Kestrel  - DRAFT
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lucifer@emx.cc.utexas.edu (Light-Bearer)  22 Mar 93 20:19:50 GMT

Manufacturer:       Sky Delight KItes
Materials:  sail
Spars   

Wind Range:         
Span:         
Height:         
Type:         Delta 


Kestrel by Joel Sholtz - If I could have only one kite out of my bag, 
I'd probably pick this one. It's very colorful and flies great to 
boot. Joel (with the help of Terry Baudoin) redesigned the Neptune by 
shortening the bottom spreaders, extending the standoffs, and slightly 
adjusting the sail. It looks like they added more cambre to the 
leading edge too. The result is an even better flier than the Neptune 
(which was no sloucher; see the SKQ review), and a great all around 
kite. It's currently framed with 2400 (I think... too lazy tocheck) 
AFC graphite, so it's fairly rugged, but also ultralite. 

I can do stalls, slides, belly and leading-edge launches, wingtip 
stands all with relative ease. The kite is precise and will hold a 
clean line. Also, a good 360 pull-turn on the edge will cause the kite 
dump air and slide to a wingtip landing (in a very stable way). This 
really looks cool. (Forgive me if this trick is "old hat.") The only 
possible drawback is the tail, which seems to give the kite different 
characteristics in higher winds, especially on the edge. The only time 
I've pulled the kite out of the air was at the edge in high winds. I 
think this is caused by the tail flapping somewhat in higher winds, 
but I haven't had a chance to really investigate this --- Terry says 
he's never had this trouble.  In summary, I think this would be a good 
all around stunt kite giving a nice happy medium between looks, 
precision, durability, and radicalness.