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Jules
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Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:40 am
Location: Nancy France

Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Mon May 30, 2011 9:54 pm

Hi to anybody and all who read this.
I'm the lucky one who finally bought this little package of Bensons - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10365&hilit=DS+orange

I'd just like to say that I'm out on my own here. (Nancy, France)

So, now I'm equipped all I have to do is to learn all the technical stuff. Well, that is the fun of all this after all.

I find each kite quite different in their inherent qualities but as a relative beginner it's not very easy to put my finger on what exactly these qualities are.

At the present I like the Gem UL the best. (It's the older version without the roll bars.) Why do I like it best? Well, it will do what I'm trying to pull off.
Axels, no problem at all - wonderful. Half-axels - although I seem to get some wing tip wraps when I do them to my left, I get beautiful results to my right. A question of pop strength and timing I think. It will do a roll fade nicely for me and is quite easily balanced there.
These are the three main tricks I'm trying to get right at the present.

The deep space will do great axels and half-axels no prob at all but, still shows me my problem of timing on the left hand half-axel with some tip wraps. I can't get it to do a roll fade though! It has an 18grm weight on it to which I added some lead to bring it up to 24grms hoping this would help it sit with the nose higher and make it easier to maintain the fade but I couldn't manage it today. The wind was rather high here, though. Nevertheless, I can feel the Deepspace really seems to want to spin and roll well, despite the fact I that I don't have the ability to make it do the gamut of tricks. It seems to have a finely tuned bridle point that seems to balance the kite for tricks from any angle.
Can anybody recommend a tail weight value for me? 0 grms to ... ?

Now we come to the Minigem. I imagine that with a smaller, lighter kite your inputs have to be more precise in strength and also in timing too. The kites for higher winds too. So, I expect this is due to being a relative novice but apart from axels I can't get the minigem to do very much! It will do a half axel for me on the right. To the left - it's a wing wrap nightmare virtually every time. The minigem is also the older version with the cross active bridle. I'm wondering whether to make up the Tristar bridle the new ones have or try the Reeddesign bridle. I realise my own skill shortcomings are largely to blame for these problems but any thoughts and comments are welcome.

Bon vent depuis la France! :D

Julian
 
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Doc James
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:51 pm

Re: Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Tue May 31, 2011 12:06 pm

Bonjour. I'm no great expert, but would suggest keeping the standard weight on the deep space. I'm certain that Tim B will have spent many hours getting it just right. Each kite will be different, it'll be up to you to adapt to the kite. Similarly for bridling, there's a reason why its the way it is and its a question of adapting your technique.

I would suggest picking just one to start with ( I chose the DS) and spending time with that kite getting comfortable. The DS isn't the easiest to learn on, but time will reward you! I seem to recall holding fades on the DS was hard to start with.

Enjoy
Kite Bag: Deep Space, Solus, Widowmaker, Gem UL, Akuji SUL, Lynx Feather, Rev 1.5 exp
 
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mobius
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Re: Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Tue May 31, 2011 6:03 pm

My recommendation (as Doc also says) would be to stick to one kite until you have truely mastered the specific trick upon it. You've correctly identified that each kite has it's own feel and idiosyncrasies and it takes a while for the "muscle memory" to get acclimatised to them (especially when you're starting out). So by failing to do the same trick on a different kite, you can't be totally sure if it is purely the set-up or if you've simply not adjusted to it. Some kites you'll need very light inputs compared to others.

I'd also not adjust the bridles off their factory settings.

Just my opinion though 8)
Dave Morley
 
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Tony S
Posts: 292
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 9:49 am

Re: Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Tue May 31, 2011 8:07 pm

if you are struggling with tip wraps and you can get the kite to 1/2 axel OK, you should probably be giving more slack with the non-popping hand - or more just give more slack. Try walking forward after the pop for the 1/2 axel, and see if you still get the wraps......

Tony
 
Jules
Topic Author
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:40 am
Location: Nancy France

Re: Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:05 am

Thanks for the comments. I agree with flying one kite and for the moment it will the Gem UL that will come out wind permitting. However, that's the problem, I hate to see my free-time when there's wind going to waste. So, I would still get the Minigem out if the wind is too high.

Doc -> I'll take the extra weight (4grms) away from the Deep space again and do some more experimenting. I'm sure you're right about Tim working on it until he felt it was at its best. I find that in the French forums you get a lot more tinkering around with bridles, weights, spas etc... This DIY seems to be rubbing off on me.

If anyone's is interested I have a great little mod for the Revolution quad bridle. It improves stability incredibly and enables easier axels, too!

Tony -> I'll give more slack a try too. It seems that the left wing is too low - the kite is not flat enough. something that's very frustrating for me is finding a day when you get a nice constant wind. It's continental climate here and those constant breezes that you get moire regularly at the coast are a rarity here. Anyway, I suppose that's just a lame excuse and I'll just have to deal with the wind we get.


Cheers all,
Julian
 
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harveystubbs
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Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:01 pm

Re: Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:06 am

I think the stock weight on all of the above is 15gr. This works well for me. Tim's velco weights are the best that I have used. H
 
Dubflier
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Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:36 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Bensons and Neophyte Nightmares

Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:09 pm

Hi Jules

Can you please give more information for the Rev bridle mod that you mentioned, I mainly fly duel lines but have a Rev 1.5 in the bag that gets an outing now and again.

Dubflier