In a previous post here at the AERIALIS Kites website, I’m writing about the A-Quad Diamond Ghost – the Super Ultra Light of the A-Quad series – and that I find the kite is lacking just a little in the … oomph department.
I’ve also shot a video to go so that you can see for yourself, what I mean. Even a hard pull on the front lines won’t power up the kite as I want it too, and yes, I have fiddled with the bridle setting!
My initial thought was to replace the somewhat stiff leading edge with a slightly softer one. Hoping that the softer LE would bend more easily and allowing the kite a …. firmer grip on the air, thus providing more oomph (forward drive).
So naturally I replaced the leading edge with a softer one!
Then I got another idea. I believe the Indoor Rev comes bridleless. So why not try that too I thought.
The Diamond Ghost comes with pigtails for all bridle attachment points on the kite. This makes it easy as pie to attach the flying lines directly to the kite itself. …and I didn’t bother removing the original bridle, this being just a test.
In the photo above, you can see how the different flying lines are attached to the kite. The Upper Right line is attached at A, the Upper Left line is attached at B, the Right (Lower) Brake line is attached at C and finally, the Left (Lower) Brake line is attached to D.
The third thing I did was to dig up a 3m (10ft) set of lines. Mostly to get the kite so up close that I really could see what was going on.
This afternoon the wind died down to a useful 1-1,5m/sec so with the sun ascending towards the horizon I had an hour or so to test the new setup.
Yeah, perfect conditions down at the beach and soon the Ghost was dancing!
And this actually felt good!
Somewhat different flying on so short lines, but the oomph was definitely improved. No problems now to power the kite up to the top of the wind window … and beyond. Now it’s easier to get the kite to grip the air and keep in control of the kite in that powered up situation.
The big question now is…. What change did the impact? The softer LE, the bridleless setup? The very short lines? …or a combination of the three?
So the quest goes on. Next time my plan is to fly it with the same, soft LE, without bridle but on longer lines and see what happens.
And rest assured. I’ll keep you posted! ?
3 responses
Simple and efficient ABCD graphics of attachment points in the main image above!
> Then I got another idea. I believe the Indoor Rev comes bridleless. So why not try that too I thought.
Great minds think alike… 😉
https://kites.aerialis.com/anders-and-farid#post-15604
## Rev Indoorifying the Diamond Ghost?
I’m interested in when you try the Diamond Ghost with the stiffer LE since you seem to have the hardware (flexible/stiff LE) available to do the tests. Perhaps a tape strip to cover the LE vent as well? It then should(?) resemble the Rev Indoor a bit more I guess. I mean a bridleless quad that is a bit larger than a 1.5, that got a quite large sail area, no vents and a similar (?) LE flex. One remaining factor by which it could differ though is the LE curvature – both from how the sail is cut and from the LE tensioning induced curvature. Since the photos ( https://kitelife.com/forum/topic/10646-what-are-your-current-most-rewarding-indooroutdoor-%E2%80%9Cnegligible%E2%80%9D-wind-short-line-drills/?do=findComment&comment=82684&_rid=10687 ) I have then added tad more of LE tensioning though.
## The type of tape
If you would decide to test covering the LE vent, the tape should preferably not be of the old style cheap residues-prone and non-UV-proof (rubber glue based) tape:
https://www.biltema.se/en-se/construction/tape/masking-tape/masking-tape-2000040564
but instead have the other more modern type with acrylic “glue” (beware, I don’t know how the paper layer behaves if the tape gets wet):
https://www.biltema.se/en-se/construction/tape/masking-tape/masking-tape-2000040564
When covering the vents of a B-series full vent I have previously used acrylic (not so thin) plastic tape to cover the vents by holding sheets of thin cellophane over the vents. Don’t chose acrylic with extra little stickiness, since it is already a bit less sticky than the old style rubber based tape. I *almost* certain that it is the acrylic based tapes that one should go for (and that those are the UV-proof type ones):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masking_tape#Other_types
https://www.walkertapeconverting.com/types-of-pressure-sensitive-adhesives/
## Type of flying
If the two kite (modif. Diamon Ghost and Rev Indoor) would turn out to be anything like each other, one would get slippery but after a while in control feeling, also there is much output available from little input and sudden high speed forwards from a hard tug on the lines is available (if hitting the sweet driving spot of handle angle that makes the kite response with pressure) – I really like this high paced video with the tempo changes and occasional *hard pulling on the lines*:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fycNCQ7BYMA
One (distant) day when I have grown up you’ll see… 🙂
The slippery part might require some explanation. What I mean is that you are doing part of the job of the now absent bridle. Sometimes doing the 360 if you are not on your guard, the kite just goes flat (horizontal) like a much exaggerated samurai slide. When then tugging the lines there is no response since the kite is horizontal and there is no pitch-wise control of the left nor the right side of the kite remaining. How to handle it? – It is just a matter of avoiding to end up in this position.
I have become much biased here towards flying-the-kite-as-a-wing-and-feel-the-pressure piloting style during the corona. During the first two months of the pandemic I was working from home to a large extent. During the many calm mornings I went out to the sheltered parking for some Rev Indoor morning exercise before the start of the working day. Though having returned to work since then, I still try to use the parking for the Rev Indoor (and soon a 4WD Indoor and a 4WD Feather!) when there is an opportunity and conditions permit.
> ## Rev Indoorifying the Diamond Ghost?
A quick answer to your questions is that the Diamond Ghost is designed to fly outdoor in (very) light winds. The Indoor Rev is – as its name implies – designed for indoor flying in absolute no wind conditions. So comparing these kites is a bit like comparing pears to apples 😉
…and my tinkering with the Diamond Ghost is not to have it fly in no wind, but add some more oomph and a little heavier feel on the lines when powered up.
I did also fly the DG bridleless on 10m lines (sorry, no video) but that didn’t work so well. So the next step is to try to dig up two more P90 rods and build another LE using these rods.
I’ll be back! 😉
Wow! That was a long response! I’ll have to get back to it a little later. 🙂