Date: Thu, 4 Aug 1994 06:18:05 -1000 From: andrewh@holly.harvard.edu (Andrew Hawken) Message-Id: <31r4bt$1m0@beta.qmw.ac.uk> Organization: Queen Mary & Westfield College, London, UK Subject: Krypton-S A Review of the Krypton-S Andrew Hawken August 1994 Manufacturer: Me. Material Carrington Spars: None Soft Wind Range: 5+ mph Span: 2.4 m Depth 0.75 m Type Soft Foil Price $ This kite is built from the plans in Stunt Kites II. Construction Quality. The construction quality is very poor on this kite. I really am disappointed with the manufacutrer. If I ever get hold of him... There are loose loops here and there, and hardly a straight seam. I could almost believe that this was the first real kite that they had ever tried to put together. What a mess! With a wing span of slightly under 8ft this is a reasonable sized kite. It is a parafoil type soft kite, with an open leading edge, and I think that this lack of gauze contributes to the slow speed at which it flys. However, given a good wind, say 10mph, it really does pull. I would put it somewhere around the 2*6ft flexi mark. It is certainly a lot more than one 6ft flexi. The higher the wind, the better that this kite performs. Its stated min is 3 Beaufort (8-12 mph) and at this speed is stable as a rock. In less than this it has a tendancy to collapse, and it is important to keep tension on both lines, making pull-pull turns etc otherwise it metamorphosises from a kite into an air-born bag of washing and falls to the ground. Having said that it just took practice to get it to fly well at 5mph and maybe a bit below. With the bridle well tuned (at the centre of the kite the bridle points moved towards the nose, at the edges set a few millimeters back) the turning circle is just outside the wingspan. Just keep in mind that where a flexi would float, this will collapse. The real difficulty with this kite is launching. Assisted or otherwise. The kite is only bridled close to the nose, relying on an s-profile to maintain the correct angle of attack. Until the kite is filled, the profile does not take effect. Without the profile, the kite folds back at about 20cm from the nose and wont fill. I found the solution to be to roll the kite up from the trailing edge, with the bridle uppermost and the trailing edge pointing into the wind. From this position the kite can be gradually unrolled by gently tugging on the lines. It should fill as it unrolls and then take off on its own. If flying on a beach then humping sand onto it should have the same effect. This kite was designed for the inexperienced builder, and I think that I have proved that even the worst of us can put together a working kite. It flys inspite of my errors. I have learnt a lot, and the Sputnik (to follow) will be better. If you are wondering if you can make this kite then believe me, you probably can. I am considering some modifications, just for the hell of it. One would be to fit a gauze, probably just stick it on with ripstop repair tape. Just to see what difference it makes. The other would be to add an extra bridle line to the trailing edge. This would be set to be slack in flight, but may help relauching. If I do try these things then I will let you know the effects. If you want to build one then contact me, I can share my mistakes, and some info on an error in the plans. -- ____________________________Andrew Hawken______________________________ "However many ways there may be of being alive, it is certain that there are vastly more ways of being dead" R Dawkins. Home : 0895 420110 QMW : 071 975 5542 AIIT : 0494 677045 Email : A.Hawken@QMW.AC.UK = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 00:28:30 -1000 From: bernhard.malle@dbag.ulm.daimlerbenz.com (Bernhard Malle) Message-Id: <9408081028.AA12785@dagobert> Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Re: Krypton-S > Manufacturer: Me. > Construction Quality. The construction quality is very poor on this kite. > I really am disappointed with the manufacutrer. If I ever get hold of him... > There are loose loops here and there, and hardly a straight seam. I could > almost believe that this was the first real kite that they had ever > tried to put together. What a mess! In a next review, could you please make it clearer, that YOU have assembled the kite? When I first read the review, the section about the construction quality influenced the whole meaning of the krypton. Bernhard +------------------------------------------+ | Bernhard Malle | | Bernhard.Malle@dbag.ulm.daimlerbenz.com | | Ulm, Germany | +------------------------------------------+ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =