Power Kite Forum - how big is your kite park

how big is your kite park

shaggs2riches - 24-5-2013 at 05:44 PM

For no real reason other than a bit of curiosity. I have kited on some pretty small parks, in attempt to keep my kiting fix satisfied. I was just reading that Essex park is 22acres. Made me wonder what others get to kite on. I am horrible at judging what is and isn't an acre. So I got to wondering how much space in terms of acres per kiter makes a feasible kite park. For me I won't launch unless I have 3-4 kites length in front of me and the longer the better.

soliver - 24-5-2013 at 06:22 PM

My favorite parks can't be more than 2-4 acres... Though like you, I'm a poor judge of an what an acre looks like.

Kevin's and my favorite spot in the Atlanta area:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&cid=526026775560863...

The big open spot on the Far East spot is rideable in norther, western, and southern winds, but there is only a portion of it that can be ridden due to hills, wind blocking trees and other people.

3shot - 24-5-2013 at 07:11 PM

If it wasn't for small areas, I'd have no place to ride without lenghty drives. As ya'll see in every pic of mine, it's the same smallish field :embarrased:.
BUT, it does get my kites in the air. That is better than nothing. Approx 6 acres? About 2 football fields long, 1+1/2 football fields deep. Any wind out of the N/W,W, S/W and I'm good. S/W is optimum though.

BeamerBob - 24-5-2013 at 07:59 PM

Ok don't hate me. Ivanpah is approximately 1.5 miles X 6 miles. Our usual run is probably 2 miles or a little longer.

lunchbox - 24-5-2013 at 10:03 PM

I kite in a dirt field that is probably 150yds long and maybe 50yds wide. It's good in a S or SSE wind.

The surface is like concrete and makes for excellent long power slides. So far my max speed is 27.6mph before I have to 'slam on the breaks'...hoping to hit 30mph one day.

I usually go there during my lunch hour and it's a godsend for me as work can get really hectic sometimes and it makes for such a great outlet!

hellnferno - 24-5-2013 at 10:12 PM

There is a BIG field (5-8 acres) at campus that will be my primary location for landboarding once I move into apartment.

My family's home have a nice backyard which is flyable. There is two out of three parks in town that I can landboard with right wind direction.

csa_deadon - 24-5-2013 at 11:07 PM

No worries Bob we don't hate you! Alvord is approximately only 84 square miles with a 6 mile run to the eastern base camp. :P

shaggs2riches - 25-5-2013 at 07:57 AM

Man I think I need to move just for a bigger kite field.

erratic winds - 25-5-2013 at 08:05 AM

listed in order of closest to me to farther away..

2 soccer/football/lacrosse fields, trees make it unusable with 90% of wind direction, can only fly when it's SSE.
3 soccer/football/lacrosse fields, trees make it unusable with 40% of wind direction, can't fly when it's NNE/NE/E.
8 soccer/football/lacrosse fields, mountains prevent use with any westerly wind.
14 soccer/football/lacrosse fields, trees/hills make S/SE/SW bit of a pain. (Dove Valley - 30 acres)

hiaguy - 25-5-2013 at 03:39 PM

i've got about 14 useable acres of mixed soccer fields and long grassy areas. as long as i watch out for the goal posts it's not too bad:
http://goo.gl/maps/D4qIS
best with a W to NW, S to SW works too, but wherever it comes from, it's always gusty.

3shot - 25-5-2013 at 05:56 PM

Aerial view of my field:

http://goo.gl/maps/ZR3wZ

When the wind is a perfect direction of S/W, that front stretch of dirt track is AWESOME. That's the famous blue shed in the back of the field in most of my pics in the above map link. It's a small field, but it works. Gets a little hairy when you are clipping pretty good then must jibe really fast (need a wider axle)....:wee: Not quite enough runway LOL.

Hit it for a short spin today (today's pic ^). The winds were N/W 15-20. The 30mph gusts were just to much though. Oh yea, some kite killers were great today. Overall was just too much trouble though

. Went home and had a beer :smilegrin:

.

Love seeing you guy's kite parks. Please keep this thread rolling :thumbup:

macboy - 25-5-2013 at 08:41 PM

Here's the new hopeful spot for me (right across the street from the new house). Looks good from above but on the ground it's just a soccer field, a baseball diamond and surrounded by homes - so pretty dirty wind most likely. I guess I'll get a lot of work on my short game :lol:

Still....not a bad commute ; )

New Digs

canuck - 25-5-2013 at 09:07 PM

hey macboy, congrats on the new house! The new field looks interesting.

djinnzfree - 26-5-2013 at 04:56 AM

It's a park dedicated to kite. There is an acces direct to the st-laurence river for kitesurf, they mowed the grass each week.
This is the Summer spot (big green rectangle) for kitebuggy near Montreal. Named "Parc de la Commune" in Varennes town.

thanks to google map for the picture.

KAZEDOKA - 26-5-2013 at 07:06 AM

Balloon Fiesta Park, 47 acres of manicured grass with intersecting black top runways. All wind directions sailable.
visit and enjoy.

canuck - 26-5-2013 at 08:55 AM

I use 3 sports fields within 10 min. of home. 6 to 13 acres but lots of trees and goalposts cut down usable area . I hear that am going to loose one or two of them to new schools next year :sniff:

Google maps

pokitetrash - 26-5-2013 at 12:25 PM

OOBE FIELD! Beech Island, SC.

Dunno, I guess about 50 acres or so? Anyone whos ridden there can probably give it a better estimate.

BeamerBob - 26-5-2013 at 06:00 PM

Quote: Originally posted by csa_deadon

No worries Bob we don't hate you! Alvord is approximately only 84 square miles with a 6 mile run to the eastern base camp. :P

Hard for anyone to call Alvord local! I can be at Ivanpah in 40 minutes. Now you hate me?

MDK - 26-5-2013 at 09:16 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Quote: Originally posted by csa_deadon

No worries Bob we don't hate you! Alvord is approximately only 84 square miles with a 6 mile run to the eastern base camp. :P

Hard for anyone to call Alvord local! I can be at Ivanpah in 40 minutes. Now you hate me?

I am working to become a little more local to my local spot

shaggs2riches - 26-5-2013 at 09:39 PM

Green with envy.. I guess till winter when I have endless space to kite. Except there seems to be no wind in the winter.

Gotta get the kite cam out next time and get some overhead shots.

csa_deadon - 26-5-2013 at 11:28 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Quote: Originally posted by csa_deadon

No worries Bob we don't hate you! Alvord is approximately only 84 square miles with a 6 mile run to the eastern base camp. :P

Hard for anyone to call Alvord local! I can be at Ivanpah in 40 minutes. Now you hate me?

When it's only 7 hours vs 18 hours, and you get to drive through some of the most beautiful country around. Who cares if it's local!

Still don't hate you Bob.

BeamerBob - 27-5-2013 at 06:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by csa_deadon

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Quote: Originally posted by csa_deadon

No worries Bob we don't hate you! Alvord is approximately only 84 square miles with a 6 mile run to the eastern base camp. :P

Hard for anyone to call Alvord local! I can be at Ivanpah in 40 minutes. Now you hate me?

When it's only 7 hours vs 18 hours, and you get to drive through some of the most beautiful country around. Who cares if it's local!

Still don't hate you Bob.

Ok! Gave it my best shot. Buddies it is!

ChrisH - 28-5-2013 at 06:26 PM

Depends for me....I fly at Sunset Beach more than anywhere else and our runs can be from a hundred yards or smaller up to around 12 miles. I have yet to make a full 12 mile run out there but there have been some 6-7-8 mile runs.

dangarlandut1 - 28-5-2013 at 08:13 PM

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah!!

Home of all types of vechiles - Major World Land Speed Records.

12 Miles Long, 5 Miles Wide, smooth as glass!

30,000 Acres!! Close to Home.

Proof: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_lake/recreation/bonnevil...

Feyd - 29-5-2013 at 04:06 AM

Summer time locally we have about 6 acres.

In the winter our smallest regular local lake is 700 acres our biggest (local being within 40 minutes) is 45,467 acres.

With almost 300 islands it's pretty easy to get lost without a map/GPS/compass. But the touring is excellent when the conditions are right. :D

Up North Moosehead, is over 75,000 acres but it's a 3.5 hr drive.

Sier_Pinski - 29-5-2013 at 06:53 AM

Outside of Galveston, I have two major parks I landboard in.

The first is here, and it's a little under 1000 feet in diameter.

The second is here, and while it seems bigger, it's littered with trees and lampposts, so I only use up a small part of the soccer field along with the big grassy field to the left.

van - 29-5-2013 at 07:26 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Sier_Pinski

Outside of Galveston, I have two major parks I landboard in.

The first is here, and it's a little under 1000 feet in diameter.

The second is here, and while it seems bigger, it's littered with trees and lampposts, so I only use up a small part of the soccer field along with the big grassy field to the left.

The first spot , sugarland memorial park, is bumpy and the wind coming off the trees and houses are unrideable. I got lifted a few times because of the gust.

The second spot, I rode there .. the local cops don't understand buggies so have told me to leave since they think its motorized. They can't find the motor but to be on the safe side, they still think I'm riding a 3 wheel ATV dragging a kite along so I have to leave.

Why even bother with these parks when you have Surfside Beach??? Easy 10 mile runs with onshore winds.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=29.034859,-95.174217&hl=e...

BeamerBob - 29-5-2013 at 08:22 AM

Quote: Originally posted by van

They can't find the motor but to be on the safe side, they still think I'm riding a 3 wheel ATV dragging a kite along so I have to leave.

That's funny. Reminds me when one of us was asked how fast we have to get the buggy to fly the kite.

Cheddarhead - 29-5-2013 at 06:53 PM

Quote: Originally posted by dangarlandut1

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah!!

Home of all types of vechiles - Major World Land Speed Records.

12 Miles Long, 5 Miles Wide, smooth as glass!

30,000 Acres!! Close to Home.

Proof: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/salt_lake/recreation/bonnevil...

How ironic, me and the wifey were in Wendover this past weekend. I had many wimpers as we flew over the flats

3shot - 2-6-2013 at 05:55 PM

post moved..

Cerebite - 2-6-2013 at 06:01 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Quote: Originally posted by van

They can't find the motor but to be on the safe side, they still think I'm riding a 3 wheel ATV dragging a kite along so I have to leave.

That's funny. Reminds me when one of us was asked how fast we have to get the buggy to fly the kite.

I was accused of this on Friday
park ranger [pr]- "you will have to leave with that [pointing at buggy], it is against the park regulations"
me -"sorry but no it isnt, I have checked the regulations and they state "no flying objects except kites and frisbees" and that is a kite"
pr -"oh yea the kite is fine, the powered buggy is not"
me -"the kite is the buggies power"
pr -"you mean it is not gas or electric?"
me -"nope"
pr -"let me check with the senior ranger" calls someone on the radio, repeats the above conversation "ok I guess you can do that, let me take a picture as I have never seen one of those before.."
I find it odd that I have flown at that park once or twice a week for the last three years, with the buggy out probably 75% of the time but she has never seen one. I guess we should take it as a compliment that we are moving where we want to the extent that people think/ assume that the buggy must be pulling the kite instead of the other way around.

To get back to field size this field [Stapleton Central Park] is about 450 m by 150 meters. I did 11.5 km on it Friday, in 100m passes :P :lol:

djinnzfree - 3-6-2013 at 03:07 AM

You should teach her "how to".... It's a good thing to got park ranger on our side! :cool:

rtz - 3-6-2013 at 09:38 PM

This is where we ride.

If we get a west wind(rare). I've only ridden this twice:

Those are old pics showing the low lake level. It's about a 1/2' more then full now. Looks real nice.

http://locations.splocs.com/landkite/loc/Hefner_kite_field.h...

kiteballoon - 3-6-2013 at 10:12 PM

don't just guess, use this link to get crazy specific, hehe.

http://acme.com/planimeter/

that said i believe the field pbc and i are graced with is about 3 acres of which about half contains various trees buildings and baseball backstops ,-) you take what you can get! the closest beach at st augustine however is 6 miles of pure awesome. its just 2 hrs away is all.

tridude - 4-6-2013 at 01:56 AM

starts at the shoreline and extends to Europe.............Bermuda kinda gets in the way but is easily navigated...............