Aerobe indoor light wind kite

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[kiteguy]

I sneaked in on the tail end of the new Aerobe offer.  That was good.

Fantastic service from Steve.  Got the kite today!

Assembled, looked it over, and was very satisfied with the build quality.  It even came with some good line.  The sail was very taut. 

Took it out in the very calm breezes (3mph) and gave it a test flight.  It was ok.  I did not like the glide.  It just rocked back and forth.  That may been due to pilot error.    I taped a quarter to the nose, and that made me much happier.  I also moved the tow point closer to the nose.  Finally tired out, and went back inside.

I started disassembling the kite to put it into the bag.  Started prying the last wing rod out of the nose piece and BAM.   :'(  Not a good thing! 

Click thumbnail for a larger view.



I was not a happy camper!     However, it was just the stitching that gave way.  I think I can resew it with stronger thread.  Think I will do the other side at the same time.

Tricky part is that the wing rods are installed almost permanently.  I am going to see if I can get it under my sewing machine without removing any hardware.  That will be a challenge.

Wish me luck.

[Dano]

Mine showed up today too.

For the stress needed to assemble/disassemble it, you'd better be gentle where you bend, push,  and pull on it, as KiteGuy just showed us.

Now, to get out and see how it flies! 


-- Oh yeah, Good Luck on the repair!

[mikenchico]

Ouch, the first assembly and dis-assembly was pretty rough. I went back to the instructions to see if I missed something. It gets easier on the second and subsequent assemblies as the stitching stretches a bit.

Kiteguy; Hopefully your machine will allow you to set the needle to one side so you can get right up against the rod, the leading edge fabric is pretty narrow, maybe a narrow or one sided foot? 

Good luck, I'll check mine next time it's out of the bag, catch any problem before a complete failure like you experienced. That nose looked pretty robust on inspection, I'm guessing yours may have hit the short side of the tolerance in production.

Thanks for pointing out a possible weak point.

[tpatter]

Just had mine out in the backyard - lots of fun already.

I had it set for indoor and did a bunch of up and overs circling
around. 

I'll be careful when I take it apart.

[fworley]

Mine's here ... and yeah ... its a bit of a struggle to (dis)assemble ... but from my 5 mins in the
garden at sunset in 0 mph ... I think this is going to be a lot of fun. Georgie will be well impressed.

Thanks Steve for making this happen.

-Frazer

[ET]

So maybe we should sand down the LE's at the nose?

[fworley]

So maybe we should sand down the LE's at the nose?

Maybe ... its a Beetle type nose ... and that was a SOAB to put together the first time ... way back when. But it worn in fine.

Rather than push it ... I undid the tail knock which helped me align the nose without forcing anything too much.

-Frazer

[DWayne]

Rather than push it ... I undid the tail knock which helped me align the nose without forcing anything too much.

-Frazer

Being smarter than the kite helps. 


Denny

[farfennoogen]

with this kite you have to keep some tension on the line to keep the nose down a bit .. or it will rock up and down .. when it rocks you need to make tension on the line ... that will stabilize the kite in flight ..  

 I'm guessing you didn't un-tension the spine first ... if not thats probably y ..

Sorry to hear about the issue .. i tried mine with the spine loosened up and see if there is less tension in the nose and it disassembled fine ....this might be a trick to keeping that from happening ... maybe others can chime in on the matter ..

 to the others happy flyin  

[fworley]

Being smarter than the kite helps. 

Its true, I am smarter than the average kite Booboo !

-Frazer

[Kantaxel]

Just had mine out in the backyard - lots of fun already.

I had it set for indoor and did a bunch of up and overs circling
around. 

I'll be careful when I take it apart.

No offense intended my friend, .........but how many kites???  I think not six.....you may need to update the sig

Jim

  PS: Remember ....duplicates count too!

[fworley]

Well - we're at the beach - its nice here at Hilton Head

The Aerobe is a winner. Its was prolly 8ish .. up it goes with the tail - stable as a rock - even at
low altitudes - which is where it looks best.

Prolly a bit too stable for Georgie .. who likes a SLK with a little wiggle and movement.

But she'll get *that* alright ... when I take the tail off.

I continue to be very impressed.

-Frazer

[RobB]

Just had mine out in the backyard - lots of fun already.

I had it set for indoor and did a bunch of up and overs circling
around. 

I'll be careful when I take it apart.

No offense intended my friend, .........but how many kites???  I think not six.....you may need to update the sig

Jim

  PS: Remember ....duplicates count too!

Yeah, I didn’t last long on the 6 kite diet ! I tried it this summer, only used 6 kites all summer. It was OK, but I still don’t fly any better ! It’s over, though, I missed the rest.

The Aerobe looks pretty cool, except for the eyes… can they be removed ? Peeled off or something ? Maybe they’ll make a blank version down the road…

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