Does anyone have a drawing and/or measurements for the loco span mod for PL Arcs? I just bought a kite from a guy who has it installed and I'd like to give it a whirl. If it works as well as They say, I'll put the same mod on my G1. I'm looking for data on 18m G1 and 13m V1.

Thanks!

Try the old Arcusers group at Yahoo:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/arcusers/message/33692

Join and search on Loco Span Mod. I think there are pics in the pics folder as well.

krumly

The loco line is an interesting mod. It started a road that lead to one of the best thing to happen to arcs since there creation.

The loco line is a line that connects the two front pigtails to prevent flairing and to get more powere per square meter. It works but has many drawbacks. It makes filling and launching difficult, removes gust munching and you can't flag-out. There is a sliding ring version that adds back flagouts, but makes relaunch not very reliable.

Around the time of the venom II, someone put a loco line on the rear pigtails of their kite and ran it through a pully connected to the second strap in the kite's center. When the kite was sheeted in, it moved the CoP(Center of Pressure) which improved turn rate, more power and depower, and increased the feel of the bar. Peter lynn incorperated this idea into there next kite, the Scorpion, but they took a different method to achive this. They change the position of the tow point useing a bride called VPC.

Back to the loco line, I tried it on my Venom I 13m. It work like it was supposed to but there were to many drawbacks, so I came up with my own version. You can read about that here: http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=24174&p... .
It works well but I still have alot of testing to do. I stopped testing because it was way to cold and I broke my foot. It's still to cold to test but feel free to try for your self. I bowtied the kite be deflateing and puting a twist in it then launching. I actually broke my foot while testing rideing has not yet been tested.

Great info Snake. Thanks. So I tried out the loco mod on my 13m V1 also today. I didn't like it. The setup on this mod was like this:

On the left front corner, there is a ring instead of a pigtail. Then a line runs from the right front corner through the ring and the left front line attaches to the end of that one. It works like a pulley and the line is about 0.66 the length of the kite. When powering up, it keeps the tips from flaring out, but there are drawbacks.

It took all the gust absorption away and made it really difficult to fly in variable winds. The tips would collapse on each other often with the smallest lull, and forget about flying it partially inflated. I didn't have any trouble flagging out. I just attached the direct front line to my ring near the bar and it flagged out okay. Still a bunch of annoying flopping about and knots, but it worked.

Sorry to hear about your foot, Snake. Prognosis?

My foot is fine now. I broke the thrid metatarsal and streached some ligiments. The docters were thinking that it may have been a stress fracture from all the skateboarding and running I do.

Those results of the loco line seem exactly like what happened when I tried it. The mod I came up with does what the loco line does but it allows the kite to flex to absorb gusts. The feel can be adjusted from what the loco line is like to the kite without the mods.

And Proletariat, have you put the strap mods on your venom yet? They make a huge difference.

Hrm... I just got the Venom a few days ago, but there appears to be a strap running length-wise down the inside of the kite, but unknown if it has been modded. Are you talking about the BSR Mod that adjusts the lengths of the internal strap (along with the TET mod?)

The Arc FAQ lists the measurement as V-13 ~ TET= 16 mm / 30 mm / 15 mm.

Also, have you done any GI mods that you like? I love that kite, but I just think it'd be fantastic if it would turn

I haven't done any G mods yet but I have an idea for a VPC that should speed up the turn rate a bit. I left the TET off the my venom because it removed too much low end. here is everything you need to know about venom mods http://www.arcusers.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=767