Flysurfer Peak 4

[Horst Sergio]

Had a blast these days on the 3 m in waves, but on my foil it already started to feel to big in 25 knts.
Already had a short discussion with FS about a smaller size, but now I am sure it is worth a try.

Who else?

[foilholio]

Oh, and not everybody would know, so here it is - there's a higher aspect singleskin from Born Kites, more racey I guess;

http://www.born-kite.de/?cat=c102_Race- ... lus--.html

Thread about it on PKF;
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=33919

Youtube footage;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... 0FZWcrpyu4

This kite is not meant for kitesurfing at all, I am sorry I don't mean to hijack the thread, just that not many ppl know about Steffen Born and his ingenious strives in singleskin kitedesign.

thanks for info!

Yes thanks! Interesting how well the high AR single skin goes upwind. Would be good to try on the water.

With closer cell there is clear explanation with momentum of trapped air inside of kite /can be several KG on bigger sizes/ But peak has no trapped air, or at least no more than LEI.

I don't know about that. The reason a single remains open is because of trapped air. Not in the exact same sense as a double skin, but some air does have to be stuck their to keep it open. Double skins and LEI have to trap air also in a similar way too. I think it is because they have more rigid structure they can release more of that air by going lower AoA and so go faster and better upwind. There is also the fact that that a lack of rigidity causes flapping and so drag.

In a more traditional aerodynamic view that because of increased drag caused by a need to have a higher minimum AoA and the skin flapping, single skins can be slow.

So i think bigger size just doesnt have enough rigidity to act against in turns. Because rigidity of peaks is purely from wing load. /kg to m2/ Smaller size are proportionaly more loaded so much stiffer. You can clearly see it - 3 and 4 are almost solid in air while 5 is more "soft"
Also tip cells /main difference to v3/ probably arent able to support longer tips on bigger sizes in same manner than on smaller.

But all this is just theory to explain this phenomena of big vs small peaks. I dont know for sure

It certainly sounds like a good theory. Mine would be that because in higher wind speeds you can generate more lift and so force from a lower AoA then the smaller sizes have been tuned to have a lower minimum AoA. You could easily check that by measuring. Your theory does sound good though. Otherwise like all smaller kites they just turn quick because of less drag from a thinner profile and less distance in the turn from a shorter wing span.

[tomtom]

Yea but on peaks this is disproportional.

I.E. 5m Peak turn like 5m LEI and 11m Peak like 20m LEI /exaggerating on both size but not much/

[tomtom]

Had a blast these days on the 3 m in waves, but on my foil it already started to feel to big in 25 knts.
Already had a short discussion with FS about a smaller size, but now I am sure it is worth a try.

Who else?

#Meetoo at 86 kg naked at 30knts 3m is for sure too big. Welcome in all weather foiling . Its not so that 3m is not depowerable. Its about going downwind rest pull in my case. Smaller the kite the less rest pull the more kiteless im. So there are definitely times where 3m is too big. 2.5 it is then? But different color please - i already have problem with 3 and 4

[slowboat]

You guys should consider the Concept Air Firefly 2.5 Meter.

[merl]

A question about bar needs. Foiled with the 5 for a few hours. It seems to me that you need no trim on the bar and perhaps even a few cm extra on the front lines. But my question is whether there is any real use for a trim adjuster on this kite? It feels like it would not be useful as it depowers on a short throw

[merl]

Another question : are there tips for ground handling. It is so light that it flaps around like mad on the beach - not as well behaved on the ground as I expected. I was sanding a wingtip. Do you weight it down on the trailing edge instead?

[elguapo]

i dont use trim much... really on any kite

(i use a bar with mucho throw..which is generally sufficient)

[merl]

I use trim quite a lot generally (foil kites, leis) so this was a surprise for me for this particular kite

i dont use trim much... really on any kite

(i use a bar with mucho throw..which is generally sufficient)

[elguapo]

Had a blast these days on the 3 m in waves, but on my foil it already started to feel to big in 25 knts.
Already had a short discussion with FS about a smaller size, but now I am sure it is worth a try.

Who else?

i'd be interested in a something that can handle up to 30 knots or so..on a foil.
(i was hoping a 3m could handle more than 25 kt)