It's long past due to build a small wing for the nuclear winds. Believe it or not,there's many times even a 4.8 is too much sail. And I happen to have a trashed but usable 5.5 sail for just such a project. I know you're all not kitewingers, hut there's definitely some talented and smart people here who can surely weigh in on the subject, winger or not.


So looking at pictures of the 3.8 it looks like a low to medium aspect ratio wing. The wingspan is reduced by 90cm,but the center depth of the sail seems to be same length.


So here's my question for you guys. I have two ways to approach this. I can build closely resembling what's done on the 3.8 which will be stable, OR I can maintain the 4.8/5.5 wing span with a much thinner profile (wide and thin,think like a race kite) I suspect it would be less stable but will produce better power with less drag,definitely less drag.


So opinions? I'm leaning towards the latter. I'm inclined to think they never developed one for minimal drag because everyone wants one for jumping and not too many people have access to 35mph+ winds and endless playa

I can't offer much help, but i'd also say the latter. A few guys here have been tweaking their wings (3.8, 4.8, 5.5, 7.5's) over the years and may have some answers.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nasaskimbat/

For purely selfish whimsy-based reasons, I would prefer to see you build a high-wind sail by reducing the sail area inboard. Specifically, using the 5.5 sail to build a variable-vent KiteWing with an extended wind range.

Steve Tapp has done a lot of venting R/D that could probably be directly applied to a KiteWing.
http://www.bluemoonkites.com/articles/vents_st.pdf

ATB,
Sam

Wow Sam,that's quite an idea! Definitely something I'd be interested in for future builds. I may even keep my dacron wing to build the high aspect wing and save the ripped 5.5 for this venting idea muah ha ha ha

Interesting. Coming from a guy who builds lots of thing from piles of stuff my thoughts go to , if the high aspect wing does'nt perform , do you have enough leftover parts to build a more conventional wing that will satisfy your goal. If you have the parts you might as well see if you can improve the performance.

I've got vents on the brain! I think making screen pockets that fit mylar "patches" could be the ticket. Think what I will do is go ahead and make the high aspect ratio wing,in my mind it looks much like a delta. Once I find a design/shape I like, I want to be able to place the vents in a way that they will create the high aspect shape if that makes sense. At least in my head it does.

Imagine a sail you could easily change the aspect ratio at whim on depending on your conditions and riding style.