Power Kite Forum

Basic questions for someone just attempting to get on the board.

Acro flirturtle - 7-9-2011 at 04:43 AM

Hi Guys,

Firstly i apolagize if any of my questions can be answered via a simple well known website. i Have no contact with anybody who deos this and therefor no real knoalge of good websites.

I will mention that i am not a complete beginner in kitting sports as i have been flying paragliders for 5 years.

Ive just braught a 4.5 m kite and board form decathlon :(. I know not the best of brands but i was convinced that for a start it would be good anough.

Questions
flying the kite with the bar from tribord my kite really tends to fly backwards after a little reasearch i trimmed the lines and made my back lines a lot lot longer untill this did not happen anymore. but i am still finding that in some winds it still tends to stall and fly back or in strong winds it overshoots causing a frontal collapse. any help?

Second i have troble getting goin on the board the kite flys to fast to the edge of the window were it no longer pulls?

Can somebody let me know the min space required to learn as in the current field i have a little troble as its is a huge x in a forrest and if the wing dives past the treeline i have little wind ( logical), and the center of the x ix not so big so its hard to do smooth runs acroos the wind i would normally have to do lots of down wind runs making it very hard to learn . I live in Belgium Humbeek. so the beach is for the weekend it would be cool to have a place close for after work.
I am thinking about buying a few Twisters from peter lynn in a few sizes to have more of a advantage against the wind.
Would anybody recomend me some must buy equipment to serisly get going in this sport. i dont want to become world class as im busy with attempting that in gliding but i would def like to learn how to jump and involve my self in the freestyle side of things.

would be great if somebody could also farward me some great pages to chech out the sports vocabulary as it can get confusing when you see that a page is saying to start with beam reaches and not broad reches and sines ect..... also some advise while learning like a training plan or something would be hugly appreciated.

Regards people

and thanks for any replys in advance

Flys a rolling 22 with a supair acro 3 with 2 PDA ultralights
uses a 4.5 m tribord on bar

bobalooie57 - 7-9-2011 at 06:33 AM

Hi Acro, and welcome to the forum. Although this tutorial was produced with the buggy in mind, it has a wealth of useful information.
http://www.coastalwindsports.com/BetterBuggyBasics.html#4
I'm not familiar with your kite, but it sounds like the wind you are flying in may be contributing to your problem. Have you experienced the same problem in smooth beach wind? If not, then maybe a longer line set, to get you above the treeline and keep you there, might be a relatively inexpensive fix to your problem.

Kamikuza - 7-9-2011 at 06:34 AM

Welcome to the site! And the sport!

Trimming the lines is a good start. Do you understand why?

Also, kites have a wind range they 'worS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K- in ... too light, they fly backwards. Too much, they shoot forwards. Your skills and experience, and different hardware (handles vs. bar) will contribute to how well the kite flies ...

This comes under skills ... "working" or "sining" the kite (sending it up and diving it down) keeps the power on. Sending it up and down at the edge of the window makes the power.

A perfect flying spot for landboarding would have the wind coming directly onto it eg. you ride perpendicular to the wind; be mile and miles long; have a smooth but marginally hard packed surface and be totally empty except for you. If you're trying to ride in funny wind directions (downwind or upwind) you'll have a hard time.

You've got a kite, you've got a board ... do you have protection? Body armour of any sort?

Evenutally, for your goals, you'll either spend thousands of dollars of depower foils, harnesses and boards or ... totally give up. There's quite a time and financial involvement in this sport - if it gets into your blood and under your skin ;)

Start here - http://www.coastalwindsports.com/TutorialMenu.Html

Kamikuza - 7-9-2011 at 06:35 AM

Snap!

Acro flirturtle - 8-9-2011 at 12:45 AM

Thanks for the fast reply’s guys and also for the helpful links I will go read through later this week.
Here is the equipment I fly KITE http://www.tribord.com/EN/pw-4-5-32563633/
BAR http://www.tribord.com/EN/4-line-handle-32563608/
Board http://www.powerkiteshop.com/boards/eolork1.htm
I way Around 70kgs

As for the longer line set to be honest yes the location isn’t the best I think I should spend a good tank of fuel rooming for another location close to home. with a little insight using Google earth it should not be that hard.

As I fly high performance gliders I know the importance of angle of attack . Although I have just added a simple piece of glider line with simple knots to adjust line length.( simplest idea I had) and I do not spend any time playing with the trim I just have it set to maximum length for rear lines. 7in longer than my A lines.

For a while I thought my kite would not fly on the bar I had because if I fly it on the attachment points that it comes with the wing does not even launch. T hats why I added some length to the rear lines . Its must to spend more time trimming before I get on the board it makes it a lot harder to learn during frontal collapses ect ect....

Protection I have my helmet good thing as well I took a hard crash the other day to the head ;).I have no body armor though. I am not sure if its needed. I will think about shin and knee pads though. :)


I am aware that if I get too hooked I will end up investing in a lot of kites. I want to limit myself but I am looking at prices to get a set of Twisters11r 3M , 5.6M, 7.7M
Would this kite and these sizes allow me to grow in to them, learn to jump, cover a wide range of wind ranges ect....
I do not want to fully dedicate myself with d power ect as I am spending an already fortune on acrobatic gliders.

Can somebody look at my current set up and give me an insight how to make it as best as possible.

Again many thanks for the warm welcome in to this great sport.

Acro