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Supersonic sail "bunching up" on LE


swannie

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Hi all,

I've flown a 1.5 SLE for about a year now and just recently bought a Supersonic vented. I've only had it up a handful of times so far, but a couple times recently when I'm done flying I've noticed that the sail is "bunched up" in the middle of the leading edge. My first thought is that the bungies on the ends of the leading edge need a little tightening, but since this kite is brand new I figured I'd check with the experts before this n00b attempted such an adjustment. :)

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Hi all,

I've flown a 1.5 SLE for about a year now and just recently bought a Supersonic vented. I've only had it up a handful of times so far, but a couple times recently when I'm done flying I've noticed that the sail is "bunched up" in the middle of the leading edge. My first thought is that the bungies on the ends of the leading edge need a little tightening, but since this kite is brand new I figured I'd check with the experts before this n00b attempted such an adjustment. :)

Experienced this too on my sonic vented. Tightened the bungies with no problems. Interested to see if that was wrong.

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"One of the reasons" for bungees on the sail versus heavy line is to function as a shock absorber preventing the sail from splitting on a hard landing(however you wish to define it). So remember that when you do tighten up the bungees. If you stretch the bungees to their limits then you will be taking a chances of sail damage on a hard landing.

The other thing is over stretching bungees will in time over stretch the sail.

How much to tighten the bungees is rather hard to say. Most everyone has there own way. I like to say to the point where a pencil is barely held between the sail and the spar with out falling out.

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I don't think anyone has understood the described issue. We are not referring to the bungees that hold the ends of the vertical spars to the bottom tips of the sail. We are talking about the bungees that hold either end of the leading edge rod. In flight the leading edge material bunches up along the leading edge rod, not around the leading edge rod. I had an issue where the leading edge would actually slide sideways stretching one bungee and be not centered on the sail anymore. I tightened both bungees to hold the leading edge of the sail taut laterally and the leading edge rod centered. Swannie if I'm not getting it right let me know.

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Tighten the bungees at the ends of the leading edge, in 1/4" increments at both ends equally, until the leading edge stays stretched. If the leading edge is not centered, tighten the end where it sticks out more until symmetry is achieved. Do this with the verticals removed, adjust, install verticals, fly, repeat until desired result is achieved. This may be done on the field; I tend to make adjustments of any kind on the field so I may check the change immediately.

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Well, I flew a little bit this afternoon, winds weren't great for the supersonic, but I had it up for a few minutes after making some adjustments. Now it only seems to be bunching up on the right-hand side of the kite, so I might make that side a little tighter.

One thing I noticed, and I'm not sure if it's related or not, is that the leading edge material is very stiff compared to my 1.5 (which I also had out this afternoon). They appear, visually at least. If it is the same material, I'm guessing it's because it hasn't been broken in yet? Could this be binding on the LE and contributing to inability of the bungees to stretch the sail?

Thanks!

Brian

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I would say the LE material is basically the same, it may differ with the year the kite was made, just like the colors change with the material they are buying at the time. I can't see too much stretching of mylar with those bungee cords. My rods stick out about a 1/2 to an inch on each side being that the LE is cut at an angle. I haven't flown this supersonic, maybe mine will bunch up too.

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