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Double Leading Edge on Kite?

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Spencer
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Double Leading Edge on Kite?

Postby Spencer » Sat Mar 08, 2003 6:03 am

There was a post earlier about making kites with two small leading edge tubes, instead of one big fat one. Actually, this is already being done. I haven't seen it myself, but last year Gaastra was making prototypes of this, testing them here in the Gorge, and possibly even working on patents. It was kind of top secret until recently, but the last time I talked to people from Gaastra it seemed that it was no longer a secret, so I don't think I'll get too much flack for posting this here. The last report I heard was that the newest prototypes are really dialed in, and this spring or summer they might even let some of us regular folks try them.

I rode Wipikas for 3 years (now I've got BlackTips), and in 2001, there were 3 different generations of the AirBlast. There were multiple variables in each generation, but the one with the smaller leading edge tube seemed better to me, although a bit too much jellyfishing (2 tubes apparently solves this). We can argue all we want about aerodynamic theory, but in the near future we should be able to put theory to the test, and see if this truly is an improvement. I think there is still room for huge improvements in inflateable kite designs. I'm anxious to see where this goes. If you like lower aspect kites with really deep draft for doing technical tricks, this might not be an exciting innovation, but for people who like really fast high aspect kites that deliver a big power spike when sined, this could be really cool. It's on the way, so time will tell.

Spencer
Hood River

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