Took the beamer 3 to the wildwood beach but the wind felt too strong. It was the first time I had the kite out so I didn't want to chance it.
Besides a quick phone told me that the wind speed was 25 miles an hour,,, I think too fast for me to start off with besides setting it up in that
wind. Took it home and my side yard was actually big enough to fly. It was pretty cool once I got it going. Had control alittle,, fluffed alot.
Any tips suggestions? I have seen in videos the kite standing verticle,, when does that happen, is it when the kite is moving as when on the buggy
and moving forward? Anyway it was pretty cool,, felt alittle power here and there.Pablo - 22-3-2007 at 04:59 PM
Yup, kite being vertical only really happens 2 times, one when flying static and whipping the kite through the middle of the window, two, in a buggy
or on a board when traveling in one direction, you can lower the kite and lock it in place if you have enough wind.Bladerunner - 22-3-2007 at 05:21 PM
I suspect what is going on is that the houses and such around your yard are messing the wind up. You need LOTS of space downwind of any tall object or
the wind will be swirly. Try to look at the wind as water and think about how it should be flowing along.
The Swirly wind explains why your kite kept lufting + why it wouldn't hang at the edge of the window ( or at zenith ).
It sounds like maybe you need to understand the wind window. Think about how the back side of your kite relates to the wind. In an arc from Zenith (
above your head ) down either side the wind passes right under the bottom so creates almost no pull, it should just sit there comfortably anyplace
along the edge in a proper clean wind. If the kite is low and in front of you ( straight downwind ) the whole of the bottom of the kite is getting hit
full on. That's maximum pull and in between is... in between. Also, try to antisipate your turn and start it a bit before you get to the edge of the
window or you will overfly it.
It's good to hear you use common sense in deciding when to go for it or not. It's always better to live for another day. Find the right spot and
you'll have a lot more fun next time.
Oh, Maybe Pab's answered your question. When you see folks riding and the kite is "set" that is the kite sitting at the edge of the window and
creating just the right amount of power to head upwind.joecat - 22-3-2007 at 05:33 PM
Hey guys,, thanks, alot of good info... I have been reading up on flying for about a month now but still reading about it and actually doing it is
somewhat different. Thanks for the tips about the wind window,, I had read about it and had a basic understanding but like you said I was over
flying the window to either side I guess because I was hyped up on even getting it into the air. Anticipate the turns, wind swriling etc . Hope to
get back out Saturday, will try the beach again. Hopefully in about a month I will get the buggy.acampbell - 23-3-2007 at 06:14 AM
Yeah, smart to wait for good wind. Flying overpowered is no fun and what's the point of that? Your sweet spot for getting aquainted with a 3 meter
Beamer (or is that a B III of some other size?) will be a 3-3.5 Bft. or about 8-12 kts. In steady coastal beach wind, you will be able to fly it to
the edge of the window and park it vertical all day long. You will be able to put the wingtip in the outstretched hand of an observer at the edge of
the window and scratch their palm.
(I'm not suggesting you fly that close to people all the time, but it's a fun thing to try with an informed observer who knows to stand clear
otherwise)Bladerunner - 23-3-2007 at 06:28 AM
Quote:
[. You will be able to put the wingtip in the outstretched hand of an observer at the edge of the window and scratch their palm.
(I'm not suggesting you fly that close to people all the time, but it's a fun thing to try with an informed observer who knows to stand clear
otherwise)
Practice bringing the kite up and down the edge of the window and holding it near the ground. In big wind you get your helper to " catch " the kite
as he stands at one edge or the other so this is great practice. Learn to fly the kite " BLIND " .leebrianh - 23-3-2007 at 07:50 AM
Joecat, What kind of buggy are you getting? Hope to ride with you sometime later at Wildwood beach. When wind is right, there is nothing like
riding along the Wildwood beach........except NABX :D - Brianaction jackson - 23-3-2007 at 08:04 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by leebrianh
Joecat, What kind of buggy are you getting? Hope to ride with you sometime later at Wildwood beach. When wind is right, there is nothing like
riding along the Wildwood beach........except NABX :D - Brian
and Dbbb in November..............aj
joecat - 23-3-2007 at 08:35 AM
Hey Guys,, again thanks for the responses. That is what I am looking for, alot of good tips,, do's and don'ts. Hey Brian, I got the kite from
Windsofchange and kent was suggesting the Peter Lynn Big foot. Which makes sense for our beach in Wildwood,, you would know that better than I
because you have ridden on our beach. Sure I am familar with the sand because I lived here all my life but I haven't tried to ride a buggy on it yet.
Like I said I figure about a month of learning to control the kite and then I will get the buggy so I can get some time down there before the crowds
of bathers start coming in for the summer season. It would be alot better having other people to ride with especially people that know what they are
doing.leebrianh - 23-3-2007 at 08:44 AM
Joe, I don't know how soon you need a buggy but I have Flexifoil buggy and Libre Full Race (on its way) both with wide tires (not bigfoot) you can try
out. Hope to see you sometime in April. - Briantridude - 23-3-2007 at 09:16 AM
Smart decision Joecat and your hooked now!joecat - 25-3-2007 at 01:12 PM
Sunday March 25th, Got the kite out again. This time in a bigger field, had pleanty of room around me. Had a better idea of the wind window. Was
able to set up and launch by myself alot easier. The wind was a bit stronger than the other day and I felt it a few times where the power was strong,
actually had to let go of handles one time. I felt as if my control was better,, I was able to hold it in the zenith better and put the breaks on
when it started to get behind me and bring it back in front. I held it at the edge of the window in a verticle hold for a short time but the wind was
not steady enough I guess or maybe I was too close to the edge. But it was alot different from the other day and alot more fun. Its diffently a work
out.joecat - 25-3-2007 at 04:56 PM
Question: If the kite does a 360 and the lines get twisted, do you have to untwist them right away? If the lines are crossed will the breaks still
have effect? And how do you untwist them without bringing the kite down. Can you just twist your body to untwist the lines? Thanks for your
anticipated responses.acampbell - 25-3-2007 at 05:05 PM
No, yes, and yes.
No harm, no fowl to twist your lines, Everything will work fine with a twist or two or three, but you will want to untwist them sooner than later to
resore the normal feel and response that you are used to. If you remember the direction of the twist, you can fly them out with a reverse twist. I'm
lazy so I just dance on my feet and untwist them with a spin of my body as you guessed.
Twist and shout!joecat - 25-3-2007 at 06:23 PM
Thanks for the info Angus. I will try that next time. I had my nephew with me today when I was flying. He is sixteen,, I let him try the kite out
a few times. He really liked it and was surprized that a "kite" could be so powerfull. I have him interested in the kites and posible buggying
later but he asked if there was a smaller size kite for him that would not be so powerfull. I explained that the wind speed had alot to do with the
power today but also there were smaller kites. If I was to suggest a smaller kite, that could be used for buggying later, what would be a good
suggestion?kitemaker4 - 25-3-2007 at 07:56 PM
Is the kite surface area 3 meters square? If so you can just get a kite a meter smaller and use it on high wind days.
PKD Brooza's 2, 3, 4 and 5.5 meters
Libre V-max and big foot light V-max buggys
Nasa wingsacampbell - 26-3-2007 at 05:25 AM
Yeah, as Susan said, a smaller maybe 2 or 2 1/2 meter may be less intimidating and later will make a nice high wind kite. Remember though that when
you put the kite into forward motion in a bug, the dynamics change and the kite is less powerful. That is because when you move in a bug, the wind
you feel, the apparent wind, moves foward to blowing more in your face, which in turn means the wind window shifts from to your downwind side to more
behind you. So as your kite is to your downwind side and slightly ahead of you to pull you, it is actaully at the very edge of the window where it is
less powerful.
On the ohter hand, the first time you get going in the bug with a good wind, the pucker factor goes way up and nothing seems under powered.
But a smaller kite in higher wind is easier to learn to buggy with than a larger kite in gentle wind, since it is easier to keep the lines taught in a
turn.
Later you will want a 5 meter for lighter wind days.joecat - 26-3-2007 at 08:53 AM
Thanks Angus and Susan,, good info. joejoecat - 26-3-2007 at 10:28 AM
Anyone have a solution for this? You are flying the kite and it crashes. Lands upside down, any way to get the kite right side up and flying again
without having to stake your handles and go flip the kite manually? Any tricks?acampbell - 26-3-2007 at 10:44 AM
Sure. a 4-line kite will revers launch. The kite is upside down so the controls are reversed. Pull on the brakes hard and the kite will back off
the ground and likely start to turn one way or another. When it is up over one span high, relax the brakes and pull sharp on the power line that is
highest and the kite will fly out uprright.
You have a 50-50 chance of a twist but you can do a dance for that.joecat - 26-3-2007 at 04:02 PM
thanks Angus
joejoecat - 30-3-2007 at 06:45 PM
Hey Angus, Got the kite out again on the beach this time. Tried the brake launch,,, worked like a charm. I was able to spin it up right also.
Had much better control this time.. I am starting to get the hang of it. Thanks again.acampbell - 31-3-2007 at 04:15 AM
Cool!WolfWolfee - 31-3-2007 at 07:15 AM
A 3M kite is a high wind kite, I don't even pull out my small kites IE: 3M Legend or 2.5 Century till the winds hit 20 mph. You need to learn to match
your kite too wind speed you will find they perform way better turning and other issues disappear.
Heading out today its 12 to 15 mph winds and I'm using 1 7.2M Samurai
Cheers:saint:Pablo - 31-3-2007 at 08:12 AM
I can see that, had the 4.8m Combat out in 18-22mph winds, by 22 the pucker factor was immense. Today the winds are near 30mph, probably put up a 2m
Buster I to start, if that's a little low on power then I'll go with a 3m Brooza.
Two days ago at the same park I couldn't get a ride out of my 13m.joecat - 2-4-2007 at 03:48 PM
Hey, does anyone know of any place,, internet etc. that I can get some good Kite buggying videos. I have seen alot of them on Youtube and google
but I have pretty much seen all that was out on those.Bladerunner - 2-4-2007 at 04:18 PM
Hey, Thanks Snowbird, I will check them out. Joejoecat - 2-4-2007 at 06:09 PM
I checked out just the first link and the videos were some of the best I have seen so far. Thanks. Another question. On different websites and
such I seen mentioning of Insurance,,, what is this all about.. I assume they are talking about some type of liability ins. Does anyone have that,,
is it necessary,,,, and if so where would one purchase such ins. how much does it cost on the average? Alot questions here......... Thanks.Bladerunner - 3-4-2007 at 09:53 AM
In Great Britian and maybe other parts of Europe. The sport has a longer history and larger following. They have ended up having to regulate them
selves in order to keep flying locations open. That means insurance and closed beaches.
IKO offers insurance for North America but I don't know of any riding locations that require it yet. Although many kite beaches have been shut down.
We need to learn from what's going on overseas and on the beaches locally . One big mistake by any of us can effect kiting for all of us !!!!
At www.skypilotkiteboarding.com we have a post that we throw the good videos in. I got those all from there and there is more. It's under the link
"videos post away" , I think.joecat - 3-4-2007 at 11:43 AM
hey Thanks,, that makes sense why someone would have insurance,,, because locations require it. I live on the New Jersey Shore. We have a very
nice beach here,,,, it gets busy during the summer months of July, August but other than that its a real nice place to ride,,, I would assume
considering I have not done it yet. I have seen only a few times where people were riding buggys down here. I am a police officer in our beach
resort town and I know of no laws prohibiting the use of buggys or kites.. So hopefully I will help keep it that way. I understand about using
common sense,, you dont want to piss anyone off and create a problem for the buggys.. There are certain times during the year and times during the
day that this area should be excellent for riding. Again thanks for the info and anytime you want to throw any tips my way on riding,, equipment etc
that would be great.acampbell - 3-4-2007 at 11:52 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by snowbird
...
We need to learn from what's going on overseas and on the beaches locally . One big mistake by any of us can effect kiting for all of us !!!!
A topic dear to me. We are really fortunate here in the Jekyll Island region of South Georgia. when I started flying here, I first hooked up with
some Kiteboarders and found that they were already self-policing in order to protect their use of the expansive public beaches. Their web site has a
Google Map link inviting out-of-towners to visit and get tips for the best (and safe for the public) areas. http://www.hang20.net/theBeach.html . When they spot a newcomer on the beach with a rig, they are quick to welcome them and help out but are
keeping a keen eye out for unsafe practices.
When I first got to this region and saw nobody buggying, I feared there was a ban. I called the local state-run authority that governs use of the
beach and island activities and explained what buggying was. When they heard me use phrases like "shared-use public space" and "ecologically
sensitive" and "public safety", they jumped in and said basically "That sounds great! When can we see the buggy?".
They now promote us on their site ....http://www.jekyllisland.com/activities/beaches.asp . We get 13% of our traffic from them. We try to help out
whenever we can with public events by doing kite demos and so forth. They have said that if we arrange dealer demo days, they will make it an
official island event and help promote.
We are lucky in that we have a location where local government is anxious to promote tourism, but I think it was important that we came to them first
with a sense of civic mindedness and a regard for safety. I would suggest that others do the same in thier area *before* someone gets hurt. That way
if an accident does happen, you have a fighting chance of having it viewd as an isolated incident and less of a chance of a knee-jerk ban.Bladerunner - 3-4-2007 at 01:43 PM
We have a year round ban in one of our local Bays. After much discussion we came to this option. We respect the ban from May 24 to Sept 1 when the
lifegaurds are on duty and the beaches are in full swing. In turn we self police and ride through the rest of the year ( the best for wind ) without
challenge from the coast gaurd. As I've mentioned before we live in a place that is quick to put up signs but short on folks to enforce them.
For this privilege we tend to be big on self policing + the use of safety gear / lessons around here. One big mistake and we could ALL lose what we
have.
Good Information::::::::; Once I get going here I am going to try and recruit people from around here to get into the sport. Keeping all the above
info in mind!acampbell - 3-4-2007 at 03:52 PM
Yeah, and as a Cop, you're in a great position to get the inside skinny on how local government works in this area. At least you're better equipped
to know who to ask (about who to ask). Parks and land use stuff can be tricky- jurisdiction can be ambigouous.
Another angle to consider, especially if you start an informal club, is the local Chamber of Commerce. They may see kiting as an attraction since it
is colorful and exciting for the public to watch. That is until you start running over puppies and toddlers, which is why you self-organize in the
first place. Get commerce behind you and you have more pull with local government.joecat - 3-4-2007 at 05:27 PM
All true,, our beach area is about 5 miles long,,, they actually call it the "Five mile beach". As far as the law goes I know just about all of
the cops in our three jurisdictions. Wildwood consists of three small cites. North Wildwood, Wildwood, and Wildwood crest. Wildwood and Wildwood
Crest have some of the larger areas here. We actually have what they call "The Wildwood Kite Festival" I forget what time of year it comes in,,
pretty sure summer,,, But if you google it you may find something on it. They used to allow motor cycles (dirt bikes) to ride the beach years ago
but that stopped most likely because of damage to dunes and injuries. So now there are no dirt bikes and you cant touch the sand dunes. You can
drive your vehicle down there with a permit and its only for the purpose of sport fishing. As I said before I have never seen what few kite buggys
were down there get kicked off. Wildwood crest does have signs up that say "No kite flying from the third week in June to September something but I
am not sure how much they enforce that. I will do my best to see that things go right here.DenisLaMenace - 3-4-2007 at 06:51 PM
hi joecat
i have been to wildwood crest for the past 3 years during july for family vacation. of course no kiting at this time of the year, too crowded.
i wonder until when the fun piers are open (need to entertain wife and kid) so may be I postpone my vacations in september and I can lanboard kite on
the beach ?
joecat - 4-4-2007 at 05:59 AM
hey Buzz,, keep in touch,,, I will try to find out the schedules for the amusement piers.. I know they are open on the weekends during September.
And really if someone can work out the schedule with kids school and such, September is a really good time to vacation here. Alot less people and
the weather is still really nice. As I said Wildwood Crest has the ban on kiting from the third week in June until sometime in September, I will
find out exactly when.. I dont think Wildwood or North Wildwood has a ban on kiting... None of the citys even mention Buggys because I dont think
they have seen enough of them to even bring the topic up..,, which is good for us. I have seen them in the past and I dont know of any problems
that ever came up with regards to them.. A number of years ago when I was on patrol I saw a number of buggys running down North Wildwoods beach and
the only thing I thought of was "thats cool and how do I get one"? "leebrianh" on page one of this forum lives in Delaware and he has been coming to
the Wildwood beach for awhile now with his landboard and kites so he has more knowledge about the topic,, you may want to ask him some questions.joecat - 4-4-2007 at 07:28 PM
I plan on making a purchase of a buggy within the month... It appears that the Peter Lynn "Big Foot" best suits me considering my location and where
I would be riding.. I have got quotes on prices. Does anyone have an idea of what the ball park price should be with regards to the Big Foot? The
quote that I already obtained came from what appears to be a reputable dealership and nice people but I always want to check to see if there are other
options.depp - 8-5-2007 at 03:50 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by joecat
Anyone have a solution for this? You are flying the kite and it crashes. Lands upside down, any way to get the kite right side up and flying again
without having to stake your handles and go flip the kite manually? Any tricks?
hi guys im new here and on the whole flying thing, this is a ? i need answering but i only have a 2 line power kite (exite 1.80 ) cheers
