Andy Wardley wrote:
> Designing something so fundamental into the kite will very much shape
> the way the kite flies[*]. You might find that in your efforts to develop
> a Dead Launching kite you end up with just another Illusion clone.
In article <34EAA5B2.6
...@lms.be>, Nick Boucart <n
...@lms.be> wrote:
>We studied hard on why a kite does, or doesn't dead launch. There are 2
>major things: first of all, the spine should not be large, so when the
>kites nose comes up during the dead launch, the spine isn't blocking the
>kite, so the nose can't rise more. Second thing, the leading edges need
>to be curved backwards, so when laying on it's belly, the kite isn't
>laying completely flat.
Yep, I agree. The aspect ratio is also an issue for there are certain
aspect ratios that work well for Dead Launching and those that don't.
My comment may have been a little strong, but I was implying that the
Illusion seems to be pretty much the best shape to use if you want to
make a kite Dead Launch. The other kites I've flown that DL tend to be
of a fairly similar ilk.
If we take these three things that are "fundamental" to a kite's
Dead Launch ability:
* short tail
* way curved leading edge
* low to middling aspect ratio
Then there is only so much you can do to make the kite different from
any other in the same class (be it the Illusion or some other). The
Prism range of kites all have the same kind of feel just as Benson kites,
Matheson Kites, Airmaster Kites, Jordan Air Kites, etc., etc., all have
their own special "something".
It's only my opinion, of course, and I'm happy to be corrected if I'm
wrong, but I suspect that Dead Launching is something that goes well
with the "Prism Feel" and if you try to put that into a kite that has
a different "feel" then you might end up changing the fundamental nature
of the kite into something more Prism-like. I'm not saying that's a bad
thing, but I would rather leave Prism to excel in what they do and have
other manufacturers concentrate on the things that *their* kites do well.
Take the recent discussion on the TrickTail. Someone commented (and my
apologies because I forget who it was) that the kite doesn't Flic Flac
very well. OK, so no big deal, because the kite does so much else. If
Active People tried to change the kite so that it Flic-Flac'd as well as
a Box of Tricks then the TrickTail would be more like a Box of Tricks
and less like a TrickTail. That would be a bad thing because the world
doesn't need another Box of Tricks when it already has a perfectly good
one.
"Vive la difference!" is really what I'm saying. I wish my Box of Tricks
would do everything, including Dead Launches, but it doesn't (well, not
easily). If you could add the capability without taking anything else
away then I'd be happy, but I don't think you can. At least not quickly
and easily.
>The Illusion has both this characteristic
>features, so do the other dead launching prisms. I have however a
>remark when you say that every dead launching kite is some sort of
>illusion clone: I even dead launched a Phantom elite a couple of times,
>and a phantom isn't exactly an illusion ;
Well yes, I *can* Dead-Launch a Box of Tricks, but it sure as hell isn't
easy. Ditto for the Phantom Elite. If you modify the Phantom Elite
to Dead Launch easily then it starts to take on more of a "Prism" feel
and less of a "Benson" feel. I know this for a fact because Tim has
done it. The real challenge is to put something into a kite (be it
Axel, Flic Flac, Flat Spin or Dead Launch capability) without screwing
it up in other ways.
Prism have succeeded admirably using one approach. I would like to see
designers come up with their *own* ways rather that settling for copying
what someone else has already done.
>Also other, non-illusion
>kites will dead launch, for example the Nitro UL will do it indoor. Of
>course there is a difference: the prism kites are designed to do the
>dead launch, the others probably do it unintentially.
Agreed and I think that almost any kite will Dead Launch indoors,
particularly on short lines.
A
--
Andy Wardley <a...@kfs.org> http://www.kfs.org/~abw
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