quote:
Originally posted by clarkey
hey has anyone ever tried fixing a stretched 12 mtr? I have an '02 f-one mach-1 12 mtr which everyone tells me is stretched - flies sought of okay but responds real badly on the left side and it looks like a corkscrew sitting on the ground - have tried removing and resetting the main bladder but it still lokks like a corkscrew. Wouldnt bother except I like it...
Hi Clarkey
We had a couple of F-One Mach 1's do this. The leading edge and battens is made from this material that was meant to be better than mylat backed dacron, like all the first kite we made from, which delammed. I forget the name of it, but Naish, F-One and Flexi used if for one year until they/we discovered it had other issues. I remembered it was called Polyfuse!
It gets a memory from heavy crashes and being packed away for long periods, especially if it was wet, gets mould easily too.
Looks like dacron on the outside shiny like mylar on the inside.
Pump the kite up indoors, always pump the struts up first.
Look for asymetry in the LE you will find some. Take note of which direction you need to twist, and then get a volunteer from the audience, a strong one.
Twist the leading edge from the centre towards the tip, until the kite is sitting symetrically on the floor.
Now go fly it, it should steer same both ways. It can happen again especially if trashed in waves or driven in hard like from a kiteloop gone bad.
Hope that helps, taking to it with a quick unpick and a sewing machine is extreme and courageous, and probably highly optimistic!!
This trick worked on all the F-One kites I tried it on, but I had some Naish's that did not.
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve McCormack
