Fractured Axel

"Vendetta no.29"

Stan Doff wrote:

"Vendetta no.29"

Its a great kite and built to last.

It might been a little heavy on the lines are first, but once you get used to it you can finesse it into quite light winds.

-Frazer

fworley wrote:

Stan Doff wrote:

"Vendetta no.29"

Its a great kite and built to last.

It might been a little heavy on the lines are first, but once you get used to it you can finesse it into quite light winds.

-Frazer

Completely agree and nicely put. You can lose some of the tail weight too. What's more this kite has character

'Rare Air Pro Cheetah Stealth' and 'Rare Air Wind Warrior'.

Obviously not new kites but 'new' to me.

When these were in production in the mid-1990s I always wanted one but never had funds available. Two things impressed me about these kites: the quality and appearance of the very neat 'rolled flat fell' seams and the quietness in flight which was quite rare at that time.

I remember visiting Bish's workshop on 'The Island' in St Ives and later the retail shop that he had right next to the harbour.

I have been lucky to pick up these two kites during the last year but is is unlikely that I will find the other two in the range namely the 'Spectrum' and the 'Shield'.



Bill.

NICE!!!

Kites we flew that day

Bill, could you take a picture of these "neat 'rolled flat fell' seams" and explain the benefits/trade offs of such an approach ?

-Frazer

fworley wrote:

Bill, could you take a picture of these "neat 'rolled flat fell' seams" and explain the benefits/trade offs of such an approach ?

-Frazer

Terminology used in describing sewing seams is inconsistent as a quick search on the web will soon reveal. I used the terms 'Flat Fell' and 'Rolled Flat Fell' to describe and distinguish the two types when I was involved in kite making.

The simple glued overlapped seam sewn with either tricot of serpentine stitching used on current kites is relatively easy and quick to achieve a good appearance compared with the 'fell' seams used in the 1990s for nylon fabric and later Icarex. It took quite a bit of practice both to get the seams straight and also have the two seams parallel.

The following image shows the 'Flat Fell' and 'Rolled Flat Fell' in the upper and lower diagram receptively.



Examples of real seams on kites:

'Flat Fell' on an early Highflyers Phantom


'Rolled Flat Fell' on one of my own kites


There were two advantages of the 'rolled' version for me: firstly I think they look much neater and more tidy; secondly as the cut ends of the fabric are not exposed they do not need to be hot-cut. That makes it possible to cut out several pieces of fabric at the same time by stacking the fabric and using a sharp scalpel blade to cut them.

Bill.

Ah, but try doing a curved seam in rolled flat fell!

Thanks for that.

Does anybody still build kites that way ? I seem to remember KRD kites had different seams ... Alphakites (TNT) might too.

-Frazer

RoyReed wrote:

Ah, but try doing a curved seam in rolled flat fell!

It can be done Roy but it's very time-consuming. One has to carefully stretch the edges in the appropriate direction.

When I was helping AirCrafts Kites with design I do remember a few curved graphics that were relatively easy to sew using an industrial machine with a custom foot. The seam folding was done automatically and was as follows:



Bill.

Bill Lancashire wrote:

It can be done Roy but it's very time-consuming. One has to carefully stretch the edges in the appropriate direction.

The one time I tried it was a complete mess. They were quite tight curves, though.

Bill Lancashire wrote:

'Rare Air Pro Cheetah Stealth' and 'Rare Air Wind Warrior'.

Obviously not new kites but 'new' to me.

When these were in production in the mid-1990s I always wanted one but never had funds available. Two things impressed me about these kites: the quality and appearance of the very neat 'rolled flat fell' seams and the quietness in flight which was quite rare at that time.

I remember visiting Bish's workshop on 'The Island' in St Ives and later the retail shop that he had right next to the harbour.

I have been lucky to pick up these two kites during the last year but is is unlikely that I will find the other two in the range namely the 'Spectrum' and the 'Shield'.



Bill.

Nice kites.

I'm new to the forum. Was thinking of getting in to kites. Was having a flick through and when I saw the black and yellow colour I thought I had a kite that colour when I was a kid. Read on down and realised I think I got it from the shop by the harbour in St Ives, must have been 1994. It was a smaller and no doubt cheaper kite but seemed really well made. Eventually was lost to a tree (my mate was flying it at the time). Thanks for sharing.

I don't know much about kites but I'll be having a good read before buying.

Wow, what a great kite, so well balanced and so capable, if you're thinking about getting one you won't be disappointed

Wot no mylar ?

-Frazer