Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 06:01:57 -1000 From: andrewh@qmw.ac.uk (Andrew Hawken) Message-Id: <2mcj9l$4e9@beta.qmw.ac.uk> Organization: Elec. Eng. QMW Uni. of London Subject: Flying Bar (was Line Setup) Pete wrote: > BTW, does anyone besides me use a flying bar to fly the larger Flexi's? > I rarely if ever see one in use. A 600f spar flying bar allows some > interesting moves, like an upward ladder in light wind, without moving > the feet. (The 10' w/150' lines was the rig I got my first 360 with; gerry@bicceri.demon.co.uk (Gerry Lawrence) wrote: > The point is I decided to see what happens if you really exaggerate your > movements. I tried stretching one arm out in front as far as it would > go and the other arm behind as far as it would go. Does the flying bar achieve the same thing as Gerrys `scarecrow' pose ? I dont think that I *could* put one arm in front of me and one behind me with 5 flexis in a good wind! Gerry is flying 6' flexis so his armspan is effectivly a 1000f spar bar. I think I will try the bar. What do I need for a flying bar ? Just a broomstick with two holes drilled near the end and larkshead the flying lines on? I guess that the danger is that it is impossible to let go of one line to power down the foils in an emergency, and having a bar flying around after the foils if you drop it all sounds like a recipe for disaster! Advice ? Thoughts ? ____________________________Andrew Hawken______________________________ -- "However many ways there may be of being alive, it is certain that there are vastly more ways of being dead" R Dawkins. Home : 0895 420110 QMW : 071 975 5542 AIIT : 0494 677045 Email : A.Hawken@QMW.AC.UK = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Sun, 20 Mar 1994 07:53:18 -1000 From: pwmeek@garnet.msen.com (Peter W. Meek) Message-Id: <2mi2ie$44s@nigel.msen.com> Organization: Msen, Inc. -- Ann Arbor, MI (account info: +1 313 998-4562) Subject: Re: Flying Bar (was Line Setup) My flying bar (72", for a 10' flexi) is made from 1.25" spruce closet pole, carefully selected for straight, end-to-end grain (I rejected about 20 before I found one I liked). I think this is the *MINIMUM* size/strength for flying a 10'. A broomstick just isn't strong enough. A really good one (like from an industrial-strength broom) should be OK for one or two 6' Flexis. You should be able to block up the ends and jump on it without breaking it. If it can stand this, you won't break it while it is held in your hands. Even with this test, enclose the center section in something that will constrain any shards and splinters if it breaks. The reason I stress this is because you are holding this in front of your face under stress. You *don't* want (neither do I) to get sharp splintery ends jammed back in your face if it breaks. YES! This is exactly why I use the bar. The 'scarecrow' position (nice name ) lets you make a 5' to 6' *difference* in line length as felt by the kite. Like you, I can't stiff-arm one of the lines behind me when the kite is pulling hard. I *can* find the center of pull of the bar and point one end of the bar at the kite and achieve that effect. See above for selection of material. For a stack of six 6' Flexis, I would go with the heavy bar. For the connections I used 3/16" (#10) U-bolts through the end of the bar with the holes aligned like so: --------------------------------------- | O O (bar continues) ------------------------------------------ ^ ^ (holes) ...rather than crossways; I think it's stronger. I use the double-ended dog-chain snaps (discussed here some time ago) which are chrome-plated and very smooth to connect the U-bolts to the loops in the ends of my flying lines. I can't argue with that, although I have never failed to be able to deliberately crash the kite at the edge of the wind when I needed to. I try not to fly this kite upwind of people, which is not usually a problem since I am not a gregarious flyer. If I aim one end of the bar at the kite, the kite will spiral down, but it still pulls more than if I could get the full 10' line difference. You could make a 10' bar, but to be strong enough, you might have to make it so heavy that it wouldn't be much fun to fly with. Like traction kiting, flying large kites and stacks has an irreducable minimum danger. You can make it saf*er*, but you can't make it *safe*. I don't fly this over or upwind of people and figure that if I hurt myself, I was doing what I wanted to do. --Pete "Since at first there was no space, | Cao Xueqin ca. 1760 Things can have no proper place." | (tsao schwechin) Andrew Hawken (andrewh@qmw.ac.uk) wrote: : Pete wrote: : > BTW, does anyone besides me use a flying bar to fly the larger Flexi's? : > I rarely if ever see one in use. A 600f spar flying bar allows some : > interesting moves, like an upward ladder in light wind, without moving : > the feet. (The 10' w/150' lines was the rig I got my first 360 with; : gerry@bicceri.demon.co.uk (Gerry Lawrence) wrote: : > The point is I decided to see what happens if you really exaggerate your : > movements. I tried stretching one arm out in front as far as it would : > go and the other arm behind as far as it would go. : Does the flying bar achieve the same thing as Gerrys `scarecrow' pose ? : I dont think that I *could* put one arm in front of me and one behind me : with 5 flexis in a good wind! Gerry is flying 6' flexis so his armspan is : effectivly a 1000f spar bar. : I think I will try the bar. What do I need for a flying bar ? Just a : broomstick with two holes drilled near the end and larkshead the flying : lines on? I guess that the danger is that it is impossible to let go of : one line to power down the foils in an emergency, and having a bar flying : around after the foils if you drop it all sounds like a recipe for disaster! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 15:49:04 -1000 From: ai605@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Douglas King) Message-Id: Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Subject: Re: Flying Bar (was Line Setup) In a previous article, andrewh@qmw.ac.uk (Andrew Hawken) says: >I think I will try the bar. What do I need for a flying bar ? Just a >broomstick with two holes drilled near the end and larkshead the flying >lines on? I guess that the danger is that it is impossible to let go of >one line to power down the foils in an emergency, and having a bar flying >around after the foils if you drop it all sounds like a recipe for disaster! > >Advice ? Thoughts ? Yup. I've never used one of those contraptions (never needed to), but the release of the line is no problem... _____________ ___________ _____________ (___/\_______ \__/ _________ \__/ _______/\___) \____/ \____/ string Hand Hand string If you desparately need a complete line release, just rotate the bar. You could also have maybe 5 to 10 feet of extra line really well secured to the bar so as not to loose the line end while still effecting a safe power-down... It's a thought... Douglas King -- Douglas King _______________________________________________________________ | FIDO: 1:163/570 | RFN 100:649/115 | FreeNet User ai605 | | CALL Einstein's Emporium at (613) 744-1983 today!! | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =