The Tirips Quad kite is a good looking, very popular quad line kite frequently flown by Paul LaMasters, Harold Ames, and former ConnectiKITER Dave Ashworth. Paul & Harold have offered to come to New Haven and lead a workshop on the Tirips.

I have been e-mailing back and forth with Ron Graziano learning more about this project. Here are portions of some of the mails:

Subj: RE: Tirips kite for CTKiters workshop
Date: 12/12/02 12:21:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Gary -

Here's a few Tirips pictures.

Tirips1.jpg
Tirips3.jpg
Tirips4.jpg

The advertising blurb Harold suggested is as follows:

"The participant will build an original quad line kite, loosely based on a familiar quadline kite, with the instructor's guidance." I would add "This is possibly the best flying, most well-behaved quad-line kite design there is. It is stable, precise, and capable of all the tricks in the book. And it's nice to look at, too."

These guys have permission from Steve LaPorte to use the basic Spirit design, provided they don't use the name "Spirit" (hence "Tirips"). They have changed a few things from the Spirit design as well, but are trying to be sensitive to the original designer, so they want to avoid saying "Hey everybody, you're going to be building a Spirit knock-off".

I believe I have unleashed a monster. I broached the subject with Harold and Paul, and now they've got this thing planned to the hilt, including any custom parts they'll want to use. I have become merely a bystander :-) Guess I'm going to have to make it happen one way or another.

-Ron

Lisa Slinsky asked: How well do they fly in the normal wind conditions of New England?

Subj: RE: [connectikiters] Quad kite
Date: 12/13/02 3:25:20 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: [email protected]
Reply-to: [email protected]

They can be built or adapted to whatever wind conditions you like. The ones they normally make out of Icarex can be flown with a lightweight frame in the near-zero wind conditions they often get in the D.C. metro area, and with a somewhat heavier frame can be flown at over 15mph wind. The kite's bridle was designed to adapt to changing or gusty wind conditions. They have made at least one vented version of the kite that's good beyond 20mph. I flown Paul LaMasters' kites and they are some of the most versatile, easy-to-fly 4 line kites I've ever had the pleasure of flying.

-Ron G.

Hi Gary -

In regards to the difficulty level of building the Tirips, Paul LaMasters has chimed in below:

-----Original Message-----

From: Paul R. LaMasters
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2002 6:30 AM
To: Ron Graziano

Subject: RE: Re: Fwd: FW: Tirips workshop

Hi Ron,

Answering as a complete rookie (but I've had the guidance of people like Harold and Dave at the MKS Retreat!) I'd say the kite isn't that tough, only that it takes time to build. Certainly it can be completed in a weekend, if folks don't spend the whole time in the hotel bar!

We made the first prototypes without any advanced planning in a single weekend. I'm the slowest sewer in the world, but with the help of the other participants I finished mine by Sunday morning. "We" spent six or so months to perfect the bridle. I'll make a bridle board for the workshop to speed up that process too. This aspect will take several hours at a minimum, including installation.We will teach the three knots necessary to make the bridle "adjustable".

You need only know (or be able to learn) two things, straight seams with a fold-over edges. These can be either "no-sew" or sewn at the builder's discretion. The curved parameter edges need edge binding, although the Red diamond and Charcoal model I used at Nationals had these curves just folded over and sewn, as an experiment. That works, but it takes too long compared to edge binding.

Framing and installing the bridle is a few hours worth of work, as I have previously stated, because these aspects have to be done absolutely perfect. But Harold has a spar saw and we can have the some of the components pre-finished, or work in shifts at stations.

One of the toughest parts are Harold's attachment methods, but I've asked him to have these pieces pre-fabricated and he's agreed this will certainly speed things along.

The kite is a flat surface type of quad, so although I want perfection with framing and the bridle, it doesn't have to be made to the same standards as a dual line kite for example, . . . at least from my perspective. I think if you have any experience at all with a sewing machine you could create one of these wings with a coach to help. You will certainly be getting guidance with three instructors to assist you!

If the experienced participants are willing to help a complete rookie (who has maybe even borrowed a sewing machine?) anyone should be able to do it. The instructors will have detailed plans and the really tough skill~set parts prefabricated. I can't imagine anyone would not finish it, if they decided to give it a go. I would rate this kite as about the same skill set requirement as Dunton-Taylor kite. A three dimensional kite like a foil would be much tougher than the Tirips as left and right really need to be exactly the same.

Does any of this information help you and Gary?

Harold & Dave; do you have anything to add?

-plm