I could see it coming. The clouds were building up and made up a dramatic, dark backdrop. The rain was coming and so was the wind. It was just a question of when.
I was playing around with the light wind Zaephay of mine when the change in the weather hit. The wind rose from somewhere around 1m/sec (2.5mph) to 6 or 7m/sec (14-15mph) in just a minute or so. I was quick to land the Zaephay and pull the Skiron out of the sand!
The two first flights with the Skiron was in the 15m/sec (33-34mhp) range. This time the wind was significantly lighter but strong enough to get the Skiron in the air and it was definitely flyable. Actually it flew pretty well!
I had done no changes whatsoever since flight #2 so the only thing that was different was the wind, now on a (much) lighter side. And the Skiron behaved kind of like expected. Not much of a pull but enough to give me the feel of the kite being there at the other end of the lines.
Spins are excellent and much more controllable compared to flying in really high winds. The kite itself has a much more stable feel to it than when flying in its very upper wind range. Off course the frame bending is also much less and this makes for a kite that keeps its aerodynamics most of the time .. which of course is a good thing.
The reverse flight is more stable, but not as stable as with the majority of my quads. I still have plans for some bridle tweaks, so maybe these tweaks will improve reversed flight too.
The breaks also need some tuning. It’s better than when flying in really high winds, but it takes a lot of finesse to nail that dead stop. Just a tad too little tension on the brake lines and the kite continues a decimeter or two, just a tad too much and the kite stops and reverses for a split second. I guess some bridle tweaks will improve this too.
But as a quick summary, the Skiron was a pleasant surprise in these conditions. I’ll do some bridle tweaks and go for another test flight when the winds are somewhere between the 7m/sec and 15m/sec marks. 10m/sec would be nice!
In the meantime, you can take a closer look at test flight #3 in the video below!
