Power Kite Forum

Gusty Conditions

crazymanme2 - 20-6-2012 at 11:51 AM

The place I fly is a mowed soccer field.The winds can be 20
mph gusting to 35.Is there any special way to deal with the gust?(I'm flying my Pepper 20 m lines)
Last night the winds where around 12 & I was flying the Viper.All of a sudden in a turn I get hit with a pretty good gust which spins me sideways with the kite powered up.The kite is 90 degrees to me now still powered up & precedes to pull me & the buggy upside down.It was all sort of slow motion.Nothing happened to me but I would like to know what I may be doing wrong if anything.
For me I feel more comfortable with 20 + winds with my Pepper than 12 mph winds with my Viper.
All info appreciated.

Thanks Craig

awindofchange - 20-6-2012 at 12:08 PM

You are not doing anything wrong, the winds are just being difficult. With gusty conditions, anything can happen.

Suggestions.....

1) I would first suggest finding another place to fly that has better winds. That's kind of obvious but hey....first suggestion. :)

2) If this is your ONLY place to fly, I would probably suggest some shorter lines, something in the 15m length of even less. What this does is allow you to fly the kite hard to make power, but when the gusts come up, it makes the kite shoot to the edge of the window exceptionally fast, taking the kite out of the power quicker. You end up working the kite much more often during the lulls but it is so much easier to handle the crazy winds. With the longer lines, if the kite is in the middle of the power window when the gust hits, you get yanked for what seems like forever as the kite moves forward out towards the edge. Same scenario with short lines: The kite rockets towards the edge much quicker, your kite spends less time in the power zone so you get a hard burst of power but instead of the power building and increasing as the kite moves through the window, the power actually starts to decrease because the kite reaches the edge before it can pick up a ton of speed.

Without experiencing your area and conditions personally, it is hard to say what will or will not work, but that would be my suggestions.

Hope this helps.

kitemaker4 - 20-6-2012 at 12:14 PM

Nasa wings in gusty winds have worked for me for about 6 years now.

Susan (npw goddess)

John Holgate - 20-6-2012 at 03:28 PM

I can sympathize - I live on a 40 acre farm 2 hours from the coast. Sometimes the wind can be so gusty, flying becomes terribly difficult and frustrating. On the few occasions I've tried flying my Ozone Methods in gusty conditions, the kite will shoot across the window in gust - with me going sideways in the buggy - then collapse in the following lull. Hot gusty winds in summer can be worthless to fly in at times.

The only thing I can do is watch the trees. If they're bent over in the wind, but not moving back and forth, then that indicates a nice steady wind. If the trees are wildly moving back and forth, then it's really gusty and I don't even try to fly.

Inland, I will usually put up my Apex II 5m or 7.5m depower kites - they do a much better job of smoothing out the gusts than a fixed bridle. I've also been flying the Nasa Star 2's recently (a slight variation on a nasa wing) and have to agree with Susan that they do indeed handle gusty conditions and especially lulls much better than my foils.

Bladerunner - 20-6-2012 at 04:57 PM

+1 for trying shorter lines.

If you aren't flying on handles , do so.

crazymanme2 - 20-6-2012 at 07:17 PM

I really appreciate all those that gave your input on my situation. :thumbup:

This field is my only option at this time.Trying to finish up a buggy for the beach which will have much smoother winds.

I will order myself a short set of lines & put them on a new set of handles I'm making.It makes sense what you say about shorter lines.

Right now I don't see myself buying another kite so I will patiently sit out these gusty conditions so I will be in 1 piece to fly another day. :singing:

Smooth winds to all :wee:

snowspider - 20-6-2012 at 07:29 PM

I fly all my Vipers on short lines the 6.8 is on appox 15m lines. I had'nt thought about how it might improve gusty handling because Vipers are not my choice of kite in gusty conditions. On short lines though they do handle like they are on a long stick, its a different kind of flying that I've gotten used to in the buggy. In gusty conditions I'm usually running a size smaller Viper than I would really like to but it cuts down on getting whacked. If you are down wind of trees or buildings its doable but it complicates things.

crazymanme2 - 20-6-2012 at 07:59 PM

I understand the reaction the wind gets when coming over trees & buildings,yes I'm dealing with that also.You see my options for kites & its either the Pepper or the Viper in these conditions for me at my flying level.As you stated one minute your going like H__ & the next the kite's falling out of the sky_no wind.The shorter lines I'm sure will help alot.

Thanks :yes:

Scudley - 21-6-2012 at 09:49 AM

Pretty hard to fly wind the when is 20 gusting to 35. If your kite is delivering 1 BHP at 20, at 35 it will deliver 5.4 BHP. (The power of wind is proportional to the cube of its speed.)
Shorter lines might help a bit, staying home in those conditions will keep you a lot safer (esp. if you are on a small field and have turns you have to make.)
S