I have an old Concept Air 7.5m which has not seen a lot of use. It was originally rigged as a 3 line kite with all brake lines attached to the third line and a massive long bar, (900mm-1000mm if memory serves). It was built as a water kite with valves in the intakes. Last time I flew it with a buggy the canopy and bridle attachments all looked in great and it pulled like a truck. The canopy is low aspect and looks to me from the photos I have seen on this forum, very similar to the current model.
I would not feel comfortable selling this on eBay as, in this configuration, is it way below the safety standards of modern kites and can only be safely handled by somebody who knows what they are doing. It also seems to much of a shame to just dump such a nice canopy. It may be worth saving by developing a mixer bridle for it if somebody fancies the project, you might even get lucky and be able to buy something from the company that could be modified etc. I have a shed full of other kites and would rather be riding than splicing, plus I am too old to die young.
If anybody fancies the project the kite canopy with its main bridle attached, can be picked up for free from West Wales.
Great proposal, Thanks.
Do you know the year of the model and yiu you have a photo ?
I am asking myself the same question for an old F-one starter, 2 lines, 1999.
Sounds like a very old kite. Unfortunately you can't build a mixer bridle (or at least to do it for some purpose) because that kite (which very typically pulls like a truck) is not stable enough for a mixer. If I put it in other words: every single part of that kite is wrong shaped for the mixer, and these differences are not small. Quite probably line attachment points are not suitably located either.
Some fixed AoA bridle is most reasonable for that kind of kite because it is not designed to be a depowerable kite.
The kite is in fact 2001, kiteexpert may well be correct and without doubt their is risk of wasted effort, that's also one of the reasons I am not going to do try it myself. However this kite has a shed load of bridle attachment points and so it may have a chance. I will post some photos, once I have sussed how to embed them, so that you can assess for yourself whether it's worth the cost of shipping or petrol to West Wales. It's free to a good home. You may also be able compare to the latest iteration of this kite.
Obviously modern depowerable kites will be designed with a holistic approach to mixer and canopy shape. The Canadian designer would be in the best position to advise if he is in a convivial mood. If all else fails you could always split the brakes and put big handles on it, go retro and build your biceps.
Nice old school pictures...
I turned a traction kite into a depower kite. It is a lot of work, be prepared...
You'll certainly have to built a "non even " speed system " with longer Z (or decrease the camber, same) otherwise you will get frontstall at zenkth when depowered
Here is the result I did on my Pansh Adam (originally not a depower kite)
10 years ago I would have enjoyed the challenge. Today’s kites are so good and offer such value. Let’s ride!
Like old wooden skis, that kites best purpose today is to serve as a decoration, and it’s an awesome one not many can claim.