Suds after thuds
Posts: 275
Registered: 3-19-2012
Location: Berlin, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: island time
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F-arc 1200 trimming or tuning
It was a typical light gusty day at Tempelhofer Freiheit. Average wind ca. 12 knots gusting to 20 with lulls in between. In one such lull I grabbed my
center line to yank some life into my luffing M6 and mistaking hit the top hat safety, in the middle of the bloody runway. Without turning too red I
did a practice quick and dirty pack down, walked back to the launch area, untangled the mess I'd made, looked at my watch and decided to unroll my
little red f-arc 12.
The first couple of times I'd flown this kite it didn't have pigtails and had behaved oddly. This was the first time with the recommended extensions.
I had measured to the listed lengths but that made the power lines too long. It back stalled out of the air, its powerlines sagging. Two launches
later it came to life.
Once I got rolling and had some apparent wind the kite was really responsive and pulled like a truck. I could park it at 45ยบ, pull the bar most of
the way in, get some good acceleration and start milking it for some more speed. This was great.
Here is what confuses me: when I was still the kite didn't want to turn at all. I had to jelly fish it up toward the zenith where it would
catch some air, put tension back in the lines and then start behaving with some serious grunt.
Do you think this is more of a tuning/trim issue or should I chalk it up to light air? Of course, poor piloting could also be the reason for being
unable to keep tension in the lines.
I still had the little internal string completely undone.
Scout II 4m
Montana VI 9.5m
Matrix 15m
F-arcs 1200 & 1600
Pulse 13m
Ozone Reo 8m
LF Envy 12m
Ground Industries Patrol 106
12.5" DOOM wheels
Crazyfly Shox 136 x42
North Nugget TT 5'2"
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Demoknight
Posts: 1150
Registered: 6-7-2013
Location: Atlanta, GA
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Mood: ADIDAK
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Arcs don't like static flying in dirty wind anymore than any other kite. They need apparent wind to magically munch the gusts as they are known to
do. What you describe is pretty normal behavior unless you are in super clean beach wind.
NAPKA US8008
Kites:
Ozone R1 V3 7m
Flysurfer Sonic v3 15m
Flysurfer Speed 3 Deluxe 19m
Peter Lynn Charger 2 12m
Ozone Access Reride 6m
Peter Lynn 2013 Reactor 5.5m
Peter Lynn 2013 Reactor 8.6m
Prism Tensor 5.0m
Ride:
GT-Race Code:R6
Weird Beard VTT Custom
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kiteballoon
Posts: 233
Registered: 8-28-2012
Location: North Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: The desert calls to me. NABX <3
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The f-arc requires a big bar. And don't be a baby when you execute a turn, crank that bar 90 degrees, make it vertical :-) Not sure if this was indeed
your problem, but try it next time you are out. You can even grab some steering line above the bar and give it a good yank if you don't think you are
getting the turning radius you need.
All that said, it *sounds* like you aren't trimmed right. You put the pigtails on the steering lines correct? Reading your description makes me think
the opposite. If your steering lines are too loose you'll only be able to turn the kite powered up, which is a bit perhaps of what you are describing.
Finally I'll let other f-arc folks chime in here, but f-arcs do fly differently than other arcs and you can definitely drop the kite if you do
something stupid (ask me how I know). It can feel rather unresponsive as well if you aren't giving the kite air (starting upwind, pulling in the bar
too much, etc). It needs speed, and definitely builds speed like nothing else. Don't starve the kite.
Currently enjoying a Charger 2 quiver
6.5, 8M, 10M, 12M <3
PL XR+ Buggy
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Suds after thuds
Posts: 275
Registered: 3-19-2012
Location: Berlin, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: island time
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I put four pigtails on. The top power lines have longer ones and the ones on the bottom brake(steering) line are shorter. I kept adding shorter knots
on the power lines until it became responsive and went to the top of the window with some coaxing.
If the kite is back stalling in a lull, pulling the power lines (jelly fishing) fixed the problem. If I had pulled the trim on the navigator bar,
would this have helped? I started with it all the way out and pulled it in some.
Telling me more wind and fly it more aggressively, definitely get's me itching for the nest session. All in all I was pretty happy I got up to 20mph
compared to 15mph on the 9.5 Montana.
I guess trial and error will eventually show me when I have the power and steering knots in the right place. When one set or the other sags, then it's
fairly obvious what to do. I'd like to figure out how to get from good enough to optimal though.
Scout II 4m
Montana VI 9.5m
Matrix 15m
F-arcs 1200 & 1600
Pulse 13m
Ozone Reo 8m
LF Envy 12m
Ground Industries Patrol 106
12.5" DOOM wheels
Crazyfly Shox 136 x42
North Nugget TT 5'2"
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PHREERIDER
Posts: 5781
Registered: 2-13-2008
Location: SC
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Mood: chilled....but ready to SAIL!
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no action while still. the kite really needs a threshold amount of breeze to become "powered" with responsive input.
you really have it trimmed in(short front), or set for close bar action. its not a depower more like a c-kite with narrow range
more wind or more rear line tension , f-arc have fairly small throw amount in the sweet spot for power at the bar
a big bar will speed it up but don't expect speedy turns or depower.
you're close on the settings keep working at it. bar postion when powered, with steer abilty, is where to find the sweet spot .
as you mentioned "the bar almost all the way in " thats what you are looking for! add a little to front lines (or short the back) about 3"
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PHREERIDER
Posts: 5781
Registered: 2-13-2008
Location: SC
Member Is Offline
Mood: chilled....but ready to SAIL!
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oh yeah, the apparent wind should give you a good impression of power/speed it can generate!
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Feyd
Posts: 2956
Registered: 1-3-2009
Location: Norther New England
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Phree nailes it. "It's not a depower" at least not in the sense of anything produced after 2005. The kite was sold with both handles or bar as an
option.
It does respond well to long throw bars like the Navigator but still, compared to modern Arcs it has very little depow.
They generate a ton of power once they get up to speed. the 1200 is easily as powerful as a 19m Charger 1.
The only kite I've flown that flies and feels like an F-Arc is the Ozone Chrono. It's like an F-arc with bridles and depower. Both are probably my
two favorite kites ever as far as my personal tastes go.
This video does a pretty good job of illustrating the turn rate of the F-Arc. https://youtu.be/FTLBuJIRwxM
This is with a 56cm bar and using a bit of muscle. You will see that I like tight rear lines and I have the ability to tail stall the kite like an
open cell foil. Depending on the bar you can get good broad range line tension that will allow you to get maximum power but also stall the kite if
needed. The tighter lines obviously help with turn rate as well.
Chris Krug-Owner @ Hardwater Kiting. Authorized Dealer of Ozone, Flysurfer, HQ kites.
www.hardwaterkiter.com 603-986-2784
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kiteballoon
Posts: 233
Registered: 8-28-2012
Location: North Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: The desert calls to me. NABX <3
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I'll just add the next time you try flying, don't set your bar trim all the way in or out while adjusting the pigtails. That way you have some room to
adjust after you've set them and find it's sweet spot. Once you find it, mark it and leave it :-)
Currently enjoying a Charger 2 quiver
6.5, 8M, 10M, 12M <3
PL XR+ Buggy
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Suds after thuds
Posts: 275
Registered: 3-19-2012
Location: Berlin, Germany
Member Is Offline
Mood: island time
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Thanks for the tips. I should be able to get it dialed in the rest of the way now.
The sit down at 1:53 in Feyd's clip pretty much summed up my difficulty.
Understanding the importance of apparent wind for this kite and that it goes from zero pull to full on grunt without much depower will also help the
next session. Oh yeah, and that it likes a bit more wind.
Who doesn't?
Scout II 4m
Montana VI 9.5m
Matrix 15m
F-arcs 1200 & 1600
Pulse 13m
Ozone Reo 8m
LF Envy 12m
Ground Industries Patrol 106
12.5" DOOM wheels
Crazyfly Shox 136 x42
North Nugget TT 5'2"
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