Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1993 22:33:44 GMT
From: sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki)
Message-ID: <1993Mar29.223344.10364@das.harvard.edu>
Organization: Harvard University
Subject: First Impressions on the High Performance Competition Edge


Due to the generosity of Kevin Mayeshiro, I've had a bit of time to
play with a Competition Edge. Some shops have them, other's don't. I
couldn't find any locally so Kevin sent me his kite for evaluation.

They are bound to be popular kites since High Performance flew these
kites when they won the 1992 World Cup, and the suggested retail is
$195. (I might have this slightly wrong, it might be $190 ;-)

The kite is a full sized dart with little "winglets" near the tips.
The construction is good. The kite is normally spared with Glassforms
Pro-Comp rods. The fabric looks like Icarex. In large volumes, Icarex
is about the same price as Carrington, and Spectra Sport is going to
sell a lot of these kites.

So, how does the kite fly? How strong are you?

This kite is not for wimps. In moderate wind, this thing pulls like
crazy.

I removed the kite from my bag and set it up in about 8 mph winds. I
eased the nose forward expecting the kite to leap into the sky.
Instead the kite just sat there a few feet off of the ground wobbling
like crazy. Kevin warned me that High Performance likes to set the
kites "a little heavy," so I figured that the bridles were just too
low for me and the current wind conditions. I walked back to the kite
expecting to move the bridles way up, maybe an inch or so.

But the marks were only about an inch apart and the clips were just
below the midpoint between the marks, so I figured that the bridles
were correct. I moved them about an eigth of an inch anyway.

On the way back to the handles (it's amazing how long that trip can be
sometimes) I thought about the way High Performance flys and the kinds
of things that they like to do with their kites, and it occured to me
what I was doing wrong. I was flying the kite like a wimpy Easterner
and not like an Island boy.

A small digression on kite design, especially bridles. Many delta-wing
stunt kites have two three legged bridles. The lengths of these legs
is about the same. This results in a kite that is relatively flat as
it flys. By this, I mean that the lower spreaders are either straight
or just slightly bowed.

Now look at an Edge (or a North Shore Radical when tuned by High
Performance) and you will see that the legs are unequal, usually the
outhaul bridle (the leg that goes from the clip to the lower
spreader/leading edge intersection) is much shorter. When the kites is
in the air and in forward motion, the spreaders are noticeably curved.

When the kite is moving forward, an Edge has a lower angle of attack,
because of the curve in the spreaders, than when it is stationary,
when the spreaders are straight.

Now back to flying an Edge...

Rather than easing the nose forward as I had done before, I gave the
lines a hard, even tug. The kite leaped into the air and flew nice and
straight. I did a ground pass and did a double push turn up and the
kite stopped neatly. A few steps forward and I had landed the kite
almost directly down wind.

After I got used to flying it this way, I found the Edge a great kite
to play with. Tip stands and helicopter slides were both very easy.
I'm sure that leading edge launches would also be easy, but since it
was a borrowed kite I refrained from dragging it on the ground.

I had troubles with sharp right angle turns, I had a tendancy to push
too much, which would flatten the kite out and cause a wobble. I think
that the kite's frame was a little too stiff for the wind that I was
flying it in.

I'll have to return the kite to Kevin soon (thanks again for the
loan), so I'll either buy one locally, or make a clone for further
playing with. It is a fun kite to fly and flying it will add a few
things to future kites that I make...
--
Marty Sasaki            Harvard University           Sasaki Kite Fabrications
sasaki@noc.harvard.edu  Network Operations Division  26 Green Street
617-496-4320            10 Ware Street               Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
                        Cambridge, MA 02138-4002     phone/fax: 617-522-8546


 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =