PugetSoundKiter wrote:
With the 8m Aurora2 I was able to make it useable for landboarding in light winds by lengthen A about 3in
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
Useable meaning power is on/off with little depower, but at full throw the kite does not overfly
When you lengthen A other than profile change you are largely limiting the depower. 3 inch lengthen of A = 3inch shorter B = 4x3inch less depower so 12inches of lost depower. Foil kites go upwind and jump float so well because of their efficient good lift to drag ratio, they also overfly for the same reason. It is very very difficult to have a kite that is both very efficient and doesn't over fly. Some kites mainly LEIs seem to achieve less overflying through allowing part of the kite to flap when full depower, or having a wide tube or thick airfoil to slow them down or just having more AoA when depowered. Rarer kites will become more C shaped depowered. Seemingly though anything that reduces overly increases drag and reduces performance. The compromise with foil kites is to manually increase the AoA with the bar or trimmer so to prevent overflying.
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
For each knot Z was extended, C was shortened 0.5in and B was shortened about 0.25in.
Are you adjusting just Z or C and B as well?
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
I flew it at a knot that had C shortened an 1.5in and B 0.75in and noticed eliminating the overfly was not solved,
To get the same effect as extending A 3in without altering it you would need to EXTEND BOTH, Z 12in(!!!) and C 6in(!!!), and then limit your depower throw by 12in(!!!) ( this would need to be 12inch measured at the kite not necessarily the bar). These are crazy numbers and widely different to what you had adjusted.
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
the center row of C-bridles were pulling the canopy hard enough to distort the fabric
That will happen with some adjustments. There is a period of play on most foil kites where just B is pulled, this will distort the canopy a bit. The sole engagement of B is how a foil kite can have good control and stability with less pull, i.e. when depowered. This is partially why your setting of extending A 3inch is so effective, because it will engage B 3inches shorter, giving more stability. The rest is the limit on the depower but you could just do that at the bar or trimmer.
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
the trailing edge middle of the kite from C-to-Z was hardly inflated
That is not right, maybe give a vid of that. You may have a tear or other hole somewhere.
PugetSoundKiter wrote:see how this flies with slightly shorter Zs
More power, usually less efficient if tuned from a good efficiency and always less stable. Good to get a feel for things.
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
avoiding the zenith position especially if depowered
Zenith is the most stable place to put a foil kite especially when depowered. And not just overhead but DIRECTLY overhead. In this position the kite is evenly balanced and has the best chance to hold it's shape with no line tension, I use it all the time surfing with the kite. Now it may not be the safest all the time, so use digression, and I will put a kite low if I think I might get lofted but in general 95-98% of the time it is overhead. Your weight is more effective against it overhead too, there is some very bad situations to get dragged sideways, rocks etc and then you can easily lose control of the kite. Having a kite low is not as safe as it is made out to be. You can with skill fly easily through a loft. Oh and you can get lofted with a kite low, with no hope of landing softly. Many people have been hurt like this.
I think given you are maybe uncomfortable with zenith and have trouble with controlling the kite you mainly need more experience with foil kites?
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
Rereading the earlier posts I see kitexpert’s point that adjusting the mixer and/or bridle lines can only do so much.
Understanding him exactly can be difficult at times. When he says like that he assumes all kites are tuned to manufacture exactness and given the effort that the maker has put into coming up with those lengths then no one can do better. There is a few glaring holes in that position. First no kite is like the maker intended not even the makers kites. Bridles lines and fabric are such tricky things that they are constantly changing even just a little even as they fly. It is impossible for the maker to absolutely predict and account for everything. The makers have put effort to solve these but I think we will always to some degree be here. Secondly as much as with kitexperts head up his own ass, kite makers are not perfect. They do not in reality spend a lot of time on a single kite, given how many models and prototypes they have to make. It is much easier for the owner of a kite to spend exponentially more time testing and tweaking a single kite, exploring even the most minute things. Thirdly kite makes will design a kite to a specific use or even for maybe themselves but most likely a team rider or riders. It is likely you are similar to this design given your ownership of that particularly kite, but it is also possible your use is slightly different or even quite different from what they designed it for. So for you you could find changing the setup of the kite or even bar to be more suiting to your individual style. For me as an example I like high performance like high AR but also like to surf... leaves me with mid AR chasing more performance.
PugetSoundKiter wrote:
If the kite bridles are too different than the original design then distortion
Even original design will distort the wing, particularly as the wing tapers and AoA increase more at the tip than center. There is is advantages to distorting the shape particularly for a kite that is more stable when depowered, or has more range. There is performance negatives to distortions sure, you can pull some of the makers designed distortions like at the tips out and get more performance. But then like with the A15 you can remove all the C bridles and you get slightly more distortions but performance actually increases, I guess from the reduction of drag from all that reduced bridle.
Kitexpert has a very myopic view (or at least his posts express it like that) of kites. It is that kites can only be used a certain way and they should only be designed a certain way. The designs should have internal structures a certain way and bridles a certain way. The bridles and kite structure should always maintain harmony never deviating at all from each other. Sounds great? sounds like something hilter or stalin or any of the famous society engineers. Well in practice things that sound great ain't always that great. Maybe bring those names in are too much but with kites some of the most advance and in my mind interesting and best ones have gone against that, and so too it is with societies .