Help from those FW Soul experts...

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[Ara Ararauna]

Hi,

I have been analysing what I feel when flying my FW Soul and I wanted to ask you something.

When the wind starts to pick up a little (say 9-10 Km/h) the Soul starts pulling strong and I cannot get it to empty the sail and I can almost do nothing but fly around and do turns.
I try to give loads of slack. But as much as I throw my arms forwards, jump and or run towards it, the lines are always tense. I alternatively also try to pull it hard towards me but it barely does anything.

I was thinking perhaps my bridle was making the kite point too much straight up and so no wind can easily escape. But I checked the bridle lengths and they are according to the original.
I though of modifying it to make the nose point a little more towards me, but I'm not sure I want to start messing with it...

Also I have the feeling that this has become more apparent ever since I repaired the split LS. I feel as though the extra weight from the repair is changing the balance of the kite.
Being a newbie flyer I thought it would be impossible for me to notice anything.
But I'm starting to think it is noticeable. (I did put quite a bit of line thread and superglue around the split part, plus some heat-shrink tube. Moreover I did it on both LS's since I wanted to have the kite laterally balanced... although the repair was around the central T...)

Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[Hadge]

The Soul is  big kite and can pull quite hard, but it isn't usually a problem until the winds get over 12-14mph (20-25km/h). I would have thought 9-10 km/h ( 7-8mph) would be nicely in the 'sweet spot'.

Sorry to ask the obvious stupid question, but are you using the adjustments on the uphaul line? The Soul has a large range of adjustment for 'angle of attack' - AoA - to adjust the sails ability to spill wind.  On mine there are 6 adjustment knots measured at, from the frame - 7,9,11,13,15,17 cm - ( I think this is standard but my kite was secondhand and modified so it may be different). In 'normal' winds -8-12mph - I normally use the 11 or maybe 13cm knot. 7 & 9 cm knots are for low wind down to 4mph, 15& 17 cm knots for strong winds up to 16-18mph.

If your kite is pulling too hard you need to reduce the AoA by adjusting the nose away from you - using one of the longer knot settings so in stronger winds I would be using 13,15 or even 17cm depending on the wind strength. It sounds like you have the nose pulled too far forward already and the kite is catching too much wind.

My bridle settings are:

Uphaul 54cm ( on the 11cm knot)
outhaul 56cm
inhaul 63cm
turbo 9.5cm

As for the spreader, a small difference in weight can make a difference, especially in something like the fade position. If your repaired spreader is still strong, you could always make the same 'repair' to the good side to balance up the weight.

Have patience with the 540! one day you'll just get it and then kick yourself! ....it took me about a year to finally get it - Randy G's video got it for me .......still can't backspin to save my life though

[Ara Ararauna]

Thanks a lot Hadge.

I found some inconsistencies in my measures. Not only with respect to yours but, even worse, from the left and right side of my kite...
Also, since I found that in some older post you had given the official FW's measures I checked those are there are also some important differences...

Therefore I have sent an e-mail to Albert from FW's and hopefully he will send me the correct updated measures.
When he does, I will post them here to make sure everyone has them (I also asked for the lengths of the stand-offs since I had changed the original sail supports that had broken for some new of the type that have a little screw to fix them on the sail).

Cheers.

[NormP]

Ara......I have a FW Soul. I will measure my bridle also. We will see if it is the same as Steve's.
(Hadge) Then see what Albert comes up with. Will be a few minutes before I can take some measurements. One thing for sure, the bridle needs to be symmetrical.

[cerfvoliste]

When tricking in higher winds, start you slack line tricks at the edge of the wind window and let it drift toward the center...
CV

[NormP]

Hope this helps. All measurements were taken from the front surfaces of the spars. I included the upper pigtail as part of the Uphaul measurement. Mine is sitting on the second knot down.
Keep in mind this could change with wind speed. More wind and you should lower this setting.(AoA)

[red sweater]

I really am shocked that 9-10 kph (5.6-6.2 mph) is being considered high winds here. And I'm an inland flier. I assume we're talking about a standard kite? I would think that would be well towards the lower end for mortals.

[NormP]

You may also want to read both of these.
http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=3275.0

http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=6970.0

[tpatter]

I really am shocked that 9-10 kph (5.6-6.2 mph) is being considered high winds here. And I'm an inland flier. I assume we're talking about a standard kite? I would think that would be well towards the lower end for mortals.

Sounds like something is wrong.  I enjoy flying my SUL oftentimes in 5 mph. 

Tom

[NormP]

I found this info in my FW Soul Folder. I got this from a post made by Steve C. (Hadge)


These measurements are from Albert Chen from Flying Wings kites:
 
Upper Outhaul: 21 2/8" (54cm) (This measurement can change with whatever AoA you want)

Lower Outhaul: 22 7/16" (57cm)

Inhaul: 24 13/16" (63cm)

Turbo: 3 12/16” (9.5cm)

[Ara Ararauna]

I really am shocked that 9-10 kph (5.6-6.2 mph) is being considered high winds here. And I'm an inland flier. I assume we're talking about a standard kite? I would think that would be well towards the lower end for mortals.

OK, I might have exaggerated a bit to make my point, but not that much...
Let us put 11-12Km/h it is difficult to empty the sail to do even simple tricks (e.g. half axel, fade, turtle,...)
Once it gets to 15Km/h I really can only fly on the edges of the window with difficulties.
And if it gets any higher the tips of the wing vibrate violently as the kite flies sideways, especially as I cross the central power zone. At the edge the wind flips the kite over every time I try a trick and I get my lines twisted around the tip of the wing...

So I'm pretty sure something is not quite right.
Cheers,

N.

[Ara Ararauna]

You may also want to read both of these.
http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=3275.0

http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=6970.0

Thanks Norm for all the information.

Indeed, I had also found these references (one of them is mine!)
However, since I found some inconsistencies between some measures and differences in the pigtails of the uphaul (both in quantity and in measures) I decided to make sure everything was verified and updated with the manufacturer.

I'll keep you informed.
Thanks.

[Ara Ararauna]

Hope this helps. All measurements were taken from the front surfaces of the spars. I included the upper pigtail as part of the Uphaul measurement. Mine is sitting on the second knot down.
Keep in mind this could change with wind speed. More wind and you should lower this setting.(AoA)

Norm, I see you have the uphaul in the second pigtail as opposed to the third as I do.
This would make the nose of your Soul point more towards you and hence have a stronger pull, correct?
So I don't understand why I'm having these issues...

What bugs me is that at first I thought it was me being a lousy pilot.
But ever since I bought the new Talon UL I have noticed how smoothly it flies even in its upper wind limit.
This is NOT the feeling I get with the Soul at all. And this makes me a bit sad and angry at the same time... 

I hope this can be fixed.
Cheers everyone.

N.

[NormP]

Once it gets to 15Km/h I really can only fly on the edges of the window with difficulties.
And if it gets any higher the tips of the wing vibrate violently as the kite flies sideways, especially as I cross the central power zone. At the edge the wind flips the kite over every time I try a trick and I get my lines twisted around the tip of the wing...
So I'm pretty sure something is not quite right.
Cheers,
N.

Do you know the exact wind speed? Are you using a anemometer? If your wing tips are shuttering I would say you're flying above the wind speed for the Soul. The manufacturer list
the recommended wind speed for the Soul at 3-20mph, but don't believe it.

[NormP]

Norm, I see you have the uphaul in the second pigtail as opposed to the third as I do.
This would make the nose of your Soul point more towards you and hence have a stronger pull, correct?
N.

This is correct, but the noticeable difference in pull would be minimal for us less experienced pilots. It doesn't really matter how many knots or the distance between each knot on the pigtail exist. Be sure the total distances are correct. From everything I see the differences between Steve's, Mine, and Albert's are minimal. Using any of our three measurements would work just fine. It's a good thing you don't have a SF Pro or a HQ Infinity. You would be pulling your "bridle hair" out. 

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