Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1993 02:26:10 -1000 From: leon@stack.urc.tue.nl (Leon Woestenberg) Message-Id: <1vkf52$kn5@tuegate.tue.nl> Organization: MCGV Stack, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. Subject: Speedwing adjustment tips Hi flyers! I've compiled a piece of text here, taken from various sources, that describe how to tune your Speedwing. These're some things about bridle adjustment, which is very hard to do on the Speedwing. That's mainly the reason the Speedwing is seen as a unpredictable stuntkite. However, when fine (I'm talking 1 mm work, here!) tuned it is very fast, hard pulling and very responsive! I bought two small Speedwings (117 cm) and made two big ones (213 cm). In heavy weather, the two littles in a train will pull your arms out, while ONE big one makes you skate (if you want it or not!). With two big ones, I need someone's assistance (read: mass) to keep me on the ground. The reason the bridle adjustment is hard, is because of the very complex bridle (one of the few bridles which is patented) that is hard to adjust by intuition only... Therefore, all Speedwingers out there, read the tips below. Happy Speedkiting! Leon Woestenberg (leon@stack.urc.tue.nl) ----------- Speedwing bridle adjustment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Adjustment response ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the bridleclips are shifted downwards, the Speedwing will give a better steering response, fly faster and pull harder. General settings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For these reasons, the Speedwing needs low bridle settings. But, however, there is of course a lower limit, which is passed when the Speedwing won't launch any more. In this case, and in the case that no forward speed is achieved, the clips have to be shifted up by 1 mm. Low and strong wind settings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When well adjusted, the stuntkite will launch laborious, and then dart away suddenly. In slow winds, the clips should be shifted upwards, to get it in the air. In strong winds, shifting up the clips will result in a somewhat slower and less pulling kite, surviving the storm. Asymmetric setting correction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When left and right turns are unequally sharp, first check out the length of the steeringlines. If correct, the bridleclip is lowest on the side of shortest turns. Higher that side's clip, or lower the other one. Top bridle ring ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The place of the top bridle ring determines the proportion between straight flight and turns. If the Speedwing is pulling hard in the straight flights and stalls in the turns, this ring should be shifted downwards. If the kite will pull harder during loopings, the ring must be set higher. Adjusting the top ring has to be combined with new clipsettings. Crossline lengths ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The length of the crosslines determines the manoeuvrability of the kite. The longer the crosslines, the better the kite will respond to steering controls. The limit is reached when turns are no longer smooth, but shockery. Sail bulging ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bulging of the sail, measured from spreader to the middle sailedge, will effect both launch ease and overall speed. A taut sail will harden the launch and increase the speed, while a bulged sail will easen the launch and lower the speed. Launching from loose sand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the beach or in dune launching can be done with assistance or standoff. Lay the Speedwing on it's back, and make two piles of sand on each wing tip. In heavy wind, cover the middle sail too. Now grab your controls and pull. The Speedwing comes standing up and hits the skies. Happy Speedwinging, Leon Woestenberg (leon@stack.urc.tue.nl) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1993 05:59:57 -1000 From: voigt@rhrk.uni-kl.de (Andreas Voigt [MW]) Message-Id: <1993Jun16.155957.16545@rhrk.uni-kl.de> Organization: University of Kaiserslautern, Germany Subject: Re: Speedwing adjustment tips Hy Speedwingers ! Here one more tip to make your Speedwings faster. On the first flights of my Speedwings I mentioned, that the rear edge of the sail was fluttering in strong winds. Moreover the kite was rather slow and noisy. I solved that problem by inserting an adjustable spectra-line into the rear edge of the sail. With that line I can limit the bulging of the sail at the rear edge only. The effect on the flight-behavior is the same, as it is described under the point 'sail-bulging' in the last News. The kite becomes absolutely quiet and really fast. A friend of mine reached the same result by sewing a prestretched elastic ribbon around the rear edge. Although this version is not adjustable, it is working fine at every kind of wind. Speedwing forever !! +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | /\ / Theodor-Heuss-Strasse 9 | | / \ / 6750 Kaiserslautern | | / \ / Germany | | /------\ / 0631/25426 oder 0631/205-2421 | | /ndreas \/oigt voigt@rhrk.uni-kl.de | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1993 07:38:42 -1000 From: sasaki@das.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-Id: <1993Jun17.173842.8901@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University Subject: Re: Speedwing adjustment tips In article <1993Jun16.155957.16545@rhrk.uni-kl.de>, voigt@rhrk.uni-kl.de (Andreas Voigt [MW]) writes: >Here one more tip to make your Speedwings faster. > >On the first flights of my Speedwings I mentioned, that the rear edge >of the sail was fluttering in strong winds. Moreover the kite was rather >slow and noisy. I solved that problem by inserting an adjustable >spectra-line into the rear edge of the sail. With that line I can >limit the bulging of the sail at the rear edge only. The effect on the >flight-behavior is the same, as it is described under the point >'sail-bulging' in the last News. The kite becomes absolutely quiet >and really fast. Many delta wing stunt kites have a similar line running along the trailing edge. The Tracer, the EFM, and the Team High Fly Pro-Am all have an adjustable line along the trailing edge. For a while, a kite was being made that had a stiff piece of plastic sheet (mylar, I think) along the trailing edge. It was heavy, so light wind performance suffered, but in high wind the kite was fast and silent. -- 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