Kite Making - The Black Deca part 2

The First Test Flight

First flightWe finally got a nice day with little wind (why is it when you have a lightweight kite you always have strong winds for ages?) here in Sheffield, so off to my main flying site to try the Black Deca out one lunchtime.

I flew it on short (12m) lines, and my long Revolution handles (I now normally fly the Deca on these, rather than the dedicated Deca handles)

Result? Well it flies - just!

Left sideRight sideBack

You can see on these pictures the temporary bridle lines (all tied using a simple slip knot) and how baggy the sail is.

In flight it felt very 'soggy' - lots of slack needed and the sail flapped like, well, a flapping thing - when the air was pushing the fabric it deformed the wingtips so there was no tension at all. So my theory of a Pseudo-Deca 5 made of flat panels failed then......

Also using 4mm carbon for the bow spar meant that it was very springy. As soon as any input was given to the kite it kind of sprang around. Soggy is the best was of describe the feeling.

Because of both the sail and the too-thin spar I found I couldn't get the Black Deca to flip either on it's front or back, but would fly around Ok to a point.

Back home to reconsider what to do next.

Links

• Black Deca Info