Transformer TL first impressions

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[Dolphinboy]

Two questions: Three-point or turbo bridle & how much weight does lam use in the end of the spine?

Reverse Turbo & I don't know how much the TW is.

[Kantaxel]

Reverse Turbo & I don't know how much the TW is.

Don't think anybody knows other than Lam, and he ain't  tellin'   (TW, ie)

[zippy8]

Don't think anybody knows other than Lam, and he ain't  tellin'   (TW, ie)

• Remove spine from kite.
• Weigh spine.
• Weigh blank spar of same type.
• Subtract the lighter from the heavier.

Lam's secret is therefore blown.

Mike.

[Kantaxel]

• Remove spine from kite.
• Weigh spine.
• Weigh blank spar of same type.
• Subtract the lighter from the heavier.

Lam's secret is therefore blown.

Mike.

Take care of that for us, will ya Mike?

[tpatter]

I will pop mine out and weigh it in the next few days.  He does one weight inside the spine (at the base) and then the brass ring on the outside.

I doubt there will be any surprise there - I bet maybe 17g total.

[zippy8]

Take care of that for us, will ya Mike?

I'm more of an ideas man. I leave the implementation to others.

Unless it sounds like fun. 

Mike.

[sugarbaker]

knowing the added weight doesn't mean you know where it is... you'll have to check the balance/center of gravity too.

[tpatter]

OK, so I was a little surprised. 

Our black TL has 14g of lead inside the spine right at the very bottom (a piece perhaps 2 inches long) - there is some sort of stopper inside preventing the weight from sliding up into spine (it is stationary).  The brass piece that is installed on the outside of the spine is 19.7g, for a grand total of 33.7g of yoyo and pitch happiness.

I asked for some extra weight on this kite since I like a bit more than he usually puts on.  I can tell by looking at the external brass weight that it is bigger than other TLs I've seen.  Our yellow one has the same internal 14g weight, but only 10g on the outer brass ring.  The kite flys and pitches great, but then try the one with the extra weight!     

The Trans (and Fearless) is very amenable to varying the weight based on how you like to fly and trick.  I've even seen folks take the outer weight completely off (but I much prefer it as-is for easy no-nonsense yoyos).  You can remove or swap out the outer brass piece in a few seconds, but I never do.

[zippy8]

knowing the added weight doesn't mean you know where it is...

Run a thinner than spar ID rod from each end to find each end point - simple.

Then, given it's overall length and the ID of the spar combined with the mass, means you can work out its density and have an educated guess as to what the material is. Which brings me to....

Our black TL has 14g of lead......

I really hope that you're using "lead" as a stand in for "unknown, high density metal or metal alloy" 'cos lead is not to be messed with. Anyone selling a product with lead in it is asking for a world of trouble too.

Meanwhile.... that is a hell of a lot of weight for any kite but on a Light Hey, if it works for you....

Mike.

[tpatter]

Yeah, its not real lead - I know that in my Fearless, the internal weight is a large metal screw - with the TL, he uses another weighting material.

It's not an unheard of amount of weight - I recall many using 5 barrels on their Exiles (@5.5g a piece), so similar ballpark and for a kite that is generally thought of as neutral.

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