First, maximum respect for all your work Stef
(not only for the kites, but also your tools and presentation)
Maybe, when I am once by occasion in your region, would be pleased to try one of your kites.
kitexpert wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:22 am
There is many things right if kite doesn't collapse or do tricks for its first flight, and even more so if it is quite high AR kite and wind is gusty like it apparently was
...
Yes also my experience, never build a kite, but rebridled a few and seen many prototypes. My first try with a rebridled Windtools Mosquito 2 prototyp, was that it didn't even fly. Maybe the combination of a high depower bridle with a no reflex profile was the problem
. But didn't know anything about those things in 2000. But when I made this kite flying with a more normal fixed handle bridle. I was pretty happy with it and used it for about 3 years.
But another special thing I wanted to ask the kite building experts here:
I had two of those protos in 9 and 5,5 m² and both had a zipper to fold the two middle cells, which have been about 10% of surface. Unfortunately I actually have no fotos, would have to check some old disks from 2000 ...
But the experience with this zipper system was pretty good and felt close to marketable. As said I used both kites for about 3 years about 60 days a year and opened and closed the zipper for 2-3 times a session to react on increasing and decreasing wind speed on land with a mountain board. As fixed bridle kites from 2000 didn't have any other depower options it was better than nothing.
But since then I ask myself if it could be an idea to rebuild the zipper concept in a modern foil kite and therefor also increase its windrange. Problem for sure is you have practically design two kites in one with all the strap tensions in the canopy and bridle design matching the zipped and unzipped kite geometry. But there is also many possibilities designing the bridle and the canopy by free positioning the zipper that way that both kites would work well ... at least in my modest experience and expections.