Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 21:00:41 GMT From: sasaki@netop3 (Marty Sasaki) Message-ID: <1993Feb24.210136.24291@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: flexfoil Please note: This message is being forwarded by hand. The message was received before the auto-magic forwarding software was in place. - Marty Sasaki Date: Wed, 24 Feb 93 11:38:43 EST From: Panetta Subject: flexfoil I just got a new 6 ft. flexfoil and need to get some line to fly it with. Does anybody have suggestions on the length and weight of line that I should get. I usually am able to fly in winds of about 10mph. Thanks for any help, Carl = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1993 21:10:17 GMT From: sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-ID: <1993Feb25.211017.16531@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University Subject: Re: flexfoil >From: Panetta >To: kites@das.harvard.edu >Subject: flexfoil > >I just got a new 6 ft. flexfoil and need to get some line to fly it with. >Does anybody have suggestions on the length and weight of line that I should >get. I usually am able to fly in winds of about 10mph. I would suggest 150 lb. Spectra in whatever length suits your fancy. Short lines will make the kite seem to fly more quickly. Longer lines are slower and more graceful. Most folks in New England fly on between 100 and 150 feet of line. -- 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 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: 27 Feb 93 15:06:09 GMT From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) Message-ID: <18704@umd5.umd.edu> Organization: University of Maryland at College Park Subject: Re: flexfoil Panetta asks: >I just got a new 6 ft. flexfoil and need to get some line to fly it with. >Does anybody have suggestions on the length and weight of line that I should >get. I usually am able to fly in winds of about 10mph. Marty's already answered this, so I won't really bother. I will, however, throw in my now-standard (tiresome? ;-) remark that it would be a *very* worthwhile investment to spend the extra $25 for an Ultraflex light-wind spar. A stock 6' flexi is difficult to fly in winds much lower than 8-10. With the Ultraflex, the kite is flyable in 2-3 (less if you're good). The 6' Flexi holds a unique place in my collection because it's one of my favorite ultralights *and* one of my favorite super-high-winds (I can't name another kite that will fly in 1mph *and* 55mph!) Marty then writes: >Most folks in New England fly on between 100 and 150 feet of line. This is interesting to me. Here in DC, the most common line length is between 90 and 100 feet, and it's not at all uncommon to see lines in the 75', 60', and even 40' range. Longer lines occasionally crop up for team flying, and folks will practice ballet on lines maybe as long as 125'. But I don't know of anyone who flies on a full 150', other than folks who've just bought a stock line set from a kite store. What other sorts of regional customs are there? Allegiances to certain brands of kites? We've got a huge number of Jordan Air kites, but it's also not uncommon to see one of Marty's kites in the air. Lots of Tracers and EFMs (one of the fellows who runs Big Easy Kites is a member of our club). But I almost never see stuff from Spectra Sport, Team High- Fly, Chicago Fire, and a slew of other big names. What about the single/dual line dichotomy? In the DC/Baltimore area, things are split basically between the Kapitol Air Korps, which is focused on dual line, and the Maryland Kite Society, which is focused on single line. But a lot of the folks in KAK also build and fly single line kites, and we do a lot of volunteer work at local festivals (kite and otherwise; we run workshops and such for kids at various types of events here and there). MKS tends to be proudly single-lined and single-minded (though this certainly doesn't apply to *all* the members!) So what are things like in other areas? Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Fairies are the perfect people to do this | |(suffering Bad Grammar) | sort of work. Biologically, their upper | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | bodies are strong enough to wield a pickaxe...." | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =