Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1993 10:20:11 -1000 From: plepez@ulb.ac.be (Lepez Philippe) Message-Id: <9308231220.AA25998@is1e.vub.ac.be> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: nose width: how does it affect flying caracteristics ? In article <1993Aug16.173213.15605@das.harvard.edu>, sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) writes: >In article <24k06j$nc8@nermal.cs.uoguelph.ca>, moishi@uoguelph.ca >(Maurice Y Oishi) writes: >>I'm making a dual line stunt kite similar to a Top of the Line North Shore >>Radical. The plans are vague as to how close the leading edge spars and >>the spine should be at the nose of the kite. Depending on how I sew the >>kite (wing span= 7'), the ends of a leading edge spar and the spine could >>be as far apart as 5" or as close as 2" at the nose. (The nose >>consists of a cloth tape with sewn pockets to hold the spars and spine >>into place rather than vinyl hose). Is it better to bring the spars and >>spine as close together as possible at the nose, or is there an optimum >>distance? > >The answer is, > > It depends. > >or, > > Try both and see. > >Some kites come nearly to a point. Others are spread apart. Mike >Simmons claims that the Tracer flys better with a wide nose. Alan >Nagao says (and I agree) that with a wide nose, the length of the top >spreader can have a profound effect on the performance of a kite. > >I believe that the North Shore Radical is on the wide side, but that's >from memory... I would like to ask the knowledgeable guys out there, if they can go a bit ahead of the 'it depends' and describe the effect of a large nose versus a small one. Or in other words how does the nose width affect the flying of a kite. If you can add some 'because' in your explanation that would be great. Ok, I can try, but it takes a lot of time and I may change more than one parameter at a time. Asking the net gives the opportunity to have more than one answer with more ideas than one guy would have had and I am not yet able to give 'because' (will I ever be ?). In advance thanks and good winds. Philippe -- Philippe Lepez (CP 125), | | Good kite Universite Libre de Bruxelles, | Email: plepez@ulb.ac.be | + Good wind 50 av. Roosevelt, | Phone: 32.2.6503553 | ---------------- 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. | Fax : 32.2.6503323 | = A lot of fun ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1993 09:54:59 -1000 From: tanaka_be@swam1.enet.dec.com Message-Id: <9308231953.AA27143@enet-gw.pa.dec.com> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Nose width Organization: Harvard University Subject: Re: nose width: how does it affect flying caracteristics ? In article <9308231220.AA25998@is1e.vub.ac.be>, plepez@ulb.ac.be (Lepez Philippe) writes: >In article <1993Aug16.173213.15605@das.harvard.edu>, sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu >(Marty Sasaki) writes: >>The answer is, >> >> It depends. >> >>or, >> >> Try both and see. > >I would like to ask the knowledgeable guys out there, if they can go a bit >ahead of the 'it depends' and describe the effect of a large nose versus a >small one. Or in other words how does the nose width affect the flying of a >kite. If you can add some 'because' in your explanation that would be great. I didn't mean to be flip or anything when answering this question. But I am often amazed at how things work and am not surprised when someone tries something and gets a different result than I got. Also, realize that what I am about to say is more conjecture than fact, and is based on my experience... Nose width doesn't seem to be as important as how the nose is stretched by the top spreader. The North Shore Radical, the Spectra Comp Edge, and the Skynasaur Tracer all have "wide noses" with moderate stretch. They track well and fly smoothly. The Big Brother, Dean Jordan's Pro, and the Katana and Katana II have narrower noses. They likewise track well and fly smoothly. As Bert Tanaka has mentioned, lengthening the top spreader can have a large effect on a kite. Along with increasing speed, a long spreader can make the kite unstable. It doesn't seem to matter whether the kite has a wide or a narrow nose... I chose a narrower nose because it was easier to sew and looked neater. So much for science and engineering ;-). -- 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 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1993 05:17:18 -1000 From: moishi@uoguelph.ca (Maurice Y Oishi) Message-Id: <25qh9u$12q@nermal.cs.uoguelph.ca> Organization: University of Guelph Subject: Re: nose width: how does it affect flying caracteristics ? Marty Sasaki (sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu) wrote: : In article <9308231220.AA25998@is1e.vub.ac.be>, plepez@ulb.ac.be (Lepez Philippe) writes: : >In article <1993Aug16.173213.15605@das.harvard.edu>, sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu : >(Marty Sasaki) writes: : >>The answer is, : >> : >> It depends. : >> : >>or, : >> : >> Try both and see. : > : >I would like to ask the knowledgeable guys out there, if they can go a bit : >ahead of the 'it depends' and describe the effect of a large nose versus a : >small one. Or in other words how does the nose width affect the flying of a : >kite. If you can add some 'because' in your explanation that would be great. [Lines deleted here...] Thanks very much for the information. Philippe's more precise question seems to have gotten the answer that I wanted. I'll bear all this info in mind this week as a tune my completed but wind-deprived kite. Mo Oishi