Purely Luck - 20-12-2012 at 01:07 PM
Hello,
Do foil kites fly well in the rain?
We have a nice windy rainstorm storm passing over and I thought I may take my small trainer kite out and mess around with it.
(don't worry, there's no lightning)
Will a foil kite absorb the rain and turn into a hot mess or will it fly decently well. I have a rush 2.5m.
abkayak - 20-12-2012 at 01:11 PM
Not really worth it.......but i understand, you have fun.
BEC - 20-12-2012 at 01:27 PM
I have flown in a heavy fog to the point that the kite was completely drenched when I finally landed it..I will say that it was much heavier and I
could feel that it was not flying well (and that was heavy fog). I would think a complete rain storm unless winds were extremely strong that flight
wouldn't be so great but....Hey if there isn't any lightning and you only have to pack up a sandy wet 2.5 (instead of a 12m) then give it a try.
It's little person lessons like this when you figure out when and when you don't want to go out....kinda like driving down the road 12 miles thinking
there is wind "There" , because it's not in your home field. haha
andy666 - 20-12-2012 at 05:47 PM
I often fly through rain showers and find that if I keep the kite in the air moving its all good. But if I land and try to relaunch its a nightmare
because of the extra weight in the kite.
Bladerunner - 20-12-2012 at 09:28 PM
Like andy666 says. Accept I rarely do it anymore.
It is amazing how fast you can " fly it dry " if the rain stops !
Then you land it and it gets wet again. :dunno:
Kober - 20-12-2012 at 11:17 PM
As andy666 ....
I am sure that if you keep stationary or on ground for longer time weight increases so much that would be impossible to fly it ....
I done rain session few times and its nothing pleasant if you do land activities .....
Totally different if using LEI and riding water .... you wet anyhow .... summer rain keep you cool...
Would I do rain session on land again ??? If I am at the spot and starts raining I will go for it ... ( unless its raining a lot ) .... If I need
to drive to session and its raining all time I would stay home ...
For kiteboarding.... as long its worm I will go for session in rain .... not in winter .....
bigkid - 21-12-2012 at 08:18 AM
Funny this came up, YES YOU CAN FLY IN THE RAIN.
2 things I would like to mention.
1, the use of kite refit with 2 coats front and back will allow you to fly in the rain.
2, the PKD Buster Soulfly's are made with Polyester material and they fly quite well with out any waterproofing at all.
REMEMBER TO KEEP THE DIRT OUTS OPEN WHILE FLYING.
I was out yesterday with some nasty wind and cold rain to try out a new mount for the GoPro that connects at the larks head and will hang correctly
during all of the fly time. The mount needs a bit of work but it was fun with the kite. Going from one side to the other through the window and a
couple of shakes of the kite and the water pours out of the dirt out, kind of cool looking.
And No I don't have any of this on video yet.
powerzone - 21-12-2012 at 10:10 AM
ya we do it all the time.... some of the best kite sessions have been in storms.
Scudley - 21-12-2012 at 01:23 PM
Most foils work fine in the rain; cloth ones not so good.
S
erratic winds - 21-12-2012 at 01:25 PM
It's incredibly rare for me to get rain without lightning, so I don't get a chance to fly in it!
rpriegu - 28-12-2012 at 01:39 PM
I haven't fly under the rain, but I have flown my PKD Buster soaked (after some swimming in the sea) and it did flew without too much problem. I felt
it heavier and a little slower than usual but not big deal.
Of course being wet, it was more difficult to launch, but since there was a plenty of wind, it wasn't that difficult neither.
Moving the kite all the time helped to get it dry soon (and started flying as usual).
Ramiro