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New High Aspect ratio Kites.
Quadrifoil has come out with their new "C" (Competetion) series kites. They have a unique leading edge design. As the kite inflates the vents tighten up and form a narrow elliptical shape, maybe more in the shape of a human eye than an elipse. I only flew one once and did not get to buggy with it but will in the future. Look for an updated review later. Click here to see a picture of the Quadrifoil "C" series. This one is between 5 and 6 square meters in area.
Sky Tiger has a Hi-60, a Hi-40 and now two new models a Hi-100 and a Hi-30. I own a Hi-60 (see the previous page) and have buggied with a Hi-40. The Hi-40 is a very nice high performance buggy engine, maybe as large as you need if you are very light weight and a good intermediate size if you are heavier. I have briefly flown the Hi-100 in very light wind but never buggied with it. My feeling is that it is a specialty kite to be used with caution if you are reasonably sure the winds will remain steady. It has very high gust sensitivity and can very quickly overpower the flier. The same is true of the Hi-60 but to a much lesser extent. Click hereto see a picture of the Hi-100. The Hi-30 seems to be similar to the Hi-40 but smaller in size. I have never flown one so I cannot give accurate advice, but it should perform like the other Hi aspect Sky Tigers.
My Philosophy on Hi-Aspect Buggy Engines
There is no doubt that increasing the aspect ratio is by far the most effective means of reducing drag for a buggy foil. This increase in performance (lift to drag ratio) is not with out a caveat. As the size of the kite increases this performance increase results in much greater gust sensitivity than we are used to in lower performance designs. So if we opt for the same area that we were used to in a lower performance design then the Hi-Aspect design will quickly overpower us. I am content to have the Hi-60 Sky Tiger be my largest kite, it has about all the gust sensitivity I am comfortable with. As even higher aspect designs evolve the large kite will be even more sensitive. For smaller kites I am in favor of pushing the aspect ratio to its limits, the higher performance will result in higher terminal velocitys for a given wind speed. It is my opinion that the aspect ratio should increase as the kite is made ever smaller.
Click Here for more on Buggy Engines
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