benne wrote:.....it can be rectified by moving the connector over the small stopper, just worried that will create a whole lot of wear on the connectors...
Hmmm, "moving a connector over a small stopper" - it doesn't read quite like my experience with leading edge folding on our ~2006 Deep Space.
- For comparison I'll describe our DS leading edge in more detail.
When assembled:
The small APA elbow is in the middle of the upper cutout in the leading edge fabric. The top of the APA elbow is 15mm from the top edge of the upper cutout. The small APA elbow is prevented from sliding down the upper leading edge tube by a stopper that appears to be made from a flexible endcap with its tip cut off. Between the stopper and the elbow, the uphaul is tied around the tube.
The middle cutout in the leading edge fabric is 55mm long. The rollbar connector sits on the internal ferrule at the end of the upper leading edge tube. The upper surface of the rollbar connector is 7mm from the upper edge of the cutout.
The lower cutout is 90mm long. The upper surface of the large APA elbow is just 7mm away from the upper edge of the lower cutout. The large APA elbow is prevented from sliding down the lower leading edge tube by a C clip stopper. Between the stopper and the elbow, the outhaul is tied around the tube.
During disassembly:
The parts in the upper cutout can stay still.
In the middle cutout, the lower leading edge tube slides down and off the ferrule from the rollbar connector. This leaves 38mm of internal ferrule exposed below the rollbar connector.
In the lower cutout, the tube with the large APA connector, outhaul and C clip stopper slides down by up to 60mm so that the C clip stopper is at the lower edge of the cutout. Because the C clip stopper is quite thick, it won't slip into the sleeve below the cutout.
...So on our kite, no need to slip any connector over a stopper.
To check - when folded, the lower end of the lower leading edge tube sticks out beyond the nose? - With our kite, with the upper end of the lower leading edge tube at the lower edge of the lower cutout, the lower end of the lower leading edge is about 23cm beyond the nose.
Haven't had any decent weather yet, it's gone completely british here, rain with rain.
Similar here - days of cloud and showers. A rain shower came and went as I typed the above.
But may go to the Bognor kite festival tomorrow - and the weather forecast is looking promising for a fairly dry day, the first for a week. Fingers crossed.