5. ITW site says 115' x 140 lb. Not what I got but correct line set per instructions.Bridle and frame measure out correctly.  Apparently it's me  that sucks. Hate when that happens.

[Breezin]

Finally, finally good time on the Jet. Got about 45 minutes in 10 to 15. Winds dropping so didn't fly long. Watching videos I assumed kite needed to be hard launched. Nope just ease it up and let the kite hunt for the lift. Have to be very gentle on the lines or kite will go spastic. Once nose settles kite becomes very precise and I can yank and spank in the power zone. Just 1/2 way thru a loop I have to let it finish or I lose control. Nothing else I have flies like it. 1st window edge to  edge slide done this morning on the Jet Go figure. Kite stalls and recovers on the window edge very well. From what I have gathered a true speed kite doesn't do that very easy at all. The main reason I got the Jet vs others was less pull. It's 1/2 at 15 mph than the Widow at 10 mph. Think I'm going to like this kite a lot. I don't ever recall hoping for 30 mph winds before . Will repair as needed. 

[Wayne Dowler]

10 - 15 mph is close to the bottom of it's stated wind range? Probably why you could get away with some of that. You'd be surprised at what you can learn about your kite, flying in the bottom of it's range. You really do have to "feel" it, sometimes coax it. It's not all "yank and spank"!

[Breezin]

Yank and spank for me is trying to get my butt out of a mistake to avoid a crash. Low wind or on the edge if I do that I just crash faster . Elliot says kite will fly at 6 but I'm not steady enough to fly below 10 on the stock lines. 10 mph and there's some sag happening. Thought that it would fly similar to the Micron but it's more like the Addiction.Would much rather spin and grin than yank and spank .

[Breezin]

Spent couple hours on the Jet this morning.  Winds mostly between 15 and 20 mph. A few gusts over 20 with with more dips to 10. Didn't get a launch until 9th attempt. Seems I have more success launching with belly down nose away. Flip the kite up do a spin and kite seems to stay more stable finding it's stride.  Wore me out. Closer to 60 than 50 and still thinking I'm 20 at times. Winds kept swirling on me and had a difficult time. Can't say it was fun but did enjoy myself. Did a couple spins to gain momentum on the upper right window edge with the winds pushing 20. Came screaming down towards center lost control and had the hardest crash ever !! Spine popped out, c clips broke loose, upper and right lower spreader landed about 5 feet from the kite.Left spreader popped out of tee but stayed connected to the LE. Win was buffeting kite pretty good and got to the wreck as fast as I could hobble hoping to minimize the destruction. Other than having to re glue clips nothing wrong. Freaking amazing. Didn't do anymore power dives though. They say the kite is on the radical side of things. That might be a understatement.

[Breezin]

Gave it my best shot and I'm done with thispiece of kite. I'll see what ITW does Thursday. No matter what the kite will be left in Boulder.  Don't care if it's me or not. Flies better on 100' 150 lb lines but still feels wonky. It just doesn't feel right. Went up in 15 to a little over 20 today on stock lines and it just sucked. These are not the lines that ITW advertised and had to adjust the stretch twice in 45 minutes. Every time I fly it a line adjustment is needed. Gave up and blew around on my snapshot for awhile. Then put up the micron on 100' and had a ball. They saved the day cause that Jet Speed just about ruined it. AGAIN. Next up HQ Ninja.

[Kansas Flier]

22 hours ago, Breezin said:

...and had to adjust the stretch twice in 45 minutes.

I this is the reason I have quit using the "stock" sets. I had one stretch 6-8".  I get your frustration, and I can see how a new flier would frustrated with that quickly as they might not understand what just happened, and would have another line set. 

Flying a kite that sucks to fly, sucks. Hope all goes well with ITW.

[Breezin]

Put the kite together in the house and checked it over as good as I could. Winds were around 25 with gusts close to 30. Would not want to fly in  much more. Set up at window edge with 100' x 150# . After 4th launch attempt spine c clips came loose again so I quit. Had to give it 1 more try. Hate,hate,hate giving up on that kite. If someone at ITW  can show me it's me that will be fine because I'll learn something. It's not like I'd be  the first to not bond with a kite . SUCKS !!!

[Breezin]

Jet Speed Reloaded is gone. ITW were fantastic. Showed me the error of my way's. A+ service. When I am a better flier I will consider Elliot again. Very frustrating lessons from that kite but that's on me not the kite. Could have been much, much,worse.

[Kansas Flier]

2 hours ago, Breezin said:

Showed me the error of my way's.

What was wrong? 

[makatakam]

20 hours ago, Breezin said:

Jet Speed Reloaded is gone. ITW were fantastic. Showed me the error of my way's. A+ service. When I am a better flier I will consider Elliot again. Very frustrating lessons from that kite but that's on me not the kite. Could have been much, much,worse.

Many people expect more from a kite than it can deliver. Remember, every kite is a compromise of characteristics, with the intent of achieving a specific type or style of performance. There is no such thing as one kite that does everything (with the exception of the ones I build, of course). Oops, sorry -- fell asleep and started dreaming there for just a moment.

The Jet Stream is a bullet on steroids as far as kites are concerned. Not for everyone.

[Breezin]

Had a Excel tee instead of a Magellan. The spine and rods fit snugger in the Magellan even though both are 6 mm. When I put in outer baton I put it in last and had the sail in to much tension. Will start putting them in first on the Pro Dancer from now on.The sail needs to be tighter and flatter on a speed kite so less tolerances. The end caps were lost in crashes and had electrical tape instead. The kite needs the long end caps so they'll be less flutter on LE line in high winds. Apparently not that big of an issue on trick kites that fly in less than 15. When flying high end precision kites in higher winds maybe that's where the importance of end caps other than for protection starts. Curious if anyone with a Skyburner Solus has flown in low 20's and could tell a difference. Replaced batons with 2 mm instead of 3 mm which also added to the LE line  to be to loose. When I did get the kite to fly that's why I would feel a pulse coming thru the lines. I glued the c clips and thought I had the tee snug enough. Didn't seem any different than my other kites. The slight movement of the tee would get worse and break the bond . I had re glued the right LE c clips also. I believe he said 2 mm difference across  the lower spreader from edge to edge would throw the kite off one way or the other. Seemingly trivial things added up to major imbalance. It makes perfect sense to me. Pretty simple stuff. Man you'd think I was a rookie or something. The Hydra I believe is going to be less tolerant of poor flying skills. More so than any other kite I have. When I can successfully  fly that kite maybe I'll have enough knowledge to  fly and maintain a framed fast kite. In the meantime snapshot and Micron. Spider kite 4' 2" is a real maybe.If the tolerances on a Jet Speed are that critical imagine the trial and error that went into the Tiger. I don't think the Jet Speed failed my expectations. To high of expectations for myself and ignorance is what ended my time on the kite. For now. Starting to really understand that in speed and power kiting you better know what you are doing. People can and do get seriously hurt or killed.