Power Kite Forum - Kite wont fly, what am I doing wrong?

Kite wont fly, what am I doing wrong?

jzh797s - 28-9-2010 at 06:47 PM

I am trying to get my new kite up, a Twister II 3.0, but so far no luck. I am wondering if I am doing something wrong.

I flew it in light wind both times 5 - 8 mph (maybe less). I have the orange (thicker) lines on the bar ends hooked up to the lower half (from the opening) and the blue lines (thinner) on the center of the bar hooked to the top most section of the kite. If I pull and run it seems to want to go up, turn over and crash. Is this line setup correct?

Today I finally got the kite to fly by pulling the center lines (on the bar, blue) closer to the bar with my hands, but then the orange lines had too much slack and I couldn't steer and it crashed. I have tried attaching the lines to the closest knot on the center of the bar to no avail.

Does anyone have any clues to what is wrong? Does it seem to just be symptoms of too light wind?

arkay - 28-9-2010 at 07:17 PM

Sounds maybe like the symptoms of too little wind if you have the kite hooked up correctly. 5-8 is pretty light for a 3m. 10 would be a good wind. You should be able to get it to fly in 8, tho I can't say I have hands-on experience with a 3m twister, but imho it will be much harder to fly it in light wind and on a bar than handles. Typically, the best chance you have to get a fixed bridal kite to fly in light winds is to loosen the brakes til there's virtually none.

Ok, do you have it hooked up right? From what you said it might be backwards... the thicker lines should be on the "top" of the kite, and the thinner lines should be hooked to the "bottom" of the kite (the trailing edge). Thicker lines on the top because of the way the kite transfers its force to the bar. You want the thicker lines to hold all of the weight for safty!

What kind of bar are you flying on? Either it's a cross-over, in which case the four lines will be hooked together in some way or it's just a standard bar in which case the steering lines will be hooked to the bar ends and the brakes will be a safety hooked thru the center of the bar to you. You should not use a depower bar as the forces on the bar are completely different. The following is a broad generalization and not completely true but is the basic effect in practice; just so you get the difference. In depower kites the force of the kite is on the center lines and the steering lines do not hold any of the kite's force. In contrast, on a fixed bridal the kite force and main steering are on the same lines. (experienced riders sush :p)

The twister is a fixed bridal and not a depower kite so it hooked up differently than a depower kite. The steering lines are the lines towards the top of the kite; these go to the bar ends. The brake lines or the lines along the back edge (trailing edge) go to you safety system; likely a line thru the center of the bar to your body or wrist.

I can dig up some pics...

bigkid - 28-9-2010 at 07:20 PM

sounds like you have the lines backwards.
the heavier/orange lines are the power lines, they go from the end of the bar to the top of the kite(the end of the bridle with the most lines)
the lighter/blue lines are the brakes, they go from the center of the bar to the bottom (trailing edge) of the kite. OK?

I am to slow to compete:singing:

DAKITEZ - 28-9-2010 at 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by arkay

Ok, do you have it hooked up right? From what you said it might be backwards... the thicker lines should be on the "top" of the kite, and the thinner lines should be hooked to the "bottom" of the kite (the trailing edge). Thicker lines on the top because of the way the kite transfers its force to the bar. You want the thicker lines to hold all of the weight for safty!

What kind of bar are you flying on?

yep what he said! you have the lines connected to the wrong place on the kite. the thicker lines go to the main bridle (closest to the top of the kite) and the thin lines go to the trailing edge lines (closest to the bottom of the kite). Good thing you didn't take it out in strong winds you would have probably broke the thin lines.

then yes the next question is what bar do you have. if it is a peter lynn quad line bar then the thick lines go to the outside of the bar and the thin lines to the center.

Bladerunner - 28-9-2010 at 07:37 PM

Is this a used kite ?

Twisters come with little #s on the line so you can make no mistake the 1st time out ?

Too little wind?

My 7m Twister II was disapointing on a bar but a good kite on handles.

BigMikesKites - 28-9-2010 at 07:57 PM

I sent you an email that basically says what people are saying here. Check the lines. The orange should be on the top bridles of the kite and the blue to the bottom bridles of the kite. On the bar side, the orange to the outside, the blue to the inside. Handles are easier to learn with, especially in lighter winds.

arkay - 28-9-2010 at 08:45 PM

http://www.coastalwindsports.com/FoilFixedBridleControlBar.j...

acampbell - 29-9-2010 at 06:50 AM

Even hooked up right, a Twister on a bar is tricky and this will be especially be true in light wind. It will be a slug unless the brake tension is just right and even then not as crisp as other kites on a bar.

jzh797s - 29-9-2010 at 08:07 AM

This guide, http://www.peterlynnproducts.com/pdf/4pkbarclassicman.pdf , which came w/ the kite shows the outside lines hooked to the bottom of the kite.

Ill give it a try putting the thicker lines on the top and thinner on the bottom.

acampbell - 29-9-2010 at 08:34 AM

Huh, you are right if you have the Power Kite bar "Classic", but normally the Twister II bar version ships with the "standard" powerkite bar which is why we responded as we did. I have no experience with the classic bar, but looks like it should work as advertised. I would still suspect you had too much brake tension and were choking the kite in light wind. If you grab the center lines (top/ power) and give it a yank and the kite surges to fly a bit, then it confirms the brakes were too tight.

markite - 29-9-2010 at 09:07 AM

With most quad line foils you can even start by only attaching top lines (no brake lines at all) and the kite will fly as a two line foil. The downside is no brake ability and you would need to fly it to the side to land it.
With the classic bar set up there is no chicken loop to adjust range of tension on bottom lines in flight so the brake lines need to be a hair on the lighter side - even a bit slack for it to fly.

Never used the classic bar either but I'd be really tempted to switch it around to have the power lines on the outside of the bar so you get a better steering range since the kite is already essentially flying as a two line foil until you pull the brake for landing. Which also makes me think you could then run the brakes off the kite to a Y and a single line down to the safety.
Sorry- a lot of that is getting too far ahead of your simple problem.

bobalooie57 - 29-9-2010 at 09:14 AM

I can see why he is confused, if you look at the PDF he links to, the text section on "Attaching your flying lines" doesn't match the pictures in the file... ooopsie!

acampbell - 29-9-2010 at 09:27 AM

You are right- I missed it. The text under "Attaching your flying lines" is for the standard power kite bar, as it refers to a pulley that is not there on the "Classic".

DAKITEZ - 29-9-2010 at 09:45 AM

are you sure you have the classic? Did you get the kite new? If so I don't think they have made that classic bar for some time now. I could be wrong.

Edit: they still make the classic, but it is not as good as the standard PL bar for the twister. The design of the classic is to have the trailing edge lines to the out side of the bar. If you did buy this new and the shop sold you a classic they put a little extra money in their pocket because the classic is a cheaper bar. I would send the bar back and get the standard bar. The classic is going to be extra horrible on that kite.

jzh797s - 29-9-2010 at 10:58 AM

Yeah, it's the classic. Big Mike bundled it w/ my purchase. He told me that PL recommends that the classic be used w/ the Twister while the standard be used for the Hornet.

Bladerunner - 29-9-2010 at 04:26 PM

Do you have a strong reason for prefering to go with a bar?

I spent a lot of time flying all sorts of FB kites on all sorts of bars. Even the kites I liked on a bar flew much MUCH better on handles.

In low winds with a 3m I found that the tiny bit of extra weight that was the strap and pulley would play on my brakes and cause a few problems. When the wind picked up the problems went away but the fine control of handles wasn't there.

My only experience with the twister on a bar was the 7m and I hated it! Good kite on handles though.

jzh797s - 29-9-2010 at 05:40 PM

This kite is my trainer so I can get into the water with a bigger kite next summer.

BigMikesKites - 29-9-2010 at 08:35 PM

The classic bar does better with kites that want just a bit of brake on the turns. I like it better than the standard.

The first thing I told Zach was 'You won't like it with a bar' but insisted on a bar. Handles went with it and repeatedly I have told him to 'learn on handles first'.

You will get there. Do the handles bit first. Then tinker with the bar.

acampbell - 30-9-2010 at 05:30 AM

Good to know Mike; now we all learn something. I'll take a 2nd look at the Classic bar. I've gone as far as un-listing the Twister II bar combo as an option on my site.

Bladerunner - 30-9-2010 at 05:41 AM

So .... your problem sounds the same as I had with a 3m on a bar.

More wind and that bit of brake play will not be noticed.

While flying with a bar feels good for one handed flying etc. you can hook in and play with the brakes to better get a feel for what and why a depower kite is doing.

BOTH are valuable moving forward to depower. Handle offer MUCH more in the way of learning brake action etc. making you a better flyer!

jzh797s - 30-9-2010 at 07:13 AM

Ill give all of these suggestions a try.

Thank you everyone for all of your help and I would like to thank Mike of Big Mikes Kites. He has been MORE than helpful with everything from picking a kite to the purchase to support. This is an extremely helpful and friendly community!

BigMikesKites - 30-9-2010 at 08:00 PM

I don't list bars either Angus. I have a couple on hand as some people insist. But I always send them handles as well as I know what a difference they can make.

The bars are... well...bars.

Enjoy Zach. Do the handle thing. Try the bar. You will see where we are coming from.