Sports Kites Single Line Kites

Sports Kites



Soyokaze
Akuji SUL

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Designer: Yann Gautier
Wing span: 240 cm
Sail: Icarex PC31 and Mylar
Frame: 5mm Structil spine, 4mm Structil top spreader, Skyshark 2PT LEs, 3PT lower lower spreaders
Wind: 0-5 mph
Purchased March 2006.
Only flown a few times, but is remarkably tricky for such a light kite. Can fly it in no wind.



Soyokaze
Akuji (Comp)

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Designer: Yann Gautier
Wing span: 240 cm
Sail: Icarex PC31 and Mylar
Frame: 6mm Structil spine, Exel top spreader, Skyshark 5PT upper LE & lower spreaders, 7PT lower LE
Wind: 3.5-24 mph
Purchased December 2005. Superb kite, very pitchy and trickable. It's a little sluggish (in my hands) at the bottom end of the wind range and I've not yet got to grips with doing anything other than axels and variants at the top end, but when the wind is force 3-ish, I find it very easy to fly. It is also the kite I most like the look of (important consideration for a recreational flyer).



Self-built
Le Virus


Le Virus Homepage

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Designer: Christian Derefat
Wing span: 230 cm
Sail: Icarex PC31 and Mylar
Frame: 6mm Structil, Skyshark 5PT lower spreaders
Wind: 2-12 mph
Completed April 2005. The normal spec calls for a 6mm Exel frame; the Structil is a tad lighter and stiffer. Very nice kite, very pitchy.
I've changed the original 3-point static bridle for a turbo bridle designed by Ralf Naujoks.
I've replaced the original R-sky yoyo-stopper horns with a 40cm long roll-bar of 3mm wrapped glass-fibre. This is far superior in that it gives fewer snags and reduces sail deformation, especially in tip-wraps. It also seems to make the fade a bit more stable.
I use a 5g weight in the tail.



Flexifoil
Psycho


Flexifoil International

Review

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Designer: Andy Preston
Wing span: 198cm
Sail: Carrington K42
Frame: Exel Carbon 6mm
Wind: 5 - 30 mph
Purchased (very used) March 2005. I modified the bridle to a bizarre-looking turbo bridle that I found on an Italian web site, added about 10g ballast to the tail, and modified the trick line to an "M" version. This kite is enormous fun to fly, very fast, but will flic-flac in the middle of the window in 25mph! Very forgiving and recovers from almost anything.



Benson
Gemini


Benson Kites

Khite Review

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Designer: Tim Benson
Wing span: 220 cm
Sail: Icarex PC31 and Mylar
Frame: 6mm Structil, Hi-Mod spreaders
Wind: 4 - 24 mph
Acquired Nov 2004. This is Jason Winter's old Gem. It was well used when I got it from him, and was showing signs of age then. This is the kite that taught me to trick, and it is consequently showing even more signs of age. I don't fly it so much now I have the Virus, but I am loathe to pass it on as the grey-fade Gemini is quite simply the best looking kite in the air. Sweetest from about 5 to 8 mph.



Flexifoil
Pulsar


Flexifoil International

Khite Review

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Designer: Carl Robertshaw
Wing span: 180 cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 6mm Pultruded Carbon; Fibreglass lower spreaders
Wind:4 - 30mph
Bought (new) September 2004. This is the kite that got me flying again. It's a pretty robust kite, so OK for beginners. In the right hands (not yet mine) it is very capable. After I got the Gem, I initially kept it as a high wind kite, but rarely fly it myself since I got the Psycho. However, it stays in my bag as it is something I don't mind letting complete newbies learn on.

Single Line Kites



Home-made
Tunnel-Keel (Dunton-Taylor) Delta

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Designer: Alex Dunton
Wingspan: 180 cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 5.5mm and 5.9mm carbon tube
Wind: 3-8 mph
Completed August 2006.
Nice light-wind kite, but a bit twitchy in higher winds, probably owing to the stiffness of the carbon spars.
Very fast rate of climb, and flies at a steep angle.



Zoone Collectif
Cendres

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Designer: Ramlal Tien
Wingspan: 300 cm
Sail: Icarex
Frame: 6mm carbon
Bridle:1-point, three positions
Wind: 3-15 mph
Purchaced July 2006. Beautiful flier, graceful in a wide wind range. Very light pull. Can just stake it and leave it...



Zoone Collectif
Raymond

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Designer: Ramlal Tien
Height: 450 cm
Sail: Icarex
Frame: 6mm & 4mm carbon, 6mm fibreglass
Bridle:1-point, single position
Wind: 4-15 mph
Purchased July 2006. A kite you really want to interact with. Stunning appearance, superb quality of workmanship.



Self-built
Sanjo Rokkaku

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Designer: Traditional Japanese
Height: 120 cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 6mm fibreglass
Bridle:4 point when used for lifting, 6-point for fighting
Wind: 5-25 mph
Completed February 2006.
My Little Red Rok is used for lifting line laundry on breezy days and for fighting.



Self-built
Papillon

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Designer: Didier Ferment
Height: 141cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 4mm Carbon tube and 3mm carbon rod
Wind: 3-10 mph
Completed February 2006.
Initial impressions is that it is a nice kite, very flyable. Self-regulates, which is nice! Spars bend frighteningly at around 10mph.



Self-built
Oiseau

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Designer: Christian Derefat
Wingspan: 240cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 4mm Carbon tube and 3mm carbon rod
Wind: 3-? mph
Completed February 2006.
Flies very nicely, much as a fighter, so it needs tending. Very light pull. Swoops gracefully around the sky, but has a bit of a tendency to overfly.



HQ
Rokkaku Tut
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Designer: Traditional Japanese
Height: 114 cm
Sail: Nylon
Frame: 6mm fibreglass
Bridle: 4-point
Wind: 5-20 mph
Purchased October 2005.
I bought Tooting Carmen because it was going cheaply. Flies quite nicely and is a recognisable image to decorate teh sky.



Cochranes
UFO Sam

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Designer:Kenneth Sams (alias "Sam da Vinci")
Span: 45 cm
Sail: HolographicAluminised Mylar
Frame: Carbon pivot rod, fibreglass hoops.
Wind: 5-12 mph
Purchased October 2005.
I first bought one of these years ago after meeting the inventor. I've always been fascinated by "lift through rotation".
Flies nicely with a lot of pull (I've used it for lifting laundry). Disintegrates in high wind!
Update May 2006: I now have 3 of these and fly them off a single line. Should be able to trigger a few UFO reports if they catch the dusk sunlight... :-)



Fredrikson-Stallard
Kite #1

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Designer:Fredrikson-Stallard (?)
Span: 60 cm
Sail: Nylon
Frame: 1.5mm fibre glass
Wind: 5-10 mph
Purchased September 2005.
I got this because it looks like a "clever" design. It is horribly unstable, but looks realistic in flight (flapping wings, etc.). Unfortunately, it needs to be flown so high (owing to the need to actively fly it like a fighter) that it apears too small to be really effective.
Can be OK as line laundry (until it gets tangled).
I intend to make a larger version, which shuld be more stable.



Self-built
Pearson Roller

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Designer: Alick Pearson
Height: 145cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 6mm Ramin dowel
Wind: 3-5 mph
Completed August 2005. Yes, the spars are light and, yes, the kite is distorting in the photo. This is because the wind was up on the day I finished it, but I couldn't resist having a fly...
When the wind gets above about 8mph, it veers off to one side as a consequence of unequal bending in the spars, even though I did cut opposing spars form teh same length of dowel (the joys of working with natural materials...)



Self-built
Sanjo Rokkaku

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Designer: Traditional Japanese
Height: 205 cm
Sail: Ripstop Nylon
Frame: 9.5mm fibreglass (spine) and 7.9mm fibreglass (spars)
Bridle: 6-point
Wind: 4-15 mph
Completed August 2005. I made this primarily for decorating the sky (by displaying line-laundry). The blue ripstop is very heavy (2oz/sq.yd.) and the spars are replacement tent poles (which come in sections and can be shock-corded), so it needs a good breeze. This is my first Rok and I've learned a lot of "what not to do" from it. Thanks to Bill Andrews of Kent Kite Flyers for helping me get the bridle sorted. Set-up is quite crucial; uneven stretch in the sail results in a bias to the right, which gets worse in higher winds, so is not completely tunable out with bridle adjustments or with extra bowing of the spars. When the wind is reasonably steady, it's pretty good!



Gunther
Butterfly

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Designer: Gunther
Wingspan: 93 cm
Sail: Polyester
Frame: 2mm and 3mm fibreglass
Wind: 5-15 mph
Purchased March 2005.
I much prefer these muted colours to the more common garishness of butterfly kites.
Flies nicely with a light pull. I also wonder iof, with the tails removed, they'd fly like fighters -- the idea of butterfly-fights appeals to me...
Update May 2006: Found a load of these going cheap on eBay. I now have a squadron of 7 flying off a single line. Summer prettiness!



Knoop
Rainbow Delta

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Designer: Knoop
Wingspan: 102 cm
Sail: Nylon
Frame: 2mm and 3mm fibreglass 6-point
Wind: 5-15 mph
Purchased February 2005.
These are pretty kites and fly pretty well in a range of winds. In a strong wind it develops a lot of lift.
This kite usually comes out to save the frustration of someone who has acquired a cheap kite that won't fly.