What I want to do
Jordan Macha and Scott Eustis were messing around with kites in St Charles and Orleans Parishes. Jordan had just bought a Delta Conyne. Previous notes from Mat Lippincott and Gomberg Kites Website suggested that this kind of kite would be a good option for doubling up kites--spaced ten feet apart.
[Gomberg]
On the Gulf Coast, wind is often low and erratic, gusting and switching direction. Anything we can do to figure out how to fly on low wind days would save money and time.
wind conditions for noontime http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KNEW/2014/1/4/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA
My attempt and results
We used a falcon delta ("little bear") and this sweet new DC.
Things were pretty gusty on Saturday when we attempted this. At first, no swivel was used. The picture was taken when there wasn't a swivel on the line. This was the best result. but the DC kite soon "fell and flipped" over the main line. There wasn't much wind, so the weight of the kite (and well, probably the hesitation of the operator to pull the kite out of the flip with increased tension) the weight of the kite caused the final kite to fall.
We added a swivel, thinking this would help the DC remain independent of twists in the main line, but alas, "fall and flip." I think this was more a factor of the lack of wind than anything, tho.
fisheye showing flight location
Questions and next steps
Gusty winds hurt your chances. if the final kite in the train is pulling, but the second kite isn't, the second kite (the DC in this scenario) can "fall and flip" over the line. at that point, the second kite is lifting downward against the lift of the final kite.
On the Gomberg site, there's a graphic for a setup for the swallow kites that allows for Independent Tethering akin to trot lines on a single line. NOTE: swivels EVERYWHERE--including double swivels at the Y-joints? what is a "bead"?
1 Comments
The swallow line is an interesting idea. it might work with a huge crowd of kites, but I'm skeptical. I've seen crowds of fighter kites on similar lines too.
I think the issue is you're using two kites which want to fly at different line angles to each other. The DC would probably do better with another DC or a kite which wants to fly at the same line angle. by "fall" you mean it is going backwards from where the Little Bear is and then flipping?
I've seen the same behavior the one time I tried to put a slit in my 6' delta and fly it below my 9' delta. I haven't gotten back to that experiment. Paul's Fishing kites has this sort of half kite they put below their main delta for extra pull and lift. I don't think it would be super hard to make: http://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/2-1-2013/how-pauls-fishing-kites-flys-wind
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