Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 01:11:22 -1000 From: R.B.Birch@lut.ac.uk (Ray Birch) Message-Id: Organization: Loughborough University, UK. Subject: How to 'tune' a 1st. attempt stunter I have tried without success to make a kite which I made from a plan in a book called "Kites to make and Fly" by Jim Rowlands fly properly. I made it from nylon and the spars are 8mm dowell.( If anyone knows the book it is the Crusader). I am very pleased with the finished article, apart from the fact that I can't seem to get it to fly very well. It rises beautifully, but has a tendency to go too high and belly flop as the air spills out. On other occasions when it doesn't go to high I have little control over it and it is not very stable. I've tried altering the lengths of the bridles which has decreased it's tendency to rise to high, but I still can't gain much control over it! As it is my first attempt I don't know much about the 'physics' of kites. I'm very pleased with the way it looks in the air, but would be grateful for any tips about how to keep it there!! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 09:26:10 -1000 From: reich@nosc.mil (Ronald S. Reich) Message-Id: <9410211926.AA11053@cod> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Re: How to 'tune' a 1st. attempt stunter Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 11:11:22 GMT From: R.B.Birch@lut.ac.uk (Ray Birch) Subject: How to 'tune' a 1st. attempt stunter >I have tried without success to make a kite which I made from a >plan in a book called "Kites to make and Fly" by Jim Rowlands >fly properly.... Stuff deleted.... The tolerance on the up and down bridle adjustment of a kite is directly proportional to the amount of billow in the sail. For instance a kite with a very flat sail will require very fine tuning in order for it to fly correctly and a kite with a lot of billow will fly well over a large range of bridle settings. For your case I would suggest changing the cross spreaders (shorter ones) to increase the amount of billow and then try again. You may have to also shorten the top spreader if there is one. (to keep from bending the leading edge) Let us know what happens. Good Luck Ron Reich = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 03:22:08 -1000 From: jimg@ncp.gpt.co.uk (Jim Grindell) Message-Id: <9410241322.AA13966@suasic1.asicyp> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Re: How to 'tune' a 1st. attempt stunter Ray Birch writes: >I have tried without success to make a kite which I made from a >plan in a book called "Kites to make and Fly" by Jim Rowlands >fly properly.... Stuff deleted.... Me too! I am a complete novice as far as making kites goes. My only previous experince is making some simple vented sled kites for a childrens summer camp. I made the same delta kite as Ray (Crusader) out of plastic and dowels just to see how well it would fly, planning to get some better sail material if it went well. I took it out for its first test flight a couple of weeks ago and it behaved exactly the same as Rays kite (unstable and unresponsive). The bridles are three point bridles, one each side, with the connections to the frame being at the middle of the spreader, the ends of the spreader and about a quarter of the way down the leading edges. The thing that I find confusing is the upper length of line from the leading edge is longer (73cm) than the other two lengths (63cm I think). This would seem to make the angle of attack all wrong for the kite to fly. I tried messing about with this length but it didn't help much. I gave up when I broke one of the leading edge spars. I too would be grateful of any helpful advice. --------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Grindell Internet e-mail jimguasic1@ncp.gpt.co.uk GPT Ltd Telephone +44 203 563608 New Century Park Fax +44 203 562943 Coventry, U.K. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =