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The Future of Kite Design

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Postby Guest » Wed Jan 29, 2003 4:21 am

Jim Drake, one of the "fathers" of windsurfing, reckons we well be flying rigid or semi-rigid wings in the future, maybe attached to semi-ridid struts.

The ram vs LEI bun-fight might be irrelevant in 3-10 years time; we might find that the best kite to fly/ride looks like a rigid aeroplane wing.

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Postby Guest » Wed Jan 29, 2003 5:50 am

that should get the dinasaurs off the water and out of our way

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Postby cyclone » Wed Jan 29, 2003 5:56 am

definately possible...
materials would be difficult and packup storage etc sounds troublesome.

Imagine the performance though!!!

Could even have flaps and spoilers!!!

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Postby Ted B. » Wed Jan 29, 2003 6:20 am

The psycho is designed exactly like a airplane wing.The future is here now!If you dont believe me go check it out for your self.www.flysurfer.de And by the way a simi ridgid or ridgid wing could hurt other kiters and bystanders.Think about it the KITE_SKI kites where a rigid frame and a small size would pull like a truck but the kite disapeared.You are going backwards the future is SOFT KITES !!!!!!!

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Postby Guest » Wed Jan 29, 2003 7:28 am

Kites cannot be designed for optimal power & efficiency because of many things. Do you really think that the manufacturers are that stupid that they couldn´t make a wing in style the psycho...? Which will then jump low but long and turn slow?

I think the LEI kites should develop in such a way that the front strut dilemma ( thick like a telefone pole ) will be won and the efficiency get´s better without sacrificing any of the good things with present LEI´s. This development was clear to me allready two years ago seeing the first time the Naish ArX with the thick profile and THICK fornt tube... I thought immediately this is a no-brainer. The present kites have a front tube about half the diameter ( 1/4 the volume and air resistance ) of those old kites and this is why they are faster, more powerful but they slowly start lacking that killing-scale low-end (read: pulling towards down-wind) grunt of those old bulldozers.

I suspect they will come out with LEI - kites which have a front strut with 1:4 or 1:5 - height/width relationships for fantastic aerodymics. Probably the strut will then be formed like a real continuance to the profile, like a real leading edge of a aerodynamic profile for better power. Then there has to be some sort of system for braking up the kite´s flying speed. Since if you take away 70% of the wind resistance (the bloody front tube), then the kite will fly at uncomfortable speeds.

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Postby cyclone » Wed Jan 29, 2003 7:44 am

interesting piont...

The front tube could be redesigned in shape to sort of an elliptical shape which would blend in smoother further down the chord or more toward the trailing edge. This would give a foil shape more like a bird wing etc... I dont dont mean more elliptical like flatten out the ARC shape from tip to tip...

I believe the faster and more efficent (less drag) the kite the more performance. No such thing as TOO fast for me, but thats personal.

The current LEI shape is high on drag.
The current ramairs also have high drag from the bridles. It would be nice to reduce this somehow...

Yes they must be soft too... imagine flying giant knives around... but the performance of rigid wings would be great, but impossibly dangerous -agreed.

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Postby kiteboarder@pacbell.net » Wed Jan 29, 2003 6:35 pm

Relaunch could also be problematic with a hard wing.

As for the diameter of the LE bladder, half the diameter gives about half the drag (not a quarter), since the drag of a round tube is about equal to that of a flat plate of the same width. The good news is that all you need to add is a lower skin from the bottom of the tube to partway back on the upper surface, creating a teardrop shape (like a sailboard sail with a wide mast sleeve). The bad news is what this could do to relaunch (although I suspect it would only be a matter of strategically placed mesh panels, & a few extra seconds to wait for it to drain).

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Postby Guest » Wed Jan 29, 2003 6:54 pm

On 2003-01-29 04:21, Anonymous wrote:
Jim Drake, one of the "fathers" of windsurfing, reckons we well be flying rigid or semi-rigid wings in the future, maybe attached to semi-ridid struts.
Quite the visionary that Jim dude. We're already doing it. Check out an advanced tube. They are as rigid as we'd want them. Don't forget that some flex is necessary to absorb gusts and steer the kite, also for relaunch. Leave the cumbersome gear to the windsurfers and KISS

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Postby Kevin » Wed Jan 29, 2003 6:54 pm

Mel,

This is already available on the new Jojo Acro kite. Several people fly these here in Vancouver as the dealer lives here. There are drain holes to allow water to escape.

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Postby Guest » Wed Jan 29, 2003 6:54 pm

On 2003-01-29 04:21, Anonymous wrote:
Jim Drake, one of the "fathers" of windsurfing, reckons we well be flying rigid or semi-rigid wings in the future, maybe attached to semi-ridid struts.
Quite the visionary that Jim dude. We're already doing it. Check out an advanced tube. They are as rigid as we'd want them. Don't forget that some flex is necessary to absorb gusts and steer the kite, also for relaunch. Leave the cumbersome gear to the windsurfers and KISS


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