K66 - Lazer #3

I went out to the beach to test fly Lazer’s #1 and #2, and I was pretty pleased with them. A friend that was on the beach with me wanted one, so here it is.

3d Printing

As with the last two Lazers, the kite sports mostly 3d printed fittings, including on the nose. However, I did all the fittings in black, instead of my usual red. My semi-flex black material isn’t the same brand, but it seems to work fine.

Trailing Edge

I was very pleased with the trailing edge on the last two kites, because it was even louder than usual. This kite is made to be loud, so making it even louder is just great. This wasn’t very unexpected though. The sail is Icarex, and it has a 1.5oz nylon strip sewn in for the trailing edge. This results in a more extreme difference in weight for the trailing edge compared to the sail, so it vibrates much more readily.

Lower Spreader

On the previous 2 Lazers, I made the lower spreader in 2 pieces, but I have a bit of a hard time dealing with the center connection. I then realized, that a single-piece lower spreader would still be shorter than the leading edge, and it wouldn’t extend outside the normal package when wrapped up, so I see no reason to do a 2 piece lower spreader at all.

Bridle

The previous Lazers flew after a slight adjustment to the bridle, so this one has that adjustment built in. The nose just needed to be pulled in about half an inch.

Center Cross

I added an extra diamond reinforcement to the center cross part of the sail because before, I couldn't make a bit enough hole to accomodate the cross fitting and the bridle. I also added some stitching around the hole to help keep it stable and keep it from separating.