Power Kite Forum

v13 querries

kitedelight - 14-3-2011 at 04:27 PM

Hey all,

So, got a much longer and better ride on my newly acquired V13. Up and down mountain conditions, pretty gusty and strong at times. I think i am getting the hang of solo launching finally, but have a few questions.

Any tips on relaunching after a big lull? It always seems to go downwind folded in 2, when the wind picks up again it looks like it should relaunch like I see in the videos, then the lower side leading edge goes up, then, viola, twists and bowties. Happened 3 times yesterday alone during lulls. I had the luck to relaunch once correctly, but it seemed luck of the draw that it worked. Any technique to this?

Also, can hardly reach the trimmer when it is set to full power, and I am not a short guy. Is this normal?

Bladerunner - 14-3-2011 at 04:46 PM

When the kite is laying folded make sure the bottom is pulled toward you and the top is sitting back. Then I tug both front lines hard. Pause. Back lines if needed. Repeat. I can sometimes get away with tug, repeat with even tips but if top tip is closest it's a no go.

The only time I get the bottom flipping into bow tie on launch / relaunch is if it is underinflated and I don't get on the back lines after the tug or I try to fly it under inflated.

I have to stop and take advantage of auto zenith to adjust trim. :ticking:

I have taken to laying a little bit of snow on the folded tip for original take off .

Seanny - 14-3-2011 at 05:11 PM

No matter how you look at it, this kite is a pain in the a$$ to solo launch. There's only so much you can do. Some things to make it a little easier, are put BOTH the front and rear lines in the downwind launch assist - that kind of helps to prevent the lines from going beneath the kite (but it still happens anyway). If you ever happen to nose dive the kite, let the lines go slack and allow the kite to invert itself (so the top skin is facing you), the let it invert itself one more time, and it will be right side up. Then just hot launch it. Bow ties are sometimes fixable from the bar, but often times not. It just depends on where it lands in relation to the wind direction. Anything else?

g-force junkie - 14-3-2011 at 05:40 PM

kitedelight,
If the kite ends up in taco position during a lull thats your best scenario, straight downwind and taco, wait, when the time is right, gust or increase in wind, ski to the opposite side of the leading edge while keeping slight tension on the lines as you reach about 45 degrees then pull front lines to rotate kite crosswind and it will catch wind and go up the edge, at least thats what I do. In light wind you can see that the kite is coming down so I will just backstall it onto the trailing edge and wait till it will relaunch again on the front lines.

Bladerunner - 15-3-2011 at 07:01 AM

OOPS , forgot to mention setting at 45' . Important.

kitedelight - 15-3-2011 at 10:10 AM

hey all, thanks for the input.

Bladerunner, nice. i'll try getting the bottom side closer to me, and see how that helps.
regarding the last post is that putting myself 45 degrees to the kite?
that will be a bit of an issue cause I an on a board, not on skis.

Seanny, thanks for the nose dive tip, i'll find that useful with the landboard when I can jump off my board and slack the lines. is there a tip for the snow when you can't move forward to slack the lines?
ya know, after a bit more practice, the initial launch is getting MUCH better for me, its just the relaunch thing.

hey g-force, ya, 45 degrees seems best but I am on a board, not so easy. still looking for a way to keep my board on and relaunch. Good call, I was getting caught with the kite luffing because I was flying it like my foil. I did manage to change things up and the last lull I caught it so it didn't luff, got it back to the center of the window, and it backstalled to the ground.

---
in general though, I was thinking that guys on the water don't have the luxury to move 45 degrees to the kite. what do they do to relaunch, the videos make it look do easy.

is there any tips to get it up without moving 45 degrees?

macboy - 15-3-2011 at 03:28 PM

From my limited experience with the kites on the water I've found that chances are if I'm on the water the wind is UP high enough that it'll darn near un-taco and relaunch itself no problem. Lulls? No lulls with the wind up that high (20km/h plus and then sized accordingly).

I've also found that since I fly a little more powered on the water than I would on snow that the kite rarely has to be worked down deep into the powerzone so it rarely crashes (good wind = good auto zenith).

As far as launching - I'd agree that they are tricky to get the hang of but once you've got the system that works for you I'd say they are far from a pain in the rear to launch*. I only say that because of my quiver of LEIs that I sold without even really flying because they were a true pain to launch solo despite claims it COULD be done.

Don't launch underinflated. Don't try to launch in not enough wind. Keep an eye on your lines at all times when you are on the last few step of the launch. I hold the downwind lines lightly to keep just a hair of tension on them as I go back to the bar, pick up the bar and launch - this keeps the lines above the kite and ready to go.

*Disclaimer - The Access, Frenzy and Speed are all the easiest to launch and hands down qualify as WAYYYY easier than any Arc.

The invert thing will be tricky on a snowboard but if you have long arms (which you do) and are nimble enough to hop froward a few feet you should be able to lean/stretch forward, reach up, grab as much line as you can, yank back while leaning back thereby getting hte most line pulled in as possible, then let go and hop, hop, hop, hop as best as you can. It doesn't take a lot. I have a vid posted. I'll find it.

Seanny - 15-3-2011 at 03:33 PM

Sorry to hijack, but what is it that makes an LEI so difficult to solo launch? I would think that with their rigid structure, you could stand them up on their trailing edge and just hot launch them foil style...

macboy - 15-3-2011 at 03:35 PM

Epic lulls at :48, 1:24 (complete invert, flip and relaunch), 1:52 (dangling leash line :o ), 2:33 (invert, taco, crash, flip and relaunch).

THAT was a sucky day. Right a the bottom end of the Phantom's range (especially noticeable right near the end).

macboy - 15-3-2011 at 03:38 PM

The new ones are OK. You can hook them down to the ground, walk out and set them up at the edge of the window (as if someone was holding it for launch) and launch yourself. The ones I had were a bit of a different breed (older models) and the suggestion was to fold a wingtip and weight down to launch. I just didn't have the b@ll$ to try it, nor the unlimited supply of sand that the suggestors had available.

Seanny - 15-3-2011 at 03:55 PM

:o THE HORROR!!

Ha, you did a great job though macboy :)

Very nice video :thumbup:

Bladerunner - 15-3-2011 at 04:31 PM

I don't know for newer kites but I know that swimming while coaxing the kite to 45' is required for my old C kites in water. ( if I could ever get it to roll over) Same with arcs I expect ?

Mac is right though. You will be more powered in water . Less likely to crash + better wind for relaunch.

Sorry I neglected to mention that. It is sort of a given with arcs. Sometimes you can luck out pulling front lines taco from downwind but the odds get better the farther you get to the side.

kitedelight - 16-3-2011 at 10:15 AM

k, looks like up have to master the board hop to get 45 degrees to the kite. :)

thanks for the vid macboy. yes, having somethind else to compare it to makes me appreciate the easy launch of my foil, that's for sure.

Seanny, lots of guys around here use lei kites for snowkiting, 50-50 foil to lei ratio some days. Looks like they actually leave the kite leading edge down, back of canopy facing the wind until they ready. a few tugs on the lines turns the kite around, flips it on its side, and they launch. Seems kinda scary to watch knowing how fast they can fly. But, it obviously works cause its the rare person around here that gets an assisted launch or landing.

kitedelight - 17-3-2011 at 02:55 PM

by the way, do any bridle mods for the venom exist (ie, putting pulley's on?)

Also, the system on the charger is pretty sweet where the front lines come together, is there a way to do this on older arcs without purchasing the new bar?

BeamerBob - 17-3-2011 at 03:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bladerunner
I don't know for newer kites but I know that swimming while coaxing the kite to 45' is required for my old C kites in water. ( if I could ever get it to roll over) Same with arcs I expect ?

Mac is right though. You will be more powered in water . Less likely to crash + better wind for relaunch.

Sorry I neglected to mention that. It is sort of a given with arcs. Sometimes you can luck out pulling front lines taco from downwind but the odds get better the farther you get to the side.


If you do crash an arc on the water, usually a quick tug on the center lines will snatch it open and it just cruises back up to zenith. If that doesn't work, tugging various lines to get it back to the taco position enables you to then launch by tugging the centers. No swim to 45 necessary.