Date:	Thu, 17 Jun 1993 18:33:44 -1000
From:	jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka)
Message-Id: <1vrgj8$smn@umd5.umd.edu>
Organization: University of Maryland at College Park
Subject: Re: When the wind doesn't blow....

In article <1993Jun18.033600.18486@Princeton.EDU> brett@surfpix.princeton.edu (Brett Borowski) writes:

>Thanks to everybody that's  offered advice and tips on
>everything--especially the moves.  The wind has been pretty lousy of
>late and you've given me so much stuff to try!

Eventually you'll obssess to the point where you'll go out and blow the bucks
on a super ultralight so you won't have to complain about those days of 
lousy wind.  ;-)

>BTW, what kind of monofiliment does one use forthe wingtip-to-spine-to
>wingtip line?  I figure something very thin to minimize drag.
>(And I'm not sure which direction my nose was pointing when I turtle.  I
>think it was >away< from me...)

The monofilament should be pretty thin, but honestly, there's very little
of it to create drag anyway; you're pulling a lot more drag with a "normal"
bridle than you will with a 8' piece of monofilament.

The line doesn't need to be strong.  If you can get your hands on a piece
between, say 5# and 20#, that's fine.  Obviously, if you're going to buy
a roll, you can select a lighter line.  In my instance, I talked to my
grandfather, an avid fisherman.  I asked if I could bum ten or twenty
feet of five or ten pound monofilament.  Two days later he handed me
a huge roll of 20# line, saying he didn't need it.  The 20# is quite light
and I use it on, amongst others, my Pro, which is my lightest dual line
kite (the only kite I have which outflies my Pro is the new Rev II I
wrote about earlier this week).

When you attach the line, there are a few hints.  Most important is to make
sure that the line is *loose*.  There should be no tension on it.  You don't
want it too loose, or you're just adding excess weight/drag.  But there should
be no tension on the line.  If the line has tension, you'll be curving your
leading edges.  This does two things:  it introduces a camber into the
sail which may throw off flight characteristics, and it will loosen your
trailing edge.  And we all know that a loose trailing edge flaps as it moves,
slowing down the kite.  The other big thing to watch for is that your
monofilament is as close to the very *end* of the wingtip as possible.  One of
the best ways to ensure this is to put an endcap over the nock.  Tie a loop
in the end of the monofilament.  Punch a small hole in the vinyl end cap,
then thread the monofilament loop through the hole.  Larkshead the monofilament
around the nock, and then, holding the monofilament taut, slide the endcap
tightly onto the nock.  The result of this is a smooth tip with the 
monofilament coming straight out from the very end.  If the monofilament
is _not_ right at the end of the wingtip, it won't do much good; you're
still likely to wrap a line around a wing tip.

The turtle probably did have the nose pointing away from you; this
is the easiest and most common sort of turtle.  The easiest way to get
the kite to turtle into this position is to fly to the very top center
of the window, pull quickly with both arms, and then throw both arms
forward.  You may need to take a step forward as well.  The kite will
flip right over onto its back.

Marty briefly described the most common method for unturtling most kites:
the kite will rock a bit as it comes down (and you can carefully induce
this rocking).  By watching the kite carefully, it's possible to pull on
the lines at just the right place in the rocking motion, causing the kite
to flip right out of the turtle.  It's just a matter of practice.

There _is_ one caveat, though.  Unless you really know what you're doing,
only attempt this unturtle with plenty of altitude.  Often, pulling at the
wrong time will cause the kite to drop faster.  It's not difficult to make
the mistake of causing the kite to fall faster, and then try to unturtle
just above the ground.  This causes the wingtips to slam into the ground.
If you're not sure that you have enough room to attempt the move, let the
kite float down to the ground.

One last thing:  the Tracer is a *fantastic* kite for learning to 
turtle/unturtle with.  The kite is almost always recoverable, and the
2400 version can handle the rough treatment I describe above.  There are 
plenty of other good kites to learn this sort of thing on; I'm just
fond of the Tracer.  And I know that if I hadn't spent a lot of time beating
up on my Tracers, I wouldn't be able to do some of the cool stuff I do
with my Pro.

Jeff
(who's got the bulk of the Father's Day FlowForm done, but is now wondering if
the applique he designed is going to be a bit comlex to get done in time...)
-- 
|Jeffrey C. Burka     | "When I look in the mirror, I see a little clearer/ |
|SAFH Lite [tm]       |  I am what I am and you are you too./  Do you like  |
|jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu |  what you see?  Do you like yourself?"  --N. Cherry |