Power Kite Forum

Aspect Ratios and cell count???

thercman - 19-6-2007 at 08:01 AM

Hey Everyone!

I have a collegue who after flying my 5m Haka now wants a kite. :D Anyway, with the great prices of Pansh kites he is getting ready to order one. So here is the question. The 5m Ace has 24 cells and a higher aspect ratio than the Blaze 5m with 20 cells. What are the performance differences between the aspect ratios and the two kites in general?

Thanks!

B-Roc - 19-6-2007 at 09:05 AM

In general...

More cells = a kite which will hold its form better because it is more rigid and usually more effecient.

The higher the aspect ratio the more lift the kite tends to produce but that can be limited by the angle of attack of the bridle.

Race kites are high AR but not as lifty as blades because the AoA is different.

There is a good explanation of this on racekites http://www.racekites.com/reviews/getReview.asp?reviewID=586

lowerdfool - 19-6-2007 at 11:49 AM

The profile of the ribs and there spacing has more to do with how much lift a kite has than it's AoA and A/R.

For a ton of info about all aspects of what makes up foil kites you should check out this:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Foildesign/

Aspect Ratio kites?

BigSiler - 21-6-2007 at 09:20 AM

Hi
I have seen low and High Aspect Ratio..

Are there Mid Aspect Ratio Kites?

If so,Which ones would they be ???

Thank Ya

B-Roc - 21-6-2007 at 01:11 PM

Generally speaking, I consider anything over 4 as being high aspect and anything around 3 low aspect and I'd bet that would hold true for most. But I'm strictly thinking about fixed bridle kites. Aspect ratio (high, low, mid) should be looked at in relation to kite type too (arc, depower, LEI, fixed bridle) and whether you are talking about flat or projected A/R.

Certainly any ARC would have an extremely high flat A/R but it will change dramatically once the kite is aloft making the projected A/R more important.

Projected A/R is the number that's more important in trying to figure out flight characteristics.

BigSiler - 21-6-2007 at 02:22 PM

When I looked at high aspect ratio kites they looked long and Thin compared to low aspect kites which looked very square..

Thats why I ask If there is a mid, and which would They be?

Thanks

B-Roc - 21-6-2007 at 02:41 PM

A/R = span(squared) / area

So by its very formula, in order to have a high A/R the kite would need to be more long than it is wide.

acampbell - 22-6-2007 at 03:48 AM

Some medium A/R's...
HQ Beamer III : 3.4 medium
HQ Crossfire: 3.9 med-high
Flexifoil Rage: 3.5 medium
PL Pepper: 3.1 med-low
PL Reactor (smaller sizes): 3.8 med-high

BigSiler - 22-6-2007 at 07:54 AM

thank you.. thats what i was trying to ask :tumble:
thanks