Fractured Axel

StuartB wrote:

I've already printed out the Urban Ninja plan. Just need to find some 3.2mm Avia tube.

You might want to delve through his site some more Stu, the Ninja now uses 2.9 tube

Stan Doff wrote:

I wonder how closely the HQ licensed versions are to the originals.

Sadly, not even close. We watched a couple of the originals at Dieppe and were mesmerised. Later we found out that there was a cheaper HQ version and we found it being flown the next day on the beach. Unfortunately it's not a patch on the original. For some reason HQ decided it would look better with two huge patches of black at the nose and tail so you see a big letter 'H' with wings when it's flying. It's nowhere near as graceful either, being made of Ventex instead of Icarex and some stepping down of the leading edges from 4mm carbon to solid rod near the wingtip. Not even in the same ballpark IMHO.

Neither is it cheap - there are 3 sizes ranging in price from £69 up to around £169. I believe Kiteworld.co.uk supply them.

StuartB wrote:

Are you planning on stocking any Horvaths?

No, as others have said HQ are making a Horvath design that can be had from Kiteworld, other than that you can build yourself the Urban Ninja or buy direct from Horvath.

Ian wrote:

Stan Doff wrote:

I wonder how closely the HQ licensed versions are to the originals.

Sadly, not even close. We watched a couple of the originals at Dieppe and were mesmerised. Later we found out that there was a cheaper HQ version and we found it being flown the next day on the beach. Unfortunately it's not a patch on the original. For some reason HQ decided it would look better with two huge patches of black at the nose and tail so you see a big letter 'H' with wings when it's flying. It's nowhere near as graceful either, being made of Ventex instead of Icarex and some stepping down of the leading edges from 4mm carbon to solid rod near the wingtip. Not even in the same ballpark IMHO.

Neither is it cheap - there are 3 sizes ranging in price from £69 up to around £169. I believe Kiteworld.co.uk supply them.

The HQ one I've seen is made from Icarex, fine tuning them is quite an art, maybe the one being flown wasn't set up correctly!

At first my Ninja flew like a dog but pulling the bow line in just by a few mm. makes all the difference.

Ian wrote:

Sadly, not even close. We watched a couple of the originals at Dieppe and were mesmerised. Later we found out that there was a cheaper HQ version and we found it being flown the next day on the beach. Unfortunately it's not a patch on the original. For some reason HQ decided it would look better with two huge patches of black at the nose and tail so you see a big letter 'H' with wings when it's flying. It's nowhere near as graceful either, being made of Ventex instead of Icarex and some stepping down of the leading edges from 4mm carbon to solid rod near the wingtip. Not even in the same ballpark IMHO.

Got a 200 and without wanting to be argumentative the above is simply not true. The HQ is made from PC31 to a very high standard, could not find fault with it in any way and I'm a very fussy bugger. The solid wing tip spar is a design feature on the Long Walk Home, Horvath's top of the range kite so I guess that's ok too.

As for flight characteristics I can assure you they will do everything a synergetic kite will do just as slow and graceful.
No disrespect intended Ian but these kites require a skill to fly properly and are very adjustable for different wind conditions so your statement is akin to seeing Richard D flying his Vana on Saturday and then a noob flying a TC on Sunday and going on the forum and saying the TC isn't any good on Tuesday

I've tried my best to word this so I don't come off as being rude.

Stan Doff wrote:

... though I care little for the design of it or the pretentious twaddle written there.

Oh the irony !

Now you know how we all feel reading your posts.

-Frazer

@ Pete : No offense taken. I was just very disappointed with the HQ as I really wanted to like it but it just didn't have the same impact as the original.

@ Craig : Possibly it was set up badly. Can't really vouch for that but the owner said he thought it was Ventex. Maybe it was Icky.

Either way, all I know is what I saw. Both were flying in the same bit of sky maybe 100m apart and side by side they didn't look the same kite.

fworley wrote:

Stan Doff wrote:

... though I care little for the design of it or the pretentious twaddle written there.

Oh the irony !

Now you know how we all feel reading your posts.

-Frazer

Pretentious,Moi?

711jrp wrote:

StuartB wrote:

I've already printed out the Urban Ninja plan. Just need to find some 3.2mm Avia tube.

You might want to delve through his site some more Stu, the Ninja now uses 2.9 tube

I hadn't seen the reference to 2.9mm tube but I did read that the ready-made one was even lighter than the DIY spec. The latter still specifies Avia .125 (which I see he says is 3.1mm - very likely my error, although .125 inches is a little nearer to 3.2mm).

I'll settle for either - anyone know if they are available from a UK supplier?