Smithsonian Kite festival

[REVflyer]

we had a grand time at this year's Smithsonian kite festival, here's a few pictures taken by Daniel (new office photographer) Sone.

[AldenMiller]

I had a good time seeing everyone. When I was there the wind was too light for me (no zen yet). I got to see the first few rounds of hot tricks. I even saw Dugard run a 360!

-Alden

[beach]

Looks like fun to me sorry I missed that one..... Ben

[Aerochic]

Looks like you had great weather, Paul! YAY!!!

I was confused about those reinforcements on the Zen though. Do you mean the Zen rods are reinforced at the center inside of the sleeve? Or did you add something custom to the outside?

[SKYWLKR]

Is that a Custom Zen?

I like it! I finally broke down and ordered one...

[rcom714]

Looks like a good time was had by all!

Mr L..........pray tell, what frame were you running in your ZEN?

[Baws]

My stepdaughter was there this weekend and had called me to let me know there were kites everywhere.

I think that was the first time she had seen anything like that. I wish I had known about it, I might have took time from work.

[Lauranyyfan]

Hello All-

Glad to see the weather was nice and lots of smiling faces , too. I have to get down there, it does look like a lot of fun!

Paul, thanks for some really nice photos.

[REVflyer]

It's the stock ZEN frame, but all the ZENs are each built custom,

so I asked (and eventually Barry & Ben caved-in) when I wanted mine to be made more durable in some areas and lighter in weight in others.

I asked for extra reinforcements where the sail folds, thats a common area for the mesh to fail and I assume this kite will receive several years worth of abuse per weekend from me! I fly as a "flailer" (and enjoy throwing the kite around), so I wanted another reinforcement patch placed at the exact center of the leading edge, again more durable, particularly if you are catching the kite frequently.

These patches are built directly into the leading edge prior to assembly (exactly as you'd do it if you were a master kite builder). They are the same materials, width and the placement is perfect. Nobody would ever know unless it was pointed out.

On the other end, I gently urged them to allow me an SUL leading edge sleeve,... you'd think I wanted their wisdom teeth pulled by blind witch doctors during an earthquake!

"Oh, that extra mass is necessary for the design parameters",..

"we can't warrant this construction",...

"you have to pay up front and be bonded, licensed & insured",... like I said, they eventually broke down.

I left the color choice up to them when ordering, they surprised me and matched the rest of my pro-kites. That's way cool because you don't know how big a ZEN is out there on the end of the lines. Folks will talk to you while flying and their standing nearby by the 1point5s, then the zen comes down and they freak 'cause is so much larger. Plus I pulled it out of the sky right at 'em!

So let's talk about that missing mass. What do you give up and what do you gain? There is reason for it being there after a year and half of testing and dozens of prototypes being created. Is changing that material on the leading edge creating a design flaw or is the SUL another "fix" for low wind conditions? Honestly, I'm not sure yet! I like the lighter weight, but must caution you that I use magic sticks which change the balance, particularly during glides. With extra mass you get free momentum (= lift!) My kite in it's current condition is hard to throw when using 70 feet of line, my practice length. My Zen flies in a whisper of breeze, but turbulence becomes a concern with so much surface area and not enough mass. Here's another concern, I have probably 5,000 hours on the 1point5 platforms, so I can get it to do mostly whatever I want and in a predictable fashion. I just don't have enough hours on the zen yet. I told the boys I could always ADD mass if I determined it was necessary. A piece of tungsten or some rare earth magnets affixed to the leading edge so two can lock together in flight?, ... Maybe some light set for night time use?, I haven't decided yet!

I'm part of local kite club and we like nothing better than playing with settings, tuning, modifying and comparing the results. Since this is a new platform we need some baselines to judge from.

I think I'm probably wind up on a French Bridle with a 3 or 4 wrap center spar and all the rest Zen tubes, maybe with some holographic foil affixed to the black portions using 9460 bonding techniques. Little tinkerbell sparkles reflecting the light might add some drama. so many plans so little time!

Anyway Smithsonian was fun, my ideal conditions, just enough wind to know what direction you should be facing.

I made it to the last round in hot tricks shootout and Will Study wound-up the champion. Man, another kid that can fly the stitches out of a dualie, I think he's 16 and already supplying kites for master class competitors! He did stuff nobody else could in those demanding conditions. The music was way too fast for quads, but hey that's the nature of the beast. We put on a great show and everyone enjoyed our activities besides. Next year Ian Willoughby will be 11, you should be very afraid as he gets closer to those teenage years.