Sport, Trick and Freestyle Kite Flying Forum

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urbank
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Building a freestyle kite

Sun May 04, 2014 9:19 pm

Hi,

I'm interested in building a kite but I'm a total newbie in the building art and I have been a bit away from the kite scene, I always admired the Le Virus but today after doing some research it looks like there is a new kite in the scene the Sixth Sense.

I wanted to ear your opinion and suggestions about the available kites in terms of flying behaviour and buildability (easy to build?) of the recommend open plan kites.

I own a Nirvana STD and I have flown an Eolo Over and I really enjoy flying those two kites.

I'm based in Southampton UK, do you have any recommendations of where to buy the materials?

Thanks
 
urbank
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Sun May 04, 2014 9:35 pm

I found a Post that answered some of my questions.
It looks like P2 is a good options due to costs?! And Le Quarts due to buildability and trickability?!4

honchoboy wrote:
:shock:
IMO Le Quartz is a great firstbuild, it will trick with the best of them. To be honest all of Sir Derefrat designs are quality. But the guide for building the quartz makes it a winner for a first build. Though I prefer the sail pattern on Christians site to the simplified version. It is very light on the lines to fly.

If you were feeling a bit more confident with your building I would also suggest the B'zar '11 as an alternative. But due to the billowing built into the centre of each sail-half it is pretty tricky to build and you need to be bang on with your skills. Sugarbaker has posted a fantastic build thread over on GWTW covering this kite but I stress it ain't for a novice builder.

The Invictus and the P2 are certainly on my to-building list. The latter could be a good option due to its low frame cost and that it leans towards higher winds.

I have yet to build one but a design which might tick all your boxes (and that which I most want) is the Sixth Sense. It appears to drip quality =D> , and I have heard nowt but good things.
 
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SteveC
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Mon May 05, 2014 11:00 am

If you've never built a kite before it might well be worth making something easy in cheap £5/m ripstop before you let rip on £18/m icarex. It takes a while get the hang of neat stitching and seams and not something I'd dive into headlong without some practise.

You can get all the materials you want from here - http://www.thehighwaymen.co.uk/PBCPPlayer.asp?ID=1078631

You can find lots of simple kite plans here - http://www.kiteplans.org/

There are loads of good Freestyle kite plans out there so maybe someone else can advise a lot better than me but this site gives you step by step guide of how to build the 'Le Quartz' - http://www.tweelijners.com/tom/tomskitesite-en/Home.html

By the way there is a plan for an update version of the P2 - the P3 - out there somewhere.
Current Bag:- HQ Shadow, Spiderkites Zodarion, Flying Wings Soul, Old blue HQ Jive , 'PAW' modded HQ Maestro II, Delta Hawk,
 
mr wojtas
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Mon May 12, 2014 11:03 am

Good news!!!! Welcome to the scene!


I've started with a Le quartz using tweelijners.com. The quartz is a small kite with a very stable fade, turtle possition and small imputs. Due to the pultruded frame (mine has a 8mm lowerspreader wich holds perfect) and ripstop sail it's affordable. After 3/4 major repairs start thinking about building one from icarex.

The sailpattern on the site is the simpel one but difficelt enough for a first time due to the coupe near the tail. Follow the instructions and you get a perfect kite.

Try it, keep the costs low and if you still like it after 5/6 months build one you really like.

since you are new to a sewingmachine make a testpatch first!! Kitebuilding id difficuilt enough without a machine that's messing-up your kite.

Good luck
 
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kareloh
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Tue May 13, 2014 7:12 am

Build Le Quartz! You won't be disappointed.

I've build my Quartz using Tom's website as well and its a delight to build and fly. Very capable kite that can trick with the best of 'm and it's both radical and rather stable at the same time. I've learned a lot from flying this kite. As mentioned before it has a deep yet recoverable backflip which is great for learning lifters and other backflip oriented tricks. The fade is also very stable. Taz's are there and frontflip tricks like the crazycopter are a delight to execute.

Just use pultruded rods for the Spine, Upper Spreader and Leading Edges. I would advise to use 5pt Lower Spreaders. Even with this frame setup it has a wide wind range. It will fly in less wind then expected from a STD kite.

I've build a P2 (P3 now) and a Sixth Sense as well but those are a bit harder to build. The SS needs a full Nitro frame (It does!) which is expensive.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to see your build.


Image
My Le Quartz
 
urbank
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Wed May 14, 2014 9:15 pm

Guys you got em convinced on the Quartz ;)
Do you have any other shop recommendations ?
 
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honchoboy
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Sat May 17, 2014 12:44 pm

Hi Urbank, The quartz is a great kite to start with (however after building the Sixth Senses it has been a while since I have flown it). I don't regret building it at all however as it helped me understand certain build techniques that you will then go onto tweak as per your liking.

I could have wholeheartedly recommended the Fractured Axel shop but that recently closed down. I for one sorely miss it.

Other shops I use regularly are (in no particular order):
The Highwaymen
Gokites
Bilboquet
Decathlon
PJ sails
Volango

My best purchases have often come from attending kite festivals, I have had some real bargains from stores there and make a habit of picking up a shed load of small parts such as jacos, apa connectors, bridle line and so on.

I see you live in the UK. I hate to say it, but somethings are cheaper to import even including the shipping but always try to support the UK shops as they need business to keep is in supply.

If you can, get hold of a good old sewing machine with metal gears. I picked up a excellent singer off ebay for £20 and get it serviced. Don't scrimp on needles and thread. Nearly every problem I have had with sewing haz boiled down to a poor needle.

Shout if you need help and good luck
Ian
Northern Monkeys Kite Group

UK STACK Freestyle Champion '18
 
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StuartB
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:49 pm

+1 for the needle advice. Safest to get a new needle when you start a kite and replace it for the next one, if not before - there's quite a bit of sewing in a mulitpanel kite and some of the materials are potentially challenging.

When you have cut out the panels, making sure that you have allowed for the seams, make sure that you practice the stitches that you are going to use on the scraps to get the tension and the settings for the 3-step zigzags (if that's what you are using) right before you start on the kite.

It's a few years since I built a kite, but I've just retired from work so maybe I'll take some of the advice advice in this thread and build un Quartz!
 
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jr
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Re: Building a freestyle kite

Mon Jun 02, 2014 9:27 pm