Date: 23 Mar 93 07:49:08 GMT
From: lucifer@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Light-Bearer)
Message-ID: <1onpjkINNmhq@emx.cc.utexas.edu>
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Subject: Re: Asymmetric Colors (was Re: Look of our kites)

In article <1993Mar18.171553.25569@das.harvard.edu> sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) writes:
>
>In article <9303172010.AA29522@is1.vub.ac.be>, plepez@ulb.ac.be (Lepez Philippe) writes:


[stuff deleted]



>>- does the 2 wings need to be symmetric in the point of view of colour, the point is stretching and ageing of the 
>>nylon (I like 'rainbow' kites).
>
>I've found that the direction of the grain of the fabric on a kite is
>very important for the overall performance. Of course this depends on
>the overall design of the kite.
>
>There have been kites that have not been left/right symmetrical that
>have flown well. So, my advice is that you try your design and let the
>rest of us know how well it ages.
>--
>Marty Sasaki            Harvard University           Sasaki Kite Fabrications
>sasaki@noc.harvard.edu  Network Operations Division  26 Green Street
>617-496-4320            10 Ware Street               Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
>                        Cambridge, MA 02138-4002     phone/fax: 617-522-8546



I have the asymmetric Wizard by Bob Childs.  I've noticed that the
sail definitely does not sit evenly on the frame.  One side seems to
be about 1/2" smaller in the sense that the sail always butts up
against the "T"-fitting on one side (i.e. the whole sail seems to be
shifted on the frame).  This could be caused by differential
stretching between the two sides, or the sail might not have been sewn
properly to begin with. Unfortunately, I didn't take any measurements
BEFORE I flew it for several hours. The differential stretch (if it is
such), while not desirable, hasn't really hurt the kite's
performance... it just takes a bit of tweeking on the bridles to get a
uniform response.


Dean



-- 
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-----------------| "No, it's not a spaceship, it's a Stunt Kite... sheesh! |

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