Date:	Sun, 15 Jan 1995 22:13:53 -1000
From:	tanaka_be@swam1.enet.dec.com (Bert Tanaka)
Message-Id: <9501160813.AA23614@mts-gw.pa.dec.com>
Organization: Harvard University Office of Information Technology
Subject: New Product - SkyShark packaged fittings

I have been using the new SkyShark 5P spars with the new fittings,
and both are pretty nice.  There are a couple of things that have been 
improved. 

The wraps seemed to be bonded better on the tubes and more resistant to
rough cutting.  On the old tubes, I would plug the ends but haven't found
this to be necessary on these new ones.  The ends of the tubes are built
up for external ferrules.  The ends of the tubes have a taper for the 
ferrules.  This is nice because the ferrules fit snug to the tube when
the tube is inserted roughly halfway.  Without a tapered end, I have been
epoxying the ferrule to the tubes to keep them from being vibrated loose
and relocating later on.  I've been using crazy glue for the snug fits.
Makes things faster to work with, especially when you have to stick a lot
of kites.

The fittings come packaged in a set.  They're made out of hard rubber.  The
connectors have a long tube that the spar is inserted into to make it more
difficult to pop out, plus, there is a small taper inside the tube that
snugs down onto the rod as it is inserted.  The stoppers fit tight and
hold the connectors in place in case you do not want to glue the connectors  
to the spar.  I first stick a pair of needle nose pliers into the stoppers 
and open the jaws to prestretch them so I can slip them onto the spars 
more easily.  The nocks have a little notch in the bottom of the slot
so that they clamp onto the bungi.  The package includes a pair of really
nice whisker holders - they have a smooth, non line snagging, tear drop 
shape.  There are also three end caps for the nose of the kite.  The end  
caps are grooved inside and snap onto the end of the spar which also makes
it easier to push the rods up into the nose webbing without dislodging the
end caps.

Good winds,
Bert


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