Power Kite Forum

Dammit...no wind today

Tonka - 7-9-2009 at 09:44 AM

Geese after yesterday, today is a total let down. No wind today, well a few light teaser puffs but not enough to loft a 4.5 meter.....

Now i understand how one can have a quiver of many size kites!!!

Gonna have to aquire that 10 meter i've been looking at, perfect for days like today!!!!

kitejumper - 7-9-2009 at 11:50 AM

try not having any winds for a month!! now thats PAINFUL!!!:megan:

dylanj423 - 7-9-2009 at 02:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by kitejumper
try not having any winds for a month!! now thats PAINFUL!!!:megan:


last wind i got that was useable at all was about august 13th or so...

FloRider - 7-9-2009 at 02:53 PM

It sounds like you've been having Frisbee weather for a loooooong time kitejumper. I just got done with one and had a b l a s t on Friday. My knees got skinned up to the point that I am considering kneepads for the first time. But the main thing is I got my kiting fix, and today looks promising too.

kitejumper - 7-9-2009 at 03:55 PM

ahhh.....good for you--i had one day last week that was it--had the blade 10.5 out and it had been at least a month without it, so i was a little scared until i got my first scud and jumps of the day--man,i cannot WAIT for these fall winds to finally kick in--then it will be back to the lovely 5 to 8 hour sessions again--every day,i hope and pray:singing:

Tonka - 7-9-2009 at 04:57 PM

Glad some of you are getting some wind time after such long lay-overs.

Was just a bit dissappointed as the weather yesterday was perfect and i was hoping if the wind had of stayed around i could have taken my daughter to fly with me...she likes kites and it would have been fun seeing as how i'm on the road working most of the time....

You would think with all the goofy weather we've been having the wind would be around as well!!!:flaming:

lad - 7-9-2009 at 05:50 PM

The cool weather is already moving into my area and Autumn breezes will be coming soon. Really, during the summer around here, the only sure spot is the beach. Inland is nuthin but doldrums.

Kamikuza - 7-9-2009 at 06:18 PM

No wind? Good opportunity to lay out the kites and lines, check if repairs are necessary etc. And then pack them away neatly rather than stuffing them into the bags before they get blown out of shape again :lol:

kandrey89 - 7-9-2009 at 07:04 PM

:lol::lol::lol::lol: blown out of shape...

Today was crazy windy, 10mph with 20mph gusts. Some guys had a ~4m dual line foil kite, and I guess they didn't have their bridle lines setup properly cuz the kite kept flying backwards, spinning, collapsing, and arching together like the sides were being pulled to one another. Anyway, they hit a couple of people, as well as hit their girlfriends who were trying to help hold the kite.

BTW, people are soo freaking stupid on Ocean Beach without wishing they get hurt badly, they out to get hurt somehow so they don't walk under and around big kites. For example, guys were trying to launch a kite, and this idiot father was throwing freesbee to his 2 children, right into the center lines of the arc path of the kite, luckily the guys didn't launch it, otherwise the lines would have seriously done some damage to 3 foot liliputs at 20mph+ flying speeds. Amazed at people's stupidity, also people walk over the lines of a standby kite, they stand around under the kite glazing at it like scare crows, and of course get hit by it.... :Ange09: I know it's a public beach an all, but c'mon, that doesn't excuse the failure to exercise common sense.

And I'm not the 1st to say people on Ocean Beach are clueless about safety near big kites, and foolish to walk under them. One of the guys from Australia even said the same thing, and said that this is one of the places he is surprised that people do not know this, where he is from people stay away from under big kites, not walk under them.


BTW, while those guys where trying to launch their foil kite, I was having trouble for the first time with the lengths of my NPW9b kite, it kept launching and then immediately stalling and flying in reverse, I extended the brake lines, figuring that the brakes caused it to reverse, as is the case in normal flying but it collapsed when I extended too far. Only later did I realize that too far extension caused the edges to collapse cuz the brake line was not tensioned, and if the brake is tensioned too much the kite flies backwards. Thus I'll need to find carefully the right balance. The fact that I'm using dacron 150# 100feet line doesn't help either, I can feel the stretch :ticking:

At the end I put the power and brake lines on my fingers at the bridle points where they connect to flying lines, and flew the kite that way, my fingers were being hurt by the rope, but I also felt how the kite was pulling me up a bit, that was fun though :evil:

lad - 7-9-2009 at 08:25 PM

No wind? Good opportunity to lay out the kites and lines, check if repairs are necessary etc.

Or, just sit in front of the computer...posting on PKF...watching vids of people in decent winds...eating chips...

Houston AirHead - 7-9-2009 at 08:29 PM

I agree with Lad //\\
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Kamikuza - 7-9-2009 at 08:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lad
No wind? Good opportunity to lay out the kites and lines, check if repairs are necessary etc.

Or, just sit in front of the computer...posting on PKF...watching vids of people in decent winds...eating chips...

I call that "being at work" :lol:

Yeah people are idionts - here, even kite people walk all over your lines, tangling their feet in them :ticking: I mean these are guys who should #@%$#!ing know better!!!

By blown out of shape, I meant the fight that goes on to fold a kite and get it in the bag without the wind catching it during the process and puffing it out again ... once I had to resort to just stuffing most of it in the bag and waiting for a no-wind day to repack :wee:

FloRider - 7-9-2009 at 08:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kamikuza

I call that "being at work" :lol:


This is true way too often for me.

lad - 7-9-2009 at 08:58 PM

...even kite people walk all over your lines, tangling their feet in them

It happens all the time - and I'm as guilty as the rest. :sniff:

I got some little day-glo ground marker flags at the hardware store for like .19 ea. I just have to get around to shortening their fiberglass(?) sticks a bit. Then they'll fit easier w/ the kite gear to take along to stick out along downed line.

....Gotta get back now to watching more kite vids and open some more chips...:smug:

Kamikuza - 7-9-2009 at 09:03 PM

You at work too huh Lad :lol:

lynx69 - 8-9-2009 at 12:55 PM

Going through major wind withdrawals myself.

Hopefully in a few weeks when the fall season kicks in I will have some good wind to landboard in.

Thanks guys for making me hungry. Now I have to get a bowl of ice cream to wash them chips down with.:duh:

Drewculous - 8-9-2009 at 03:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kamikuza
I call that "being at work" :lol:


yay! i'm not the only one that burns up company energy on the PKF!!!

i prefer spicy hot chex mix tho, better for you than chips IMO
:lol:

Jack1988 - 8-9-2009 at 05:35 PM

Sorry to hear that chaps, it must be so frustrating, Im lucky that i live right near the coast, there is always wind at the sea front. we have huge fields on high cliff tops to, very nice, the winds always constant.

lad - 8-9-2009 at 06:46 PM

That's why the Brits have all the cool stuff!!!! :Ange09:

Kamikuza - 8-9-2009 at 06:52 PM

I like small ripple plain salted chips, dipped in yoghurt :D not that I'm fussy much ...