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Stacking


KiteManFL

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I have never stacked my kites. I am going to try it soon. I have three B series Full Vent, Mid vent and Standard. Ihave a couple of questions for anyone that wants to answer.

1. Do you recommend pig tails to connect the stacking lines?

2. Would it be a problem to leave the bridle on the back two kites.

Thanks for the help.

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Stacking the kites together is super simple and a larks head knot through the end caps is all you need to do and it only takes a couple seconds, pigtails are not necessary but if you want to use them, no problem at all.

You can leave the bridle on also, won't effect it at all but it will make another snag point for the back kites to get hooked up on. It is pretty easy to remove the bridles, only takes about 30 seconds per kite to remove them. If you feel comfortable doing it, I would pull them off. Get a small ziplock baggie to put the bridles in so they stay neat and don't get lost/tangled.

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I have never stacked my kites. I am going to try it soon. I have three B series Full Vent, Mid vent and Standard. Ihave a couple of questions for anyone that wants to answer.

1. Do you recommend pig tails to connect the stacking lines?

2. Would it be a problem to leave the bridle on the back two kites.

Thanks for the help.

1, Yes pigtails make it so much easier to set up and take down if it's not going to be a permanent stack. Use 6, the centre doesn't need one.

2, No problem at all leaving the bridle on. It can look a little untidy at first then you just don't notice it.

Stacks don't like too much brake.

Don't use aluminium handles.

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Stacking the kites together is super simple and a larks head knot through the end caps is all you need to do and it only takes a couple seconds, pigtails are not necessary but if you want to use them, no problem at all.

You can leave the bridle on also, won't effect it at all but it will make another snag point for the back kites to get hooked up on. It is pretty easy to remove the bridles, only takes about 30 seconds per kite to remove them. If you feel comfortable doing it, I would pull them off. Get a small ziplock baggie to put the bridles in so they stay neat and don't get lost/tangled.

I ordered stacking lines from you today. What about the center line - how do you attach it? Is a 90# line OK for three kites?

Thanks

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The white line of mystery...

I larks mine onto the knots, starting on the rear of the loop on the first kite then to the front of the loop on the second kite. I could never get the white line tight.

You'll see when you come to do it. If you find a way to make that one work share it with me.

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I have been toying with a three stack using my vented,mid-vent and standard "B" with four,three and two wrap rods to match. cat_shy.gif

As these Revs are not normally used as a stack I fitted pigtails at six points plus provision for the seventh and also made a couple of extras to stow the unused bridles.

All my stacking lines are of the same length except for the two lower ones on the rear kite and these are identified with a small length of bright coloured sleeving added in a knot, saves any confusion.

By fitting a pigtail and measuring from the rod centre to the knot gives what is required for the seventh, middle, attachment point, simply feed a length through the centre point and tie a knot to the same length, job done!

Bill

A few pictures attached, Thanks to Teresa (Terry) for the airborne images taken at the "White Horse Kite Flyers" Fun Fly!ani_victory.gif

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Bill - thank you for the additional information. I have the same kites. Did you feel the vented como flew well? What size line are you using? I have heard it should be 150#. Regarding your pig tails - I was think about using 150# line in sleeves. What size line did you use? Also did you leave the bridles on all the kites?

Thank you

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I would suggest going to 150 or 200 for the stack, just to be on the safe side. Breaking your 90# set will do two things that you wont like, obviously it will break your 90# lineset, the other is that now you will need to purchase a new 90# set and then also purchase a 150 or 200# set, costing you twice as much as before.

The center stack line use to be a real pain, but Rev has now helped out with that a ton on the new stack line sets. The center line is specially colored so you can easily identify it from the others. What you want to do is to loop it through the center loop on the front kite, passing the loop through and then pulling the rest of the stack line through so it makes a larks head on the front kite, then just your standard larks head knot on the rear kite on the center loop where the knot is. Hopefully this will make sense when you look at it. If not then let me know and I may be able to get some pics. The new stack line kits should have the full instructions in them on how to do this.

150# pigtails should be plenty strong.

Hope that helps. Let us know how it goes.

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Bill - thank you for the additional information. I have the same kites. Did you feel the vented como flew well? What size line are you using? I have heard it should be 150#. Regarding your pig tails - I was think about using 150# line in sleeves. What size line did you use? Also did you leave the bridles on all the kites?

Hi KiteManFL

The combination flies quite well but I need to do more tuning, getting rid of the wobble is not easy, there are conflicting remarks

as to how much brake is required on the rear kite lower lines. Some say start at none ,others say 1/4 inch and yet I have read

that 1 inch is OK for starter, does anyone have a definitive answer ? ani_idea.gif please

I am using Shanti Spectra 150lb @ 100ft, actually two dual line sets matched for length, these are dedicated for stack use,ani_victory.gif well that was the idea but now I sometimes use these lines flying one kite solo, the extra weight and drag give a little practice simulating low wind conditions!

For pigtails and stack lines I used 150lb bridle, I had a lot hanging around so I just used it ! A bit heavy but who cares !cat_shy.gif

The pigtails all stay on and the bridles on the rear kites stay on as well but are stowed, as in picture four, using spare pigtails!

I forgot to mention that I use forward and rear facing pigtails on the middle kite.

Somewhere there is a post, that I cannot find, that relates to preventing the end caps from coming off !blue_sad.gif

Bill

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I stack my B2 set - vent, mid, std - and this works well so it should be the same for the 1.5 platform.

I think the general consensus regarding brakes is as follows...

  • on the handles you want less brake compared to flying a single rev
  • on the rear kite, you want a little more brake to reduce the chasing effect

The net result of that is that the stack as a whole has less brake than a normal single rev setup, but the rear most kite has a bit more brake than the rest of the stack.

Hope that helps

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Has anyone experience their sails strenching abnormally because of the combination of vented and full sail. Since the wind will hit the sail differently because the vented kite is in front of the full sail the wind will hit the full sail manner not the same as if there was no kite in front of it.

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Although people do stack vented and non vented kites, it is normally not suggested by Revolution to do so. The different kites do fly differently in the same winds which can cause the stack to not fly quite as good as a stack made up of all the same style kites. All sails will stretch out over time depending on how they are taken care of and what the wind conditions they are flown in. The only time this would be an issue is if you did fly them in a stack, or side by side....but, they would all fly differently anyways so it would be nearly impossible to tell if the difference in flight was caused by the stacking, or by the normal characteristics of the kites designs, or by the use/wear and tear/condition of the kites as they are flown? Will they stretch out differently, yes....what is the consequences of this? They would eventually fly differently when compared to the other. Is this a big deal??? Not really, they already fly differently from each other new from the factory anyways.

In reality, your kites will slowly change in how they perform over a long period of time, that's just how it works. Things get warn out the more you use them. You will adjust your flying skills/styles to compensate for the changes in your kites performance. Sometimes the performance is better the more the sail stretches (think of it as a pair of shoes getting broke in to match your feet as you wear them). I personally don't think the wear-n-tear on the kites being stacked together is going to be any more or less than flying them solo as long as you pay close attention to the wind conditions you are flying them in.

Hope that helps.

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I've only had my vented stacks out a couple of times so not enough to notice any undue affects. I have taken pictures of my buddies vented stack in flight under load and the sails were evenly "cupped".

My stack was PoloVTD, Vtd, Mid, & Std and I've also had Vtd, Mid, Std and Std.

My buddies stack was Vtd, Mid and Std.

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We made small loops to attach to the center loop and the rods, and end caps. This makes it an easier tear down and set up for us. It has worked pretty well with the Dare to Dream Stack which are all EXP's. The loops are made of the same material as the Pigtails on the handles. 135 # dacron. I was gonna upload a photo but it has been so long since i have done it here ... lol ugh . sorry

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Hello Kiteman,

I fly also fly a 3-stack of B's.... full vent, mid, std.... sometimes a 2nd mid.

I use pigtails which stay on when unstacked to fly as a single. All bridles stay on also.

All stack lines are the same length (about 4.5') and I use one at the top center too. The center pigtails are a bit longer than the others and have extra knots to get the same spacing.

All kites are framed with 3-wrap spars regardless of vented or not; gusty winds call for a 4-wrap in the front kite.

My flying lines are about 85' with 150# and 200# sets.

I'm planning to come down to TI for the January kite fest. If you go too you will see a bunch of stacks that weekend.

This forum also has a separate Stacking info area.... check it out too....

happy stacking,

Dayton David

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  • 1 month later...

Setup today in preperation of the 7 stack.

REVOPOLO VTD 4 wrap

JB VTD green race

JB MID 3 wrap

JB STD 3 wrap

REVOPOLO 3 wrap

EXP 2 wrap

150# x 80 ( also have the 200# in the bag )

Extra long 17" Graphite wrapped Handles

Makes the takeoff as easy as flying with just one rev.

Standard stacklines on individual pictails.

One pointing forward and one backwards.

I don't use the 7th center stack lines.

For the 7th rev I will use an extra vented JB pro

Hope it will arrive in February.

I don't see me handle a 6 stack with full sail.

So the "progresive" setup suits me well.

André

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