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Le Rialto (Cavaliers Du Ciel)

The Rialto, designed by Alain Jouny and manufactured by Cavaliers du Ciel is described as "a versatility such as has not been seen since the American MEFM. So what's the point Of comparing the Rialto, "the flight of the you 2000" to a kite that is at least six years old?

Would the Homo-Kitepians have evolved during the past six years to the point of wanting to emulate the same flight qualities that were, at the time, revolutionary, because it was ... six years ago? Today surely if you wanted to find these qualities you might look for an MEFM

DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
The general design of the Rialto adopts the elements found in a precision kite: straight leading edges, closed nose, pronounced tail, significant depth with two stand-offs on each half-wing (with the particularity that the outer stand-off is longer by more than a centimeter than the inner stand-off).

The wing tips are equipped with round winglets, the shape of which is maintained by two carbon rods, and reinforced on the back with Mylar. The idea and the shape are interesting from an aesthetic point of view.

The Rialto generates a certain noise despite being fitted with a leech line housed in a Dacron gusset (which weighs a little on aesthetics and finish).

Rolled carbon has been selected for the frame, with tapered or cylindrical G-Force UL for the spine. The top spreader is in Avia .180 (5mm), flexible in comparison to the stiffness of the rest of the frame. Flex is noticed in this spar above 10 mph of wind and therefore the nose area.

Fittings are a mixture of APA Jaco and FSD. It uses both straight-stitch and zigzag, the quality and overall finish of which are both good. The general quality of construction is also good, finishing less so. The bridle uses sleeved Dyneema

FLIGHT TEST
In even in a wind as light as 5 mph the Rialto is firm and set in its trajectories, and evident in hand. It executes straight trajectories or curves very cleanly with wonderful fluidity. This fluidity is slightly disturbed by the noise it emits.

Above 15 mph of wind its presence becomes even more evident. You should anticipate lines with a maximum strength of 200 lbs or adjust it so as to reduce the traction. However as it's already pretty nippy this will further increase its speed. The line strength must therefore be increased again to slow it down. The 25 mph upper wind bracket given in the specifications is a perhaps a little optimistic.

Angles are clean with no oversteer. It settles directly back into its trajectory with great response to commands, giving it high precision.

Its freestyle programme is vast. An axel is easily carried out cleanly and fast enough, that's to say that it axels as soon as you pull pull on the lines, almost before you've even realised.

Cascade timing presents itself well, and there were no grounds for moaning about wingtip hang-ups. Stops are very frank and clean, and it's easy to maintain.

Watch out for spike type landings that are a little forced. The leading edge broke twice when carrying this out, under the lower spreader connector. Therefore you need a bit of anticipation for this type of landing.

CONCLUSION

You can't really say that the Rialto is as versatile as the MEFM, but it's clear that it carries itself as well in precision as in ballet, whether that be in Individual or Pairs, or even Team for those that like kites that are a bit nippy. We're still impressed by its stability in its trajectories.