Tcope got his done before me and took a short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM_OFoJO740

The little hawk is a cool looking fun little kite....

Have to play more with the adjustments! (spine tension and bridle)

Set up a little like an urban ninja.....faster than an iFlite....more durable than an iFlite too....

I am finding it a bit nose heavy so the glide is not that long but that might be something that can get tuned out too...

All in all a great addition to the fleet!!!

Mother Nature is mad at us kiters...
A quote from NOAA...

Late Afternoon A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 61. Breezy, with a northwest wind around 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight A chance of showers, mainly before 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. Breezy, with a northwest wind 21 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Windy, with a northwest wind around 26 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 48. Breezy, with a northwest wind 18 to 23 mph.

 Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. Breezy, with a northwest wind 18 to 21 mph.

 

Lou,
I will confess now, that due to the detail I plan to document, I would not wait with much anticipation for my tutorial.  My plan is to document most of it in one medium and present it all at once to the forum.  It may be a few months before I'm ready to share the results.  I am luck to already have the supply on hand, so I don't have a good suggestion of a place to get the Mylar you are seeking.

Part of the thing I love about kite making is testing new methods and finding what works for me.  I'm flattered that you are interested in seeing my techniques, but I also encourage you to try out some different styles on your own.  Maybe while you're waiting for my tutorial you would enjoy building another kite... A vortex, p2, organic, b'zar 2010 (or 2011, but it is harder) or sixth sense would all be great. 

Anyway, keep your eyes posted for updates and teasers of what is to come!

That explanation really helps to break it down for me.  I get tipstabs from time to time and am able to ride them out,  but they are accidents initially.  When I finally feel confident about trying one on purpose this will go a long way toward making sense of it all. Thanks again!

I guess I should have said that on kites that don't snap stall all that well, you can kind of cheat and stall a bit high and then side slide the kite into the ground.  If you do it right, it doesn't look like you're cheating.  A good tip stabber is snap stalling at very low altitude and using the momentum of the kite to smack it down. You still have to let the top wing out like you'd do with a tip stand or the kite is going to fly away.

You have to develop the tip stabbing power either from the momentum of the kite before the stall or from getting it to slide by angling the top wing back. (Or a combination of the two)

For me it helps to think of a tip stab as a vertical snap stall to a side slide rather than some sort of magic move you do real quick with your hands.

something like that anyway... 

I was able to acquire the plans from Christian also for the Monster.  I am hoping it will be an equal to the Sixth Sense.  Really would like a 2.4m from Christian in my bag.  I need to print out on what looks to be larger than A0 paper.  I'll likely get that done tomorrow and look over it's overall real world size. 

I am preferring to await Sugarbaker's Tutorial as I would love to build it to his specifications and standards.  I just had one question.  With the impossibility of locating poly scrim Mylar laminate sailcloth as of lately, and as much as I would hate to build this kite without the intended windowed sail sections what is a decent reinforcement material as a replacement.  Dacron seems to just simply be too stiff and creases easily.  Now unless the tutorial won't be available for some time I could then just wait and keep searching for the Mylar laminate.

I still have not built up enough confidence in using alternative methods to assemble nose and tail area.  Christian does list his layout for sewing the nose piece and the Dacron spine pocket but I didnt see anything in regards to the tail assembly or even tail weight, although I would likely default to 25g.  I also notice he uses structil 6mm for the frame.    Since the LE is 1424,5mm (approx. 56in.)  how does one decide where to cut tapered rod.  Shorten both equally,  offset one more than the other, shorten just one... the decisions are limitless .  Any insight would be helpful and always PMs accepted

The first measurement is the Uphaul line starting from the knot at the LE connector down to the adjustment larks head knot from which the turbo is a part of.  At least thats what I've understood it to be.   That's if you are using a bridle where the up/out hauls are one piece.  Rather than the US style Up/In haul being one piece.

So from a construction point of view I relate the Turbo as part of the inner leg or Inhaul, as it is physically one piece of bridle line that is larked to the Uphaul/Outhaul line.

From a pilot point of view I can see relating the Turbo portion as part of the Uphaul.  Although I would not take measurements in that manner.

I think Im making things more confusing!

You mean the upper leg, no? 

The standoffs can be set around 200mm/+98mm as some have done.  I tried that and it didnt appear to make too much change.  But, the sail did seem to have less tension.  I reverted back to 240/98mm.

Yes, the inner leg is assumed to be including the turbo portion.  That particular bridle setup they created for structil frames really pushed the tow points away from the frame reducing the stress load the shorter bridle setup created.  Let us know how it feels.  I may build a 2nd Quartz for my youngest child to crash around and would likely use that bridle setup.