American Kitefliers Association

Its funny how the list of projects generally far exceed the time we have available for them. I will say that owning kites and having fun with them are nothing like boats. I have never heard anyone say the two best days of a kiteflyers life is the day you buy and the day you sell the kite like I have personally said several times about boats. I will also say that I have spent a few hours sorting kite bags after a festival but its noting like 2-3 hours of repairs and cleaning that I did on my baot for every hour that I actually sailed it or went out for  a day of ski'ing. Not to mention that when we do a repair its a chance for improvement. Instead of just fixing the rear pocket I can see you also putting a heavy tow point in to add a tail. As flyers we can always find ways to improve our kites. Sometimes having something bad happen is the opportunity we need to make improvements.

I almost feel jealous that the northern flyers have basements to hide from the cold in and time to make fantastic creations to be unvailed when the sun returns. Down south we fly all year long and its hard to find time  for projects. Then again this week we are in winter mode with the temp's down to the 40's in the mornings and the mid 60's to 70's in the afternoon. Having been born in Gary and spending time in Philly and Michigan I prefer the warmth of the south. Then again having a basement would be nice...Living on the coast it would be called an indoor pool...

Repaired the pocket.  Added a 21ft fuzzy tail.  Still a wild puppy on a leash.  Kept sticking its nose in the dirt.  Added a double strand tail 10 ft long.  Now total of 1 ft.  Still a frisky pup, but keeps the nose out of the ground.

Winds were 10-15 with gusts to 25mph.  Maybe just to much wind.

Thinking about replacing the single point bridle with a two leg bridle.  Hummmm.......

Oh, on those "cold" days you mention where the temps get into the 40 degree range...that is when I put on a big smile and head out into the warm weather and test fly a kite, or three.  Today it is 14 degrees out, so I am in the basement.  LOL

David,
    I heard that a new version of the kite is coming out soon.  It's supposed to be done in carbon instead of the fiberglass that the first series were framed in. 
    I took mine out today and it flew great, very realistic flight. It was 8-10 mph with 12 mph gusts out at the beach.  It has a narrow trailing edge so it does sway back and forth a bit.  Have you tried bowing the spine a bit?

I replaced the single line towpoint with a two point bridle.  That seemed to take the zooming back and forth fairly well.  I will have a chance to get it out again this next weekend...when I get back to Kansas.  (Seattle, now.  Hate the continous rain)

Here's a video of my Paper Airplane kite flying in a light wind:
Paper Airplane kite

It sure looks like folks are getting different results with these kites.  Darwin's is an interesting hunting - but still flying.  Tony's is the solid steady flier.  And mine sounds like it is more like David's - hunting widely side to side before diving to the ground.  I used 20 feet of fuzzy tail to no real help. 

Darwin - what do you mean by bowing the spine?  On mine the bottom edge spine seems too long for its pocket - it bows which then ends up going to one side or the other -- no help.  My first adjustment was going to be cutting that spine down so that the bottom edge would be straight.

I think NewTech kites changed the sparring in this kite to improve performance. This may be why you are seeing different flight performance.

Barbara is correct, Brasington had designed it with carbon spars not fiberglass as the first series came with.  he did mention that it had to be rigid and the fiberglass would be heavier and less rigid.

Philly,  I am making the assumption that this is a Trefoil Delta variant so, a bit of spine bow would help with heavier wind.  The bow that I am suggesting is about 1-2 inches of bow where the center of the spine would be traveling away from the tow point, so the top and bottom tips would face towards the flier. On a Trefoil the bow would be sewn in.  On my paper airplane kite it is sewn straight.  I will add a bowline to see if it helps. After that I will try changing the spine to carbon.
The keel rod should be straight.