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SkyRags
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Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:37 am

Wow....I took my SuperFly for its first flight...5 min in the flight it landed on a tip - it wasn't even hard...just gentle...and the leading edge snapped!!! I can't believe it snapped so easily...my cheaper charisma has been through the wringer and is still fine...I'm soooooo gutted :(

How could it be so fragile??

The wind wasn't strong

It landed in a normal type of manner

I feel so gutted...I spent a lot of money and don't even get to fly now
In the bag : KaoS Kites; Charisma, Benson SuperFly, Jest of Eve Talon UL
 
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fworley
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:12 am

SkyRags wrote:
Wow....I took my SuperFly for its first flight...5 min in the flight it landed on a tip - it wasn't even hard...just gentle...and the leading edge snapped!!! I can't believe it snapped so easily...my cheaper charisma has been through the wringer and is still fine...I'm soooooo gutted :(

How could it be so fragile??

The wind wasn't strong

It landed in a normal type of manner

I feel so gutted...I spent a lot of money and don't even get to fly now

The SuperFly is not a fragile kite and Skyshark spars can generally take a lot of abuse.

Did the spar break on the landing ... or when you pulled to take off again ?

-Frazer
 
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:18 am

fworley wrote:
The SuperFly is not a fragile kite and Skyshark spars can generally take a lot of abuse.

Did the spar break on the landing ... or when you pulled to take off again ?

-Frazer


I assumed so

It happened just after the landing- there was no pulling by me due to taking off

It landed normally on the tip, flexed a little then SNAP- just beneath the connector
In the bag : KaoS Kites; Charisma, Benson SuperFly, Jest of Eve Talon UL
 
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:21 am

SkyRags wrote:
fworley wrote:
The SuperFly is not a fragile kite and Skyshark spars can generally take a lot of abuse.

Did the spar break on the landing ... or when you pulled to take off again ?

-Frazer


I assumed so

It happened just after the landing- there was no pulling by me due to taking off

It landed normally on the tip, flexed a little then SNAP- just beneath the connector

Doesn't sound like any failure I'd ever experienced ... spars can normally absorb plenty of shock/stress on landings.

The repair will be straightforward enough, chin up, you'll soon be out there flying again.

-Frazer
 
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:45 am

Sometimes shit happens, at least it's an easy repair.
 
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:27 pm

Are you sure the leading edge spars were connected fully? If the internal ferrule is not 100% inside of the top spar it will snap easily. If the spar isn't properly tensioned it could have slipped down without you knowing.

You can get spars with weak spots.. they'll either break within 5 mins or last 5 years. Sod's law.
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:33 pm

Hmm I've done some stupid stuff with my SF and it's been fine (tempting fate I know): it's as robust as any standard SkySharked kite - you've just been unlucky :( . I've had one occasion where a LLE with ages of flying abuse broke: replaced and the new one broke in 20 minutes... as others say, every now and again you get a bad spar.

Check if the ferrule can move in the ferruled side of the LE. If it can (which I reckon is unlikely from Tim), I'd check with him how far it is meant to stick out and reglue before doing the repair.
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:26 pm

Any chance it could have taken a knock and been damaged in transit? I've no doubt that Tim packs his kites extremely well but the ability of the postal service to lose and destroy parcels has no known limit. With me they once managed to cleanly snap a piece of P300 wrapped in bubble wrap inside a strong cardboard tube in 2 places!! Bad luck - I'm sure you'll soon get it fixed.
Current Bag:- HQ Shadow, Spiderkites Zodarion, Flying Wings Soul, Old blue HQ Jive , 'PAW' modded HQ Maestro II, Delta Hawk,
 
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SkyRags
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Re: Broke SuperFly - 5 min flight

Tue Aug 06, 2013 6:42 am

Cheers everyone

I'm putting it down to bad luck...from what you guys say, it happens with spars

Tims work is praised time and again here and elsewhere and Ive been told by many others about the durability of the SF

Tim has posted me a replacement LLE so once that gets here Ill be fitting it on and flying in no time

To console myself - Ive also purchased a JoE Talon UL - was a good price. Couldnt resist

:)
In the bag : KaoS Kites; Charisma, Benson SuperFly, Jest of Eve Talon UL