Date:	Thu, 7 Jul 1994 11:21:53 -1000
From:	hjb@talkeetna.corp.sun.com (Hans Bauman)
Message-Id: <2vhrlh$34o@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM>
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Subject: Collapsing Hawaiian Team Kite

Help!  I recently made myself a Hawaiian Team Kite, following the 
directions in Wolfgang Schimmelphennig's "Lenkdrachen zu...".  In
strong winds it flys, but it I try to make fast maneuvers it simply
falls flat onto the wind, drifts, and is generally unrecoverable.  If
I limit the kite to broad, cautious movements, it flys well.

It I move the bridle adjustment forward, it happens more often, and
if I move it further back it doesn't fly at all: it just shutters, obviously
over tuned.

The kite is clearly a direct-TOTL rip-off, so the design should work.  

Where the 5 spars meet at the nose, there is close to an inch of webbing 
between each.   This makes the nose quite flexible.  Could the collapsing
have to do with the nose, which is not held open with any rigid means, 
but simply by wind force?  Should I prop the nose open with a mini-cross 
spar?  

Has anyone experienced this with a similar stunt kite?  Any comments
are welcomed.  

hans

hjb@talkeetna.Corp.sun.COM





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Date:	Fri, 8 Jul 1994 05:33:19 -1000
From:	sasaki@das.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki)
Message-Id: <CsMoJJ.GMI@das.harvard.edu>
Organization: Harvard University OIT/NSD
Subject: Re: Collapsing Hawaiian Team Kite


In article <2vhrlh$34o@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM>, hjb@talkeetna.Corp.Sun.COM (Hans Bauman) writes:
>Help!  I recently made myself a Hawaiian Team Kite, following the 
>directions in Wolfgang Schimmelphennig's "Lenkdrachen zu...".  In
>strong winds it flys, but it I try to make fast maneuvers it simply
>falls flat onto the wind, drifts, and is generally unrecoverable.  If
>I limit the kite to broad, cautious movements, it flys well.

Well, try installing standoffs to hold the kite open. This helps with
other flight characterstics as well.

-- 
Marty Sasaki            Harvard University           Sasaki Kite Fabrications
sasaki@noc.harvard.edu  Network Services Division    26 Green Street
617-496-4320            10 Ware Street               Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
                        Cambridge, MA 02138-4002     phone/fax: 617-522-8546


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