Hotter speed and turning than competition kites. Higher-quality exercise and livelier pull than power kites. WindDances are "airgear," a new concept. They fly better and feel more exciting than typical stunt kites. Our other advancements: Ergo T-handles that boost feel, control, exercise. Natural active FLY-a-kite skill. |
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More about stunt-kite development
Before WindDances, we developed a new type of framed kite, one with ultra-high speed. Before flight, we slid the spar into the wing's leading-edge sleeve, bent and strung the leading-edge spar into a bow, and tightened the many fiberglass wing-battens. The wing was bridled at the ends. We called the kites "bow-wings." We engineered special tapered graphite-composite leading-edge spars, which were made by a manufacturer of high-end graphite flyrods.
One day we accidentally flew a bow-wing into the ground at very high speed. The dozen fiberglass battens tore though their heavy-duty reinforcements and penetrated several inches farther into the soil than the leading-edge spar, which had cut a semi-circular arc about four inches deep into the ground (the leading-edge spar was not damaged). We could have accidentally killed someone. We never flew a bow-wing again.
Later, during WindDance development, we did some consulting-engineering work for the flyrod manufacturer who made the bow-wing spars. As the result of our structural engineering, the manufacturer nearly doubled the bending strength of their flyrods with little increase in cost.
During WindDance development we also created several delta stunt kites -- of two different types: with and without a spine spar -- that flew vastly better in the Three Essential Ways than the delta stunt kites available today. Our bridle-geometry equation perfectly predicted and guided us toward the Three Essential Qualities, 1 & 3 especially.
Whether you're engineering hot flight performance or hot structural performance, engineering always begins with basic performance equations. And consists primarily of applying the fundamentals using common sense. Fundamentals as simple as, "Pull to make it FLY!"
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WindDance dual-line parafoil stunt kites/sport kites are developed, sold, and backed by Seattle AirGear.
WindDance, WindDancing, Seattle AirGear, and AirGear are trademarks of Seattle AirGear.
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This page last revised Mar-3-1999