Fractured Axel

Take said SUL Fury and attach with electrical tape 2 or 3, 20 pence pieces to either side on the lower leading edge fitting. Then give the axel / half-axel another go.

Also, try not flying horizontally in to it. Try heading slightly down, see if this helps.

Remember to take back your bus fare home off the kite whilst packing up

mobius wrote:

Take said SUL Fury and attach with electrical tape 2 or 3, 20 pence pieces to either side on the lower leading edge fitting.
)

Irony springs to mind

KG has a genius T shirt on that theme.

Bryan

Don't get the joke!?

You're telling him to add weight to a SUL... He already owns a STD Fury... Ironic eh!

The SUL is not just a lighter version of the STD. It has a different sail, therefore it's flight characteristics differ quite a bit.

Adding weight as I suggest, might help to get the feel of the axels, and when he gets better he can gradually remove the weight.

It's like rayyyyyyyian on your wedding day...

Point taken, I've never flown a SUL Fury so I was'nt aware of the sail difference.

Must admit I used to have two 4g weights on the spines of my STD Gemini when I was learning the basics of axels etc.

.... like a free ride, when you've already paid....

(Sing along)

Good tip on the weight, It actually rang a bell with me, so I re-read the Fury instruction book and indeed there is a section which says "Use weights on the ends of the bottom cross spars to aid centrifugal rotation (back spins, 540's, lazy susan's axels). It also warns about compromising low wind performance.

On the day in question there was barely any wind, so I was forced to use the SUL just to get in the air. And even then it wasn't consistent.

I can also see the sense in flying the nose slightly down to help the setup.

All tips are welcome and your experience is valuable to me, so thank you all.


I think then that I am still better off getting the half axel technique right on the Gemini's first and then transferring that experience to the fury's. Maybe using some added weights to either kite if the conditions allow.

I'm sure I've seen brass collets that might do the trick. (no pun intended)

cheers,

Paul.

I haven't read the whole thread in full detail but got the gist of it. That must be one of the hardest kites full size and the UL too to try and half axel. I expect most people on here would not be able to do it first time straight from a Gemini. There would be a lot of feel needed.

Anyway, the point of my post was to describe something that might help you get that feel for this kite or indeed for any new kite. To do the right handed half axel, so, as if you're flying from right to left and popping the right hand. But instead of flying from right to left, instead fly in an anticlockwise circle. Stay with me now. The smaller the circle the better but at the same time the smaller the circle the smaller your window of opportunity to get that right handed pop in will be so maybe start with a big circle. So... flying in a big anti-clockwise circle, when your kite gets to the top of this circle the nose will be pointing to the 9 o'clock position, which is what you want to do that right handed pop. But also, and here's the bit that helps, that top wing will be a bit back already because you'll be pulling on the left to do the circle right? So the whole set up bit happens without you having to think about it. Also, the fact that the kite is turning in that direction gives it a bit of momentum that helps it round too meaning that you can get away with a sloppier 2nd (right hand) pop to help it round.

The closer you can get to the circle being a wingtip spin the better . Maybe do wingtip spins and mark in your head the point where you would need to pop. Remember also that' you'll have to release that hand that you're pulling too as soon as you do the first pop.

Good luck.

Jason

I'll be sure to give that a try Jason. I've not come across it anywhere else as a technique so thanks for the tip.

Paul.

A question has sprung to mind about this. I'm guessing that after you have done the half axel you would continue flying a circle but clockwise now and then half axel again the other way to go back to flying anti clockwise. so the entry and exit is in the circle?

Lovely to hear from you Lloyd

Um, I suppose you could. The first one would be done when you're at the 12 o'clock position of the circle. Bear in mind that the half axel will probably cause the kite to loose some height in the sky and you'll then be facing the other way so if you then went clockwise you might hit the ground. You could carry on back round anti clockwise to the top and do another on like a big capital D.

wrt which kite to do which trick:

I bought a gemini all those years ago to 'learn' to do axels etc but ultimately it was so easy to do any sort of setup that I didn't really learn the mechanics of the trick at all. The std full size fury on the other hand can take big slow arm movements and so you really get to understand what you need to do, then apply it to the other kites in your bag.

Slower to learn initially, but ultimately more understanding, or instant gratification, take your choice

Maybe the problem is that you learnt to axel on a gemini. I learnt how to do axels and half axels with a gemini which turned out to be a mistake, as it only requires one pop. I subsequently learnt to do them with nirvana, transfer etc which require a definite two pop move, and then went on to do the cascade. I really struggle to get more than 2-3 rotations in a cascade with a gem.