jumptheshark wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:36 am
Faxie wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2019 6:59 pm
jumptheshark wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2019 12:16 pm
?? Stagnate?
Would think that improvements in materials can only lead to opening additional avenues for development.
How's that? The stuff is stronger, and that's it.
Why don't you give your thoughts about why the big brands just happened to miss this new development?
Why did the big brands miss this? Because they haven't been looking for it. They are generally too content with minor changes year to year.
As to materials being stronger not being a big deal. I would consider things like the current strutless kites a major change in kite design. How many big brand kites have you seen footage of someone pinwheeling the kite while riding and letting the kite sit stalled into perfect hover straight downwind, then shoot off in whatever desired direction? Or successful production sizes down to 2.2m! These are already achieved and are so far outside the thinking of the big brands. New materials with difference in weight, strength, and rigidity can only allow further departure from what the big brands are willing to risk.
If the bladder and outer material work in tandem for rigidity and handle much higher pressures as mentioned, it can mean drastic reduction in tube size while still achieving the structural rigidity of today's kites. Designs could look as different as Bruno's high pressure tube kite with inflated trailing edge. Untearable fabric has big implications for simple quick kite repair when you do manage to get a puncture.
Even using similar overall planform as our current three strut kites but with significantly smaller tubes, potentially very little scuff guarding resulting in a fraction of the weight could lead to kites that drastically outperform what we are used to now.
I'm already on a 8m in winds that traditional TT riders need an 18m, I go faster at better angles and have three times the dexterity. Not sure why you want to put up such a negative attitude toward something that has the potential to transform our sport yet another major step.
Quad ripstop was heralded by the big boys as an absolute reason to buy their stuff. It really didnt change anything. Dynema lines are THE ONE TRUE invention that has made this entire sport possible. Incorporating the same material into our fabrics is not simply another nylon thread in our ripstop, it could very much render all of our current big brand kites to the bargain end of the used kite market inside a couple years of production..... and thats if they simply rebuild the same designs we have now. I tend to think there are a few mad scientists out there that will not be satisfied to stop there.
That's what I'm saying. They can still sell their stuff and have the biggest market share by utilizing the same concepts, so they don't need new materials, yet.
Strutless kites are not a result of material developments, but design developments.
You're not getting that drastic reduction in tube sizes. Like mentioned before, the pressure apparently doesn't affect the rigidity that much, but will affect the buckling point. For the same material, a reduction in diameter of 2 will make the tube 16 times less rigid. So with the new material you can get more rigidity, but don't expect 16 times. I think you should be happy with a 1/4 diameter reduction.
Someone else mentioned thickness. That's a valid argument, because leading edges will suffer from abrasion offcourse, and the difference in abrasion resistance between polyester and uhmwpe is not that big. So you still can't make the material too thin or you will suffer from potential quality problems in the long run.
The Bruno design looks nice, but I'm not seeing the real benefit there. What exactly does it do better than current designs? Nice experiment though.
I don't have a negative attitude, that's how you are interpreting it yourself. I'm being realistic and down to earth. And a hydrofoil comparison would count only if current kites would have so much drag that they have an edge just past full downwind. Which is not the case.
Yes, it will probably result in better kites, because yes, they will get lighter and more aerodynamic efficient. You might have missed it, but I never claimed that would not be the case. I just don't think the difference will be that high. You might want to temper those expectations.