FLOWFORM  30 Modified

 

 

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Span:
Lenght:
 
Weight:
Surface:
Wing load:
1,46 m
1,80 m
 
0,6kg
2,5m²
0. 24
 
Wind min:
Wind maxi:
 
Pull min:
Pull max:
 
line angle:
 
Line used:
3,1m/s
15m/s
 
0,7kg
25kg
 
50°
 
polyamid 120kg

 

Description:
The SUTTON FLOWFORM is a soft kite well known by kapers for its easy launch, good pull, and stability. Its line angle is small, which makes the Picavet suspension efficient with this kite.
However, when wind blows over force 4, the Flowform is listing and leaning downside. It then needs a tail. A long fuzzy tail or a drogue is necessary. In such conditions, the line angle is lessened, and the pull is lesser than it could be expected.
As for most of soft kites, when there are eddy winds and whirls, it is very likely to happen that whirls will push aside and close a side cell, which will end with a dive to the ground.
 Tailless stability
The modifications I have done on this kite makes it now absolutely stable flying tailless. Even Gerard Clement, the Berk's festival organizer noticed its great stability and compared it to Peter Lynn's Pilot kite during a kite session together on a Normandy beach when wind was blowing force 5 with some gales up to force 6.
 
Between 5 and 10 m/s winds, the pull ranges between 4 to 10 Kg.

 

Modifications:
After years spent testing my original Flowform, and observing lot of others, I turned able to predict behaviour of such soft kites and anticipate the moment when they will slide aside, turn upside down, and dive to ground.
Then I started considering modifications that would avoid it, and keep stable flight in all wind conditions without a tail. After two years, the Flowform stayed in the wind's eye, but it was wobbling and wriggling continuously. This is useless for Kap. Some years after, I reconsidered it and applied some former ideas that I didn't implemented before. Three months later, the solution was there.
Modifications are:
  • change a part of clothe on side keels
  • remove a part of clothe of the trailing sleeves
  • added an inner rib in the trailing sleeves
  • slightly shorten the middle bridle.
The modifications are detailed in the following page. It needs some sewing work, but it really worths it!