Fractured Axel

Well I learned a couple of things today!
First, it doesn't pay to skimp on the lines.
A while ago I wondered why Dyneema kite lines cost £20 a pair, when I could get 100m of Dyneema fishing line for £6. So I dished out £6 and got the fishing line.
I measured it out, tugged out the 'stretch', sleeved the ends etc, and waited for a chance to try the lines with my lovely new HQ Shadow.
Today was perfect! I assembled the Shadow, connected up the lines, walked out and tugged.
Kite up. Kite down.
Walked to kite, rearranged it for new take-off. Walked back.
Lines grey and invisible. Caught in shoes, but OK I sidestepped and everything was OK. Apparently. Except for an inexplicable tangle when I got them back where I wanted to fly from. Fifteen minutes later I was ready to fly again.
Kite up. Kite down.
The lines have too much stretch (even though they felt OK when I was making them!). They tangle. They knot, all on their own! I never even had a chance to see how they liked being twisted against each other in flight, but I bet they'd have hated it!
So OK, I'll be buying some Protec as soon as I can.

The other thing I learned was, you get what you pay for.
I'm beginning to suspect the HQ Shadow (cheap, from eBay, you may remember?) wasn't new.
Oh, it looked brand new, clean and un-flown. Except that it became evident that the bridle had been tampered with. I couldn't fly it. The tags for affixing the lines were in a most peculiar position, on the lower outhauls about 20cm in from the LE spars. I had to abort my session, and come back to research on the web for just how the bridle ought to be set up.

I discovered the following info:
HQ Shadow (2009 version)
Upper Outhaul – 42.5cm; Lower Outhaul – 52cm; Inhaul – 56cm. Turbo – 6cm; Keeper line 44.5cm

But the lines on my Shadow are 56, 59 and 56 respectively. There's a faint red mark on both lower outhauls, about 6cm from where the lines join. Is this the 'turbo' point? (I didn't measure the keeper lines).
I'd appreciate some comments and advice, please!

Hi Brian,

Sorry to hear you're having problems, I did wonder about using the fishing line, it has been mentioned on other forums and I couldn't see it would work. Get yourself some Climax protec or Professional and I'm sure you will find it's worth the money - I use 20m/ 50lb though next time I'll buy a 30m set and make a 20m & 10m set

Those kites were through a place called Dave's Outdoor Stores - they started selling kites about 18 months ago under the name of Dave's Magic Kites, I bought a few spares from them, but they have now stopped selling kites and I think these were the remains of their stock. I bought an Atomic and have to say it all looked fine to me.

Right, the Shadow. I can't quite see what has happen given the measurements you have given. From LLE 52cm in there should be a red mark, this is where the tow point should be fixed with a Prussic knot. From the tow point it should be 6cm to the point where the knots meet. From this knot to the ULE (with the adjustment on the middle knot) on mine is 44cm. The Inhaul should be 56cm. The problem with the Shadow bridle is that it is tied from unsleeved Dyneema and the knots slip! This might be what has happened to yours. I have retied mine with some 50lb climax bridle line which doesn't slip. All the loops on my original bridle have a red mark at the end of the loop so it should be easy to check. I'm now using a 3 point bridle which I prefer to the original - if you can't sort it out I have a spare 3 point you can try.

Thank you Steve. That helps me make sense of the bridle setup, and I'm pretty sure I can now see what needs to be done.
Your offer of the spare 3-point bridle is much appreciated, but as I now have to buy some Protec I might as well invest in some bridle line at the same time and make my own. I rather enjoy challenges like this one!
If, a few days hence, you hear a howl of rage from the direction of Broadhaven Beach, you'll know I've still got problems!

No problem Brian,

You might find this page helpful too, frame specs are for the 2006 Shadow but bridle is about the same. http://www.kitejan.me.uk/hintdual/shadowconstruct.htm

I'll PM you after tea with the measurements for the 3 point. I would suggest that you put it on next to the original bridle- it won't get in the way while flying - and then you can try one against the other to decide which you like best.

Hoping you got this sorted. Found this page while searching out tweaks for the Shadow I just ordered

http://www.invento-hq.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=212

If you put in Shadow it brings up the detailed spec for the two different Shadow models

I assume the rainbow applique one is Shadow 2009 (since that was when they stopped making it I think) and the blue applique and different panels (later model) is just Shadow - but dont quote me on that

Not that many tweeks for the 'new' Shadow. The main tweek for the old one was to shorten the uphaul to reduce oversteer but HQ have shorten this on the new model. The main problem I found with it is that the bridle is made from unsleeved Dyneema and the knots slip, however I've been told that rubbing on some beeswax might help to stop this.

The Shadow is still pretty twitchy and needs fairly gentle 'guiding' rather than big pops and pulls. Seems to like 20m lines quite well. Best to fly with the internal wire weight and use the additional 12g weight if you want to try roll up's..not easy. I suggest you try it as it comes for a while, but if the oversteer is too much the 3 point bridle helps a lot at the expense of making a few tricks a little harder.

Thanks for that link LittleSkink2. Actually I spent a bit of time today building a new bridle for my Shadow, using black Climax bridle line instead of white HQ Dyneema, and adhering to the dimensions quoted in your link. Weather today wasn't conducive to trying it out, but [a] it's got the right 'feel', and [b] I've sussed out all the knots etc and I know how to adjust it if it's horrid!

I'll report back!

thanks SteveC, sounds like Shadow is just what I am after (I hope)

mostly fly SLK and some quad these days but my UL Phantom is an old favourite for my style of gentle wind flying on 50ft (or less) lines, wonderful slow axels and 540s but just a bit too slow/heavy for more modern stuff (even with a modified dynamic bridle). Was planning to use Shadow on short lines (my dual lines range from 10ft to 50ft) so it sounds like I may need to figure some subtle bridle changes - maybe ?

any (new model) Shadow top tips most welcome

wow mine arrived today and I checked the bridle all is perfect - I love the kite!
Just had 2 hours with a gentle breeze and sunset.

Sounds like everyone's buying 'em now!...mind you great price.

A small amount of weight - about 5g- about halfway between the upper spreader and the nose helps with flic flacks etc, also for flic flacks pull back into the fade just before the kite flattens into the flare.

OK I've been experimenting with my Shadow bridle.
Mine's the 'Shadow' (with dk blue / lt blue motif). Not the 'Shadow 2009'. HQ says:
Upper Outhaul - 46.5 cm;
Lower Outhaul - 56 cm;
Inhaul - 52 cm;
Turbo - 6 cm
And yes, these settings seem to work very nicely provided you know your knots and they don't slip. Me, I do know my knots, but mine did slip!
In particular, the prussik I was using to attach the pigtail between the turbo and the inhaul would slip inwards, causing the kite to become nervy in the extreme and crash in ever decreasing circles.
Wax on the line helped, but it just delayed the slip.
Here's my solution.
When I had set the bridle up in the first place, I had left about 3.5cm of 'spare' inhaul dangling at the sheet bend attaching it to the outhauls. I retrieved this, leaving the inhaul+turbo length 3.5cm too long.
I tied off a loop on the inhaul+turbo length, with a simple overhand knot, leaving the turbo still 6cm long and the inhaul still 52cm long. The loop is just under 10mm long, the rest of the 'spare' line being incorporated in the overhand knot.
The pigtail for the kite line now attaches to the loop, via a simple lark's head.

It works. The pigtail doesn't slip along the inhaul. The overhand knot that holds the loop can easily be undone and moved along, if adjustments are necessary.

(Sigh! Am I teaching my grandmother to suck eggs?)

[PS - I did have a beautiful pic ready to illustrate all the above in detail, but was told it was too big. How do I reduce a 342kb pic to 256kb?]

Old Greebo wrote:

OK I've been experimenting with my Shadow bridle.


[PS - I did have a beautiful pic ready to illustrate all the above in detail, but was told it was too big. How do I reduce a 342kb pic to 256kb?]

Image editing program;you do not have one?...then a bit of googling gave me this
http://www.webresizer.com/

OK, here goes ...
Thanks for your help.

Old Greebo wrote:

OK I've been experimenting with my Shadow bridle.
Mine's the 'Shadow' (with dk blue / lt blue motif). Not the 'Shadow 2009'. HQ says:
Upper Outhaul - 46.5 cm;
Lower Outhaul - 56 cm;
Inhaul - 52 cm;
Turbo - 6 cm
]

If it has the blue motif it is a 2009 model. The Original Shadow has a rainbow motif. The only difference is that the 2009 bridle has an uphaul of 44.5cm - it was common on the 'old' Shadow to shorten the uphaul a little to increase drive and reduce the oversteer.

Shadow 2009


Original Shadow (2006?)

Oh Steve, you've got me all confused now!
I could've sworn I'd distinguished properly between the 'Shadow' and the 'Shadow 2009'! Now I've got to go back and check again!
It's all to do with the standoffs, apparently! And the very precise measurements that HQ specify on their website!
Too late to do it tonight! Watch this space!

(OK, I'm prepared to be wrong. I usually am!)