Say you have a big quiver of the same kites and you notice one start to fly a little wonky.

You tune your bar but you didn't think this was the problem as its only this one size kite that's the issue.
Next swap the bridle left for right and the kite still pulls one way.
Then one day you notice a little twist in the strut bladder 40-50 degrees and boom problem solved the kite flies like it should.

What if the above steps don't work?
When do you start thinking canopy stretch?
What does it look like (kite in the air)?

Can you measure it somehow on the ground?

Sounds like you've isolated problem, not to be bridal. If you have tried connecting bar upside down and kite is still pulling same direction, it's kite. If it's not bladder twist with deformation, then it could be a kite material fault. I've heard of kites doing this from new. I'm not suggesting you do this.... but i know someone who had similar issue after his kite got worked in surf on a right hand point. He 'accidently dropped it on a left hand point in waves, and the kite flew fine after. Must have pulled it back in to shape.

You'll see the panel thats stretched if you fly the kite aggressively in light winds , it'll flutter in the turns.

You see it in school kites all the time from being dragged thru the water to relaunch all day

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pearl said..
Sounds like you've isolated problem, not to be bridal. If you have tried connecting bar upside down and kite is still pulling same direction, it's kite. If it's not bladder twist with deformation, then it could be a kite material fault. I've heard of kites doing this from new. I'm not suggesting you do this.... but i know someone who had similar issue after his kite got worked in surf on a right hand point. He 'accidently dropped it on a left hand point in waves, and the kite flew fine after. Must have pulled it back in to shape.

Yeah my issues where all bladder, I was surprised just how little bladder twist can make the kite pull one way or feel funky. (It can be really subtle especially if 2 struts twist the same way)

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antlanglands said..
You'll see the panel thats stretched if you fly the kite aggressively in light winds , it'll flutter in the turns.

You see it in school kites all the time from being dragged thru the water to relaunch all day

Cheers antlanglands, no schools in my area so I haven't seen many school kites. Makes sense though, next time I'm in an area I'll pay close attention to see if I can see it.

I have noticed from another thread you had up that you are a heavy guy. Maybe stop eating so many twinkies on the lounge and shrink down to kite built weight 75kgs and you wont stretch your equipment. Either that or take up poledancing. Thats full of overweight kitesurf wannabees.

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tard said..
I have noticed from another thread you had up that you are a heavy guy. Maybe stop eating so many twinkies on the lounge and shrink down to kite built weight 75kgs and you wont stretch your equipment. Either that or take up poledancing. Thats full of overweight kitesurf wannabees.

Perhaps he just rides hard, unlike the light-weights who go out in 15 knots on a 7m and think they're ripping it up.

You'll probably not notice canopy stretch unless it's extreme and you get to directly compare to a new one of the same model and year.

Flutter is, IMUO, more related to design factors than canopy stretch.

+1 . He rides hard and loops everytrick he can do.

Yeah Kam its different man , some kites do flutter especially at the light end (from wat i've seen usually deltas), however others dont (most none bridled C's)... until they stretch and the big tell tail is when they flutter on one side and not the other. I've seen kites warranted for fluttering excessively that were under 6 months old from new , now were not talking school kites , but kites that have been used hard by guys who where pushing it .
It defo happens , maybe not so much now than 5-6 yeras ago with the inclusion of better canopy material.. and hopefully less in the future

If you have an asymetric flying kite, then do as Pearl said first, connect the bar up backwards, if the kite still pulls the same way its the kite, if not check your lines.

If its the kite, find a space indoors big enough to inflate your kite, every asymetric flying kite I've come across will look wonky when its inflated indoors, you will see a strut on one side at a strange angle or the leading edge is lifted up on one side. Sometimes removing a refitting the bladder will work, often it will not through. In that case I've always asked for a warranty, but in older kites thats not an option. If the lop sided flying happens in an older kite though it probably is a bladder and a heavy crash in surf, and can often be fixed.

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TerryMcTool said..
If you have an asymetric flying kite, then do as Pearl said first, connect the bar up backwards, if the kite still pulls the same way its the kite, if not check your lines.

If its the kite, find a space indoors big enough to inflate your kite, every asymetric flying kite I've come across will look wonky when its inflated indoors, you will see a strut on one side at a strange angle or the leading edge is lifted up on one side. Sometimes removing a refitting the bladder will work, often it will not through. In that case I've always asked for a warranty, but in older kites thats not an option. If the lop sided flying happens in an older kite though it probably is a bladder and a heavy crash in surf, and can often be fixed.

Back to the original question then....

What if the above steps don't work?
When do you start thinking canopy stretch?

I just assumed it could be a problem (canapoy deformation) just like twisting a bladder or having to tune your bar.
Are you saying it's never been a problem in the canopy. I've seen some crew take a whole wave flush with the kite. Just assumed at some point the canopy would stretch.

All my kite problems have been solved with either fixing, bladder, bridle or bar. Call it the 3 B's of frustration! Because sometimes the problem is very subtle.

What I wanted to learn from this thread was information about canopy strech, is it a real issue? Does it happen? And what does it look like?

It has not happened to me yet (I don't think) the closest I suspect was the other day. Kite goes down in the surf :( It won't relaunch, I blow the kite off and notice sea weed caught in the lines and bridling (kite took a wave half flagged). I just reset my safety and zenithed the kite after it washed up on the beach. It's was in that first 10 seconds waiting to see if the kite was OK above my head I started to think (3 B's of frustration coming up again.)

Whats next if it's not bar,bridle or bladder.

So if canopy stretch is a real phenomenon.......

What does it look like (kite in the air)?
Can you measure it somehow on the ground?

Cheers,

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tard said..
I have noticed from another thread you had up that you are a heavy guy. Maybe stop eating so many twinkies on the lounge and shrink down to kite built weight 75kgs and you wont stretch your equipment. Either that or take up poledancing. Thats full of overweight kitesurf wannabees.

Cheers Champ! You are about as helpful as your name suggests.....

Here's my take ( blokes view)

You once had this hot chick, all toned and the likes

You give it a bit of a pounding for a year or 2

Add a few years 2/3 kids etc etc

Lay it out on the bed, doesn't quite look like it used to

I think you've got a stretched canopy big boy

Aargh, so that's why some guys trade in for a younger model

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cauncy said..
Here's my take ( blokes view)

You once had this hot chick, all toned and the likes

You give it a bit of a pounding for a year or 2

Add a few years 2/3 kids etc etc

Lay it out on the bed, doesn't quite look like it used to

I think you've got a stretched canopy big boy

Yeah the old ones definitely stretched. That's why with this new girl I'm interested in what it looks like.

F%^ked if I'm waiting too long and making that mistake again

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antlanglands said..
Yeah Kam its different man , some kites do flutter especially at the light end (from wat i've seen usually deltas), however others dont (most none bridled C's)... until they stretch and the big tell tail is when they flutter on one side and not the other. I've seen kites warranted for fluttering excessively that were under 6 months old from new , now were not talking school kites , but kites that have been used hard by guys who where pushing it .
It defo happens , maybe not so much now than 5-6 yeras ago with the inclusion of better canopy material.. and hopefully less in the future

Oh, ancient history :D were those guys slamming the loaded kites into the water on a regular basis? The local hot-shot tomahawks his Torch's constantly...but he's "sponsored" so he gets new kites every year.

Not saying you can't stretch canopy material. There are plenty of kites though that flutter like mad (Reo, Bandit, Park...) under certain conditions, even though those are normal-use conditions. Some, you can see where they've tried to tame it by adding material or changing seam patterns (Pivot, any North from last couple of years...!) and some just...dont.

You gotta wonder why, eh.



What does canopy stretch look like? Like an old (prematurely aged) kite. Not as crisp and responsive, loss of range, poor or erratic handling. Visually? You might be hard pressed to spot it, especially if you're the pilot...