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28m Monkey Kite

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sgt. Salty
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28m Monkey Kite

Postby sgt. Salty » Sat Apr 17, 2004 6:19 pm

Yesterday I got a first ride on my 28m Monkey Kite. It was increadible. I have to say that before I took it out it is a little scary because you don't know what will happen. Every small gust scars you if the kite might be too big. But this all changed once the kite is in the air.

Now to the point. I'm 190lb (85kg) and was riding a 136 Gaastra sky pro, and sometimes a Litewave 158. I have no windmeter and therefore I cannot tell much about the current wind speed. My friend told me that it was maybe 12kn. Winds were pretty stable.

Here some pics:
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No center strut
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Extra valve on the tip of the leading edge to get the air out.
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The kite felt very comfortable and never scary. In my opinion you have much more control in light winds with this beast, than in bigger winds on a small kite.

It turned really fast and easy. Easier than my 16.6 BT (2002). I used a North Skepter Bar on 27m lines. In the beginning I even didn't notice that I left the bar on the 50cm setting from my last session on a 12m. It was so easy turning. the kite was very stable in the air.

I dropped it twice, but this had nothing to do with the kite, only stupid jumps from me. The first time the kite fell downwind of me, but already on its back, relaunch was really easy. The second time it it fell in the leading edge and I couldn't manage to flip it over.

Getting the air out of the kite takes a while, even with the 2 valves, pumping up was not that bad, I might look for a cheap electronic pump, but its not necessary. A problem was to flip the kite on the beach. I'm 185 cm. I was able to do it on my one, but it was really a pain, with 2 people its pretty easy.

It was such smooth and easy riding, one of my best sessions ever. Cannot tell much about the windrange, though.

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Noabacca
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MOKEY

Postby Noabacca » Sat Apr 17, 2004 8:29 pm

Salty,
Two quick questions.

Did you try a selflauch, or did you have a kite buddy assist?

Also, where are you flying the pictures? Great Lakes?

-Noah

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sgt. Salty
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Postby sgt. Salty » Sat Apr 17, 2004 10:58 pm

Noabacca,

1) I had a buddy, especially as this was the first time I rigged it up I wanted somebody with me for the case I have to find the perfect adjustments.

2) Thats Grand Haven, MI at Lake Michigan. Really nice spot usually there are suppost to be quite a lot kiters, but that day there were not so many out :lol:

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sgt. Salty
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Postby sgt. Salty » Sat Apr 17, 2004 11:04 pm

Three things I want to add/suggest:

1) Change the name from monkey 28m to gorilla!!!!

It pulled like a Bull.

2) Size matters!

3) This baby is so beautiful without any fancy designs.

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Postby Guest » Sun Apr 18, 2004 7:25 am

Nice pictures!
Whats the quality and finish on it like?

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sgt. Salty
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Postby sgt. Salty » Mon Apr 19, 2004 1:21 am

Anonymous wrote:Nice pictures!
Whats the quality and finish on it like?
the dacron seems really strong, seems are nice and canopy looks like the same as on other kites. The canopy is sewed together in stipes of about 45cm (1.5 feet). Dont know if this is to make the sewing easier. My idea is that if you rib the canopy one time, it might only rib until the sewing, but dont know if the will be the case.

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Postby Guest » Mon Apr 19, 2004 11:47 am

how long did it take you to get that pumped up?

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sgt. Salty
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Postby sgt. Salty » Mon Apr 19, 2004 5:36 pm

Anonymous wrote:how long did it take you to get that pumped up?
takes about 10-15 min. It pumps really easy, as the valves have no balls inside. you really dont need them because even the struts are so big so that there is a lot of air inside. I was able to close the valves with hardly loosing any air. The smallest struts have some kind of air stopping mechanism, so that its more difficult to get the air out, but that's it.

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Postby roll tide » Sun Apr 25, 2004 8:49 pm

I bet that thing shows up on radar..
I'd watch out riding it near a military installation !

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Postby sgt.salty » Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:53 am

Some people think its a big cloud and take out umbrellas :lol:


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