Had a ben wilson noise for 2 years now only had medium use and the leading edge has started to folded whilst turning.....dropping it out of the sky and dropping me in the ****....theres no obvious fault or damage and its not leaking....have i just got lazy over time and started to not pump it up enough...or is there another issue with it....can any kiteminded geek give any advice......thanks in advance
Next time you pump up go another 10 pushes ETC & see how she fly's. YOUR OWN RESEARCH WILL GIVE YOU A POSSIBLE ANSWER,
I think it's tooooo soft to perform at it's best.
Shrinking p-lines (bridle line connecting front and rear) is the most common problem on the old BWS. Don't know if the symptoms fit, but worth a check. There are lengths available if you search the forum.
Leading edges of smaller diameters fold a lot easier, not sure if that's the case for your kite, but some older kite designs have thinner LE and they definitely fold easier when the kite is under strong load, even if the kite is pumped very hard.
Select to expand quotembuckley said..
Shrinking p-lines (bridle line connecting front and rear) is the most common problem on the old BWS. Don't know if the symptoms fit, but worth a check. There are lengths available if you search the forum.
... I agree, bridle shrinking,,, plus of course not pumping them it up enough.
I can't say for sure as I don't own a BWS but I do know from other bridled kites that the lines can shrink after some time, especially if they have been worked a bit.
Generally what can happen is at one stage or another, say kite has been dropped in the surf, and you get a shock load on the bridle line where the line is stretched or rather put under excessive load. It gets a kind of fatigue and that bit of the bridle then goes back to its slack state before it was treated by the manufacturer, ie the pre-stretch comes out. So it now shrinks back to its pre-stretched state and becomes some what spongy and mere cm or 2 can mess it up totally. I think its only 2% of total length but its enough to f up the kites performance.
I reckon a lot of kites can be ressurected from death if they had new bridles put on,,,, or at least you could get more use out of them before you chuck 'em out. Try a new set of lines on ya kite and it'll feel like a new kite.
Maybe see if you can get the bridle measurements from somewhere and check it out, get back to us and let us know!
Robbie 
Are they 1 pump? If so allow a few mins for pressure to properly equalise, then do a top-up pump before launching.
Thanks for all your replys guys....think you've put me onto something with the shrinkage of the p lines on bws kites....looked back and searched on forums and found some history regarding this issue....turns out the p lines have poss been shrinking over 20cm and causing leading edge instabilities....it could be that bws have known about this because they put spare p's in there repair kit....a saving of $50 on there own web site..!!...i've just replaced mine and will let you know ifs its done the trick.....will try post some pics.....have a green arrow new year chaps...
.....ps....think bws are doing away with the p line set up in there new range of kites with a slight mod and shape to wingtips.....
The difference of old and new p lines on bws 8 mtr a couple of years use... Probably was getting a bit lazy with the pump to.
The top line is the new one out of repair kit.. This measures 215 cm as per Manu. Specs... The bottom line will put you in ****e loads of trouble when turning normally at a critical point.. Take it from me
Select to expand quoteBENHURbevo said..
Thanks for all your replys guys....think you've put me onto something with the shrinkage of the p lines on bws kites....looked back and searched on forums and found some history regarding this issue....turns out the p lines have poss been shrinking over 20cm and causing leading edge instabilities....it could be that bws have known about this because they put spare p's in there repair kit....a saving of $50 on there own web site..!!...i've just replaced mine and will let you know ifs its done the trick.....will try post some pics.....have a green arrow new year chaps........ps....think bws are doing away with the p line set up in there new range of kites with a slight mod and shape to wingtips.....
What kite is that in your profile pic? Looks like a NASA wing.
Well guys so far the new installed p lines are performing well....no folding leading edge issues to report of....but will keep you posted if it happens again......as for the kite on my profile...i pinched the image.....but think its one of the first kites used to kitesurf....the guy is using waterskis and if you look close check out the bar.....think its a broomhandle
Select to expand quoteBENHURbevo said..
Well guys so far the new installed p lines are performing well....no folding leading edge issues to report of....but will keep you posted if it happens again......as for the kite on my profile...i pinched the image.....but think its one of the first kites used to kitesurf....the guy is using waterskis and if you look close check out the bar.....think its a broomhandle
Glad you had some spare P lines, when they shrink enough they do cause that LE folding for sure. The newer BWS don't have a P line, they are based on more modern designs. P line bridle design gives a doughy indirect feel and also tend to make the kite steer down when sheeted out among other mostly undesirable things.
The Kiteski bar is definitely not a piece of broomstick it looked like this, I actually had one and it was about 1.3M long, heavy, no emergency release, etc.
More images and great stories and video here fksa.org/showthread.php?p=48717
Kitesurfing has come a long way hey! First saw kitesurfing in Australia when Ian Young gave a demo using this exact same setup at the 1996 Adelaide International Kite Festival at Semaphore beach. A few months later Bob Dawson built his amazingly powerful "D-wings and we kitesurfed at Sawtell near Coffs.
Cory (and father) was one of the early pioneers, the other main one was Bruno Legainoux with his inflatable kites, derivatives of which we now use today.
Hey thanks for your post and link....great to get a bit of old school info ...wondering if i could get a bit of advise from you...ive been kiting a couple of years and basically went with the bws kite cus it was what the school was using that i went to.....what do you think of these kites in general??....and what other make and model of kite would you recommend if i was looking to change....i'm not looking to do any fancy tricks and all that...just cruising and may progress to do some jumps ect....i will only have funds to buy good 2nd hand kites....may also look as i progress into a bit of wave riding...
