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Windsleds

pstkk - 17-11-2015 at 11:26 PM

Are you looking for Christmas list ideas? How about a windsled. Perfect for casual circumnavigation of polar ice sheets.

Just thought it was interesting and worth posting here. More info: http://greenland.net/windsled/

Randy - 18-11-2015 at 06:59 AM

Interesting setup with the control lines. The lines are gathered up in the middle and spread out at the sled and at the kite.

abkayak - 18-11-2015 at 07:17 AM

omg...the npw guys are gonna love this
cant wait for pics of one of these going thru Indy

Feyd - 18-11-2015 at 07:22 AM

HAHAHA That is insane. Wow! If you had described this to me I never would have believed it. Pretty awesome.

skimtwashington - 18-11-2015 at 07:27 AM

Too fantastic....!

I'v never seen such ambitious use of the wind as an engine for hauingl/driving any craft.

How easy is it to launch a 120 m kite,,,and even though a single skin Nasa-how small does a '120' pack down to?

75-500m lines! Uh..oh..a twist!

Can you redirect and boost you and the module..?! Jump the crevasse!

120m,100m, 50m...?..okay.

..But the 3m(usually a good starter and high wind engine)...is mot gonna be able to pull several tons... or if so... what wind? 150mph polar storm winds?

Misspelled NPW as NWP in 1st pic

Need to see video. also...very few pics of kite flying in 'Diary' section.

Seems all too fantastic but fantastic none the less.

But c'mon..let's see some video

Windstruck - 18-11-2015 at 07:31 AM

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

omg...the npw guys are gonna love this

You bet you're sweet bippy they will! I'm going to email Steffen Born right now and tell him to get cracking on an expanded quiver of NS4s to replicate the sizes these guys use. What buggier hasn't longed for a 120m NPW for those light wind days (you know, the 1-2mph ones). Couple that with 500m lines and I'd be set for any conditions. Jank winds with 120m of FB fantastic up in the air - no problem! :lol:

Feyd - 18-11-2015 at 07:37 AM

The last shot blows my mind. All that space...

Windstruck - 18-11-2015 at 08:27 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Feyd

The last shot blows my mind. All that space...

Assuming you didn't freeze to death, I'm picturing you launching a 4m Access at first light and riding until last light. Let's see, 30 mph ski speed (hey, it's snow Chris not ice) and about 16 hours of daylight and you're looking at about 500 miles a day. Of course even Superman needs to stop to pee so maybe 475 miles. :lol:

skimtwashington - 18-11-2015 at 08:28 AM

But i'm looking at next to last pic... and those deep narrow tracks in snow it's leaving ....and thinking there's got to be a more efficient 'sled' design...:puzzled:

Randy - 18-11-2015 at 09:28 AM

Not the first time a NPW has been used for such purposes. Here is a picture from an arctic expedition using a NPW 21.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113613585650434126323/NPW21Arti...

rectifier - 18-11-2015 at 10:23 AM

Beautiful madness!

But, the control scheme? Looks like in the pic flying off the bridles, they are 2 lining that monster NPW, using pulleys to be capable of hand controlling it on the sled? Yikes, let's see some brake lines and save some arms!

The deep narrow tracks appear to go hand in hand with this quote from their site:
"It is possible to gird wind up to 80 °. The rear modules also help gird wind. Simply place the kite’s anchor on a corner of the locomotive module to change the direction of the kite and place it in the wind."
I think the sled has massive deep keels, so that it can fly heavily overpowered to make good upwind progress without slipping. After all, transportation is the goal, not top speed, and to be a useful vehicle it needs the ability to sail close to the wind.

skimtwashington - 18-11-2015 at 03:33 PM

The nth degree of kite utility..or insanity.... but is this fun?

I love that the big tent/shelter is all set up and enclosed.

It's madness , I tell you....madness.

ssayre - 18-11-2015 at 04:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

omg...the npw guys are gonna love this
cant wait for pics of one of these going thru Indy

It took me awhile to post because I was speechless with amazement. I thought npw's like that only existed in my imagination.

ssayre - 18-11-2015 at 04:29 PM

Quote: Originally posted by rectifier

Beautiful madness!

But, the control scheme? Looks like in the pic flying off the bridles, they are 2 lining that monster NPW, using pulleys to be capable of hand controlling it on the sled? Yikes, let's see some brake lines and save some arms!

Their set up must have been darn near perfect to be successful. Looked like all the load was on the sled. who needs brakes with that much wide open area? npw sit deep in the window anyway. Most npw expeditions of various kinds I've seen only use 2 lines. I haven't been able to find an advantage brake lines add having flown them both ways, BUT, I know a lot of npw people really like 4 line mode so nothing wrong with that.

TEDWESLEY - 18-11-2015 at 05:52 PM

Gives a whole new meaning to cruising. Just you and a half dozen of your closest friends

soliver - 19-11-2015 at 05:50 AM

That IS quite amazing

rectifier - 24-11-2015 at 01:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

I haven't been able to find an advantage brake lines add having flown them both ways

The biggest advantage I feel would be having fixed power lines on the sled and steering via brakes rather than a heavy pulley system on the power lines to allow the flyer to steer.

I always stake my NPWs on the brake lines for easy solo launching, or to park the kite while I take a break. I'm not sure how you 2-liners launch your kites? This also allows bridle inspection with the sail filled pre-launch, in case anything has hung up - both would be handy in a polar environment where safety and reliability are important.

ssayre - 24-11-2015 at 01:56 PM

Quote: Originally posted by rectifier

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

I haven't been able to find an advantage brake lines add having flown them both ways

2 line on a bar is very easy to launch, land, take a break, reverse launch. I side launch by weighting the upwind tip which I always do regardless of kite type. To take a break, you fly to the edge of the window and stake off in the bar pointed towards the kite. Nasa's are great for this. They just stay put or bob around a little until your ready to fly again.

Also, one of my favorite things is your only dealing with 2 bridles instead of 4 so tangles are infrequent to non existent.

There may be some nuances of flight lost with bar control that keep most flying them 4 line but I haven't missed any capabilities of a nasa on 4 line which is unlike a fb foil. I wouldn't even consider flying a foil on 2 lines.

rectifier - 24-11-2015 at 02:50 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Also, one of my favorite things is your only dealing with 2 bridles instead of 4 so tangles are infrequent to non existent.

Agreed. I don't get many tangles these days but the worst tangles are when the brake bridle gets tangled with the power.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

There may be some nuances of flight lost with bar control that keep most flying them 4 line but I haven't missed any capabilities of a nasa on 4 line which is unlike a fb foil. I wouldn't even consider flying a foil on 2 lines.

My favorite thing with 4 lines is the NPW I have the UDS depower system on. Being able to flatten out the AoA really helps launch and keep the kite in the air in dead air pockets or launch where ground winds are weak. But that's not a "normal" NPW.
I wish I could get that kite to work on a bar, but it just doesn't work that well.

pstkk - 25-9-2016 at 12:10 AM

This season the windsled team returned to the Greenland ice cap. The in-flight magazine from Air Greenland has an article about it.

The magazine is available from here http://aviisi.sermitsiaq.ag/2016/08/29/suluk_2016_35/ by clicking on the link that says "Laes e-avisen online". Pictures start on page 18 and english text from page 28.