Power Kite Forum

5m Blurr AAA adjustment ?

revpaul - 25-8-2008 at 06:20 PM

re: 5m Blurr, football field sits north/south. wind is blowing nearly straight north.

I was trying to get from the north end zone, past a couple rows of bleachers and into the (upwind) south end zone, which is adjacent/entrance to several other connected fields running east/west. I do it all the time because I park near the north end zone.
the wind was getting low so I set AAA to first knot. Kite was noticeably harder to launch. I could not manage a decent beam reach and any angle of broad reach was impossible. I could only manage a very short series of closed hauls. After 15 minutes of a losing battle (and swearing like a sailor) I set AAA back to second knot and proceeded as planed, albeit slowly.

shouldn't the kite perform better in low wind when AAA is set to lowest wind setting?
Paul

dylanj423 - 25-8-2008 at 06:56 PM

No experience with the blurr, but with my blade, the lowest knot is better with catching air.... emphasis on catching. It doesnt climb very easily, but pulls great.... its such a flat angle of attack that it mimics a little the constant input of brakes.... which is why it doesnt climb well.

The second knot allows the kite to move forward with less wind because the angle of attack is opened up a bit. Make sense? The first knot will pull harder, but needs more wind to move up in the window, while the second knot lets more air out of the kite, and will move up the window in the same wind that the first knot setting makes difficult.

Hope that helps, I understand if it doesnt, I am no expert, and am pretty surte that I may have used the wrong words in my explanation.

revpaul - 25-8-2008 at 07:16 PM

Hi dylan423
your explanation makes sense and is what i found with the 5m Blurr.
struck me as odd because I simply assumed that setting would be used when in lowest wind. i guess that it would be used in any wind when one wants maximum pull.
now that i think of it, i have a couple of de-powers that behave the same way. they both seem to work better when sheeted in at least a little in low wind.
Paul

SCREWYFITS - 25-8-2008 at 08:09 PM

My guess is...The adjustment should be on the knot closest to the kite, so the knot that is furthest from the handles and closest to the kite would be the ideal setting for low wind... this is on pure speculation based on the Blade IV AAA settings being the same...
good luck...

BeamerBob - 26-8-2008 at 04:59 AM

Dylan, I'm a little confused with your description of bridle settings and I have the same bridle adjustments you have. I always refer to the settings by how much lift they have. Low lift, middle setting, and high lift setting. Hi lift is very grunty, like yank the handles out of your hand grunty, but the kite won't climb to zenith so well unless the wind is over 8 mph for my 6.5. In light winds, I set my kite to the low lift setting so it is faster through the sky and will get as far as possible to the edge or zenith, although the kite isn't quite so powerful. Am I saying the same things you are but a different way?

Edit: I'd be interested in any other perspectives about using the bridle settings to best advantage in the buggy and flying static.

dylanj423 - 26-8-2008 at 08:46 AM

BB, yeah, we are saying the same things. I was referring to the knots in numerical order from first (lowest) knot- high lift & grunty and up, towards the kite.

I remember my first time out with the blade in real wind... I thought that knot was the low lift setting:lol:

BeamerBob - 26-8-2008 at 08:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by dylanj423
BB, yeah, we are saying the same things. I was referring to the knots in numerical order from first (lowest) knot- high lift & grunty and up, towards the kite.

I remember my first time out with the blade in real wind... I thought that knot was the low lift setting:lol:


I did the same thing! :duh: Even flew it in 18 mph gusty winds once in that setting. I got to the beach with it that weekend and decided I was going to "turn it up a notch" and when I started adjusting the bridle, and thinking about the affect it would have on the kites angle of attack, I felt like an idiot. (I know, lots of you agree with me there :rolleyes: ). I really started enjoying the kite more in the two lower lift settings.

revpaul - 26-8-2008 at 11:15 AM

Hi Screwy
I'm getting a little confused. i believe the AAA set up is same for Blurr and Blade.
Quote:
Originally posted by SCREWYFITS
My guess is...The adjustment should be on the knot closest to the kite, so the knot that is furthest from the handles and closest to the kite would be the ideal setting for low wind... this is on pure speculation based on the Blade IV AAA settings being the same...
good luck...


i thought this was the case at at first only because i assumed the adjustments affected the leading edge of kite.
however, the AAA knots are attachment points for the 'C' bridle which is at the back of kite, closer to the trailing edge. the further up (towards kite) you attach, the less power/more speed you'll have because the kite is less perpendicular to wind.
i hope this is correct otherwise i'm completely confused.

BeamerBob - 26-8-2008 at 11:19 AM

You've got it perfectly and explained it well too.

awindofchange - 26-8-2008 at 12:27 PM

One thing to remember is that a power kite is an air foil shape, it creates power as it flies through the air. This power is sometimes referred to as "Apparent Wind". Apparent wind doesn't come into play unless the kite is moving at a good speed. Standing still the kite produces zero apparent wind, the faster the kite flies, the more apparent wind the kite will create.

So, going back to your angle of attack settings. When you "power up the kite" in light winds with a more aggressive angle of attack you actually kill all the power from the kite because the kite now is unable to reach any type of speed where it can create apparent wind. You are now completely relying on the actual wind for your power which is very light at the time you were trying to ride. By reducing the angle of attack (which should reduce the amount of power from the kite) you are actually letting the kite fly which increases the apparent wind and produces more power.

Now when you are in a stronger wind situation, you will get completely opposite results as above. In stronger winds the kite doesn't rely 100% on apparent wind to fly, therefore increasing the angle of attack will not kill all the forward speed of the kite and your power will be much more aggressive because now you will still be able to reap the benefits of apparent wind while having a very aggressive angle of attack = max power.

To sum it all up:
Light wind - let the kite fly as fast as possible, don't stall (choke) it and keep it constantly moving so you can maximize the apparent wind and "milk" as much power as you can. The kite will fly very fast - the faster it flies the more power you will be able to create from minimal winds.

Normal to strong winds - flying the kite is no problem so a high angle of attack will produce less power and lots of speed, a low angle of attack will produce very aggressive power (maximum grunt) but the kite will fly a bit slower through the window.

Hope this helps.

dylanj423 - 26-8-2008 at 12:54 PM

Thanks windofchange that explains it very well.

SCREWYFITS - 26-8-2008 at 02:10 PM

Dylan, we are in the same boat, sorry for the confusion... AWOC has the clearest explanation...

revpaul - 26-8-2008 at 08:19 PM

thanks Kent.
ahhh, that's what "apparent wind" is. I got it now.
your explanation put all the pieces of the puzzle together. :frog:
Paul

awindofchange - 26-8-2008 at 11:40 PM

Happy to help.