Date: 26 Apr 1993 13:30:53 GMT From: klober@balrog.harvard.edu (Thomas Klober) Message-Id: <1rgo6dINN2k6@ctron-news.ctron.com> Organization: Cabletron Systems Inc. Subject: Flexifoil questions Hi y'all, I have 2 questions re Flexifoils. I have a stack 2 6' ones anf fly it in low/medium winds with a 60lb Spectra line and padded wrist straps. I'm now looking into adding a 3d one which raises the question what sort of line to use. Anybody out there got any expirience/opinion on this ? The 2nd question is re the same kites. Somewhere I've seen/read about adding a tail to a flexifoil, which looked really good. But I all I can remember now was that it also mentioned some minimum geometry for this so that the tail doesn't interfere with the kite. Anybody got any measuremnts for this ? tia, thomas kloeber -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- smail: Cabletron Systems, Technology Drive, Durham, N.H. email: klober@ctron.com Telephone: +1-603-337 7361 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1993 18:22:24 GMT From: andrew@tug.com (Andrew Beattie) Message-Id: Organization: Negligible. Subject: Re: Flexifoil questions In article <1rgo6dINN2k6@ctron-news.ctron.com> klober@balrog (Thomas Klober) writes: >I have a stack 2 6' ones anf fly it in low/medium winds with a >60lb Spectra line and padded wrist straps. >I'm now looking into adding a 3d one which raises the question >what sort of line to use. Anybody out there got any expirience/opinion >on this ? Line strength: dunno. It depends how hard you are going to pull, but I's say that it's time to look for something stronger. Don't forget tho: thicker line -> more air resistance -> slower kite -> less pull. Swap the padded straps for Sky-claws (but fix the line part of the handle with a loop that goes through the hole and folds back looping over the end - the standard arrangement can pull through) >The 2nd question is re the same kites. Somewhere I've seen/read >about adding a tail to a flexifoil, which looked really good. >But I all I can remember now was that it also mentioned some >minimum geometry for this so that the tail doesn't interfere >with the kite. Anybody got any measuremnts for this ? I never bothered with the method that Flexifoil suggest, I just hooked one tail onto each of the O-rings. My experience is: 1) The tail adds a lot of drag -> slow kite 2) I tried 6 tails on a 3-stack (or was it 8 on a 4-stack?). I never managed to self-launch without them getting tangled and it took *ages* to wind them up again, so I havn't tried again since. Andrew -- andrew@tug.com = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =