Power Kite Forum

Why a big kite?

Sthrasher38 - 28-4-2007 at 10:45 PM

Does a big kite have more to do with your weight or your wind conditions? are they really luffty or pretty stable. (Bullets). like the 5.5 & 7.0. Thanks.:thumbup:

Belegnole - 29-4-2007 at 07:17 AM

I'm just a noob BUT...

From what I have found there are two reasons..which involve your health

1) Getting up in the air is not really the problem, how fast you come down is. A large kite gives more of a parachute effect and you get a softer landing vs. a small kite. Others may put it " with a small kite you fall like a stone" ouch!

2) The Second is wind speed and the results of it...A large kite needs a lower wind speed to get you up. Thus you are operating your kite in less severe conditions. Allowing you much more time to correct your mistakes. The soft wind takes you up gently, while the at the wind speeds needed for a small kite to get you off the ground things happen quickly indeed.

Tigger - 29-4-2007 at 04:39 PM

Good answers:

Pablo - 29-4-2007 at 08:42 PM

Also, wind stability is a key factor, low wind, involving large kites is usually pretty smooth and stable, you may get 10mph gusting to 12 or so. Nuking high winds you'll get something like 25mph gusting to 35 or 40mph. Way more severe difference.

And yeah, it's a lot safer to get floated down from 20ft with a large kite than to be dropped 10 ft by a small kite.

I'll try and avoid flying lifty kites in anything under a 5m size.

awindofchange - 30-4-2007 at 01:26 PM

One thing to remember is that large kites produce tremendous amounts of power. If your only concern is to get air and you buy a kite in the 8 to 10+ meter size....and your winds are averaging over 20 mph every day you will not be able to fly the kite without a chance of severe injury or death. You can't just buy a 10+ meter kite and expect to get tons of air and be safe doing it. It does come down to the winds you are planning on using the kite in and your ability to fly the kite. Larger kites can be quite dangerous if used in the wrong conditions.

Fly safe.

miller16 - 4-5-2007 at 01:34 PM

When i was 12 i had a super 10 and i used to do some few feet high jumps. I just bend my knees when I land, also I practice jumping of my first story roof:smilegrin: I probably shouldn't do it but I havent broke anything yet and now have a bigger kite. :smilegrin:

Pablo - 4-5-2007 at 10:44 PM

The kite type and design has a huge amount to do with it, I've been trying to get airbourn for quite some time now, So after getting a new ATB/surf kite(16m Scorpion), I find myself not only having no problem getting rolling, I'm accidentally pulling off 2-3m airs on my transistions and doing it with a huge feeling of safety. I'll never give up on my race kites though for all out buggy speed.

SecondWind - 5-5-2007 at 07:54 AM

Wish I had a Flexi Super 10 when I was 12!

The Super 10 was my first power kite - loved that thing :thumbup: Then I got a Blade and I was hooked...

Sthrasher38 - 29-8-2007 at 06:41 PM

Me too!

Pdxnebula - 9-9-2007 at 06:51 PM

Biggest Kite I had as a kid was 4' tall Big Green/Black Dragon , Plastic Diamond kite,(Dad got it for me, it probably cost 2.00$) but with a proper 5-6' tail on it, I once flew about 2500' of line on that sucker one saturday afternoon, took me like 45min of winding to bring it back down, with my mom yelling in the distance that dinner was ready... Didnt even HAVE power kites around when I was a kid... not till I was in my 30's or so before they came out... if you count back 20 yrs...

Pdxnebula - 28-10-2007 at 12:42 AM

Very nice Looking ProFoil 4.5mē, Belegnole, sweet looking kite...

Inch_Speller - 6-11-2007 at 02:44 PM

There's lots of talk about kite size and not so much about the kite its self.

Now I have a Beamer 3.6 and as far as I'm aware its a puller (and man does it PULL).

The only kite I've found reference to being good for jumping is the (Widow Maker) Blade 4.9.

If I'm fairly new to the sport 6ft and weighing in at around 200lbs would it be a good choice or would something else be more suited?

(Sorry to hijack the thread!)

saskalex - 6-11-2007 at 03:23 PM

if you're 200 pounds and have a 3.6 beamer you should be fine with the 4.9 blade. Some people, like myself, started kiting with it (I'd only ever flown a tiny trainer before it), but few people would recommend this. Give it respect, start in low winds, and expect it to pull and lift alot more than your beamer. Oh, and there are lots of kites good for jumping, crossfire, ozone riot, ozone haka, mac bego, just to name a few. Only speaking from what I've heard here, though, only flown the blade. Most people don't jump with anything smaller than 5ish meters, not enough float.

DAKITEZ - 7-11-2007 at 09:47 AM

good topic especially for a beginner looking at the forum trying to get info. When I started I didn't understand why you would need more than 1 kite. Now i realize you need ATLEAST 3 minimum. Realistically more like 6 or 7 for the different wind conditions. I'm currently just a static flyer so from what I see you need like a 3m , 5m, 8m roughly pulling power kite to do some scudding and like 5m, 7m, 9m roughly lifty kites if want to try some jumping. Everyone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. If I'm correct someone please explain this to my WIFE !!

NPWfever - 7-11-2007 at 12:37 PM

LOL!! yeah i have a 3 5.5 and an 8 which suits me fine for our local wind conditions. Usually low to medium and rarely super crazy but i needed a trainer so i went with a 3 meter. Also the nice thing about a large kite is hill jumping. I took out my 8 meter ace in 0 wind yesterday and ran a backwards and got a nice glide.
!!!yAY!!!!:lol:

Pablo - 7-11-2007 at 05:30 PM

For buggying or pretty much anything you need a fixed amount of power to get you going. windy days, lots of power so you can get away with a smaller sail, on a calm day you need a monster sail to generate the same amount of power. Nuff said. A smaller kite will always go faster than a monster kite because it'll generate less drag, but you need enough power to get you going at speed, so you end up pulling whatever kite out of the bag you figure will get you going good without being way too big.

macboy - 14-11-2007 at 07:31 PM

Is there some "magic number" or tech spec or a given kite that would indicate if it's going to be a lifty kite or a tractor puller?

Sthrasher38 - 15-11-2007 at 05:52 PM

Many! Sorry dont have time to answer in full just be patient or read up.

macboy - 15-11-2007 at 08:05 PM

No worries. I found this on the racekite forum and wow.....did it ever answer my questions!

http://www.racekites.com/reviews/getReview.asp?reviewID=2104

Inch_Speller - 6-12-2007 at 01:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dlish89
good topic especially for a beginner looking at the forum trying to get info. When I started I didn't understand why you would need more than 1 kite. Now i realize you need ATLEAST 3 minimum. Realistically more like 6 or 7 for the different wind conditions. I'm currently just a static flyer so from what I see you need like a 3m , 5m, 8m roughly pulling power kite to do some scudding and like 5m, 7m, 9m roughly lifty kites if want to try some jumping. Everyone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. If I'm correct someone please explain this to my WIFE !!


So if I was looking at a 5m Riot this should do the job?

Sthrasher38 - 6-12-2007 at 03:17 PM

Hey, Your wife dosen't understand your kiting yet? You better give her one. Or a least make her go with you a couple times. It took my woman awhile to get involved with my kiting now she loves going.:thumbup:

BeamerBob - 7-12-2007 at 06:31 AM

Mine likes going but only to take pictures for scrapbooking. I can't get her to hold a handle or strap for anything. She never gets irritated when I load up the kites because the wind is blowing though.

DAKITEZ - 7-12-2007 at 09:22 AM

my wife wants nothing to do with flying. she will go as long as its not cold, but then after awhile she is all wind blown and sits in the truck. I can't wait till next weekend we will be camping on the beach so she can sit in the trailer and I can fly till me arms fall off !!:singing::singing: hopefully with my new kites.:smilegrin:

macboy - 7-12-2007 at 09:29 AM

Wow! Did Pansh have a one of everything sale? Your sig looks like it did! Think my wife would believe that?

DAKITEZ - 7-12-2007 at 09:33 AM

I ordered 20 kites to get their wholesale prices. So, yes one of everything was on sale :smilegrin:

macboy - 7-12-2007 at 09:35 AM

* an awe of silence *


(and envy ; )

BeamerBob - 7-12-2007 at 11:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by macboy
* an awe of silence *


(and envy ; )


Very well put. Some guys on here have 20 or more kites but I bet none of them bought them all in one order! I have WallStreet buzzing to try to corner some extra cash to relieve him of one of his new Panshs. :thumbup:

Inch_Speller - 7-12-2007 at 12:39 PM

So anyway !!!

I've just aquired a 5m Riot.

Good to start jumping with?

BeamerBob - 7-12-2007 at 01:15 PM

Sorry for being part of the hijack. The Riot is good when the wind gets above 22 knots and all the way to 40. This will be your high wind go to kite for sure.

Sthrasher38 - 7-12-2007 at 03:20 PM

My old lady is the same way, She wont fly but she takes pics so she can laugh later.:smilegrin: And when she gets cold or wind blown she also goes to the car. But she is very supportive and almost always goes with me so I love her for that. I guess it kinda evens out though I hate going shopping and I refuse to sit in the car and wait And I do more dam shopping than I go kiting lately so hey! Whats up with that!

macboy - 7-12-2007 at 03:24 PM

Hey Inch - sorry for joining the hijack as well. I feel obligated to offer my 2 cents but it's really only worth about that much. I have a Rage 4.7 and in terms of the kite size, in winds from 10mph+ she really comes alive. I can't offer much in terms of jumping info but can say that the Rage is a very agile kite and I suspect the size has some part in that role.

Pdxnebula - 8-12-2007 at 12:49 AM

I just "WANTED" a BIG kite... & the "Bus"ter's "NOT" small at 9.0mē or 19'4"x 70" its "BIGGER" than the G/F's little "Hundai Accent"

BeamerBob - 8-12-2007 at 06:11 AM

That would hang over each end of my Yukon XL!

Pablo - 8-12-2007 at 11:13 AM

You're both right.

There's 2 ways to go for getting power in lighter winds, you can either go out with a smaller kite, longer lines will help (25-30m, possibly 40m) and work the kite, loop it, fly it like you stole it. You'll get good at kite control and if you get into trouble it's easy to slow down. You're getting your power from kite speed and apparent winds, keep the kite moving fast and you get a good ride. Park it and you'll lose power.

The other way is to go with a larger kite, instead of working the kite you can park and ride. They will not like looping and such, but when you hang them to one side you'll go that way, lots of bottom end power, very strong kites, if you park them you'll go, work them and you go fast, But timing becomes very important, you're trying to work with a bus. Once they get going it can sometimes be a handful to stop them. When you have lots of power at low speeds you can often find yourself way overpowered once you get the buggy up to speed.

It all depends, do you prefer slow/fast or fast/faster.

matt519 - 12-12-2007 at 03:14 PM

Pablo pretty much summed it all up. macboy, how is that 7m ace for jumping

macboy - 12-12-2007 at 05:58 PM

Jumping? What's a "jumping"?

hehehe

I'm still too new in the old biz here to answer fairly - I bought it from Blake here on the forum but haven't seem him around much, maybe he has some words of wisdom on the subject?...although I know others here will certainly have something to offer.......how about it dllish?

Pablo - 12-12-2007 at 06:15 PM

Jumping's something that'll happen a couple seconds after you figure out that you''ve got too big of a kite for the wind conditions.:singing:

DAKITEZ - 12-12-2007 at 07:30 PM

I'm not a jumper yet. I have a knee still recovering from an old surgery and undiagnosed arthritis. So I'm still taking it easy. Sthrasher is the jumper, so after we fly again he will be able to give a review. I had a chance to fly the pass the 5m ace this last weekend. I will tell you it lifted my 220 lb butt off the ground with no trouble at all. Unfortunately, I wasn't expecting it.:o

Sthrasher38 - 13-12-2007 at 07:39 AM

Fun in the sun! Dagon likes to jump too. He got some pretty good ones off with my 6.4 Blade 2. We got her out that day in around 13-16 mph wind it was nice.:borg:

Inch_Speller - 14-12-2007 at 03:17 PM

Checked all the weather reports and looks like I'm finally gonna have some decent winds to try out my new (to me) Riot 5m.

Can't wait!!!

Sthrasher38 - 14-12-2007 at 04:50 PM

Let us know how it goes!:borg:

Pablo - 14-12-2007 at 06:10 PM

Wicked, we've finally got winds on the way, predicted 10-20mph for the weekend, it's a shame about the rain and the fact that most of it'll be after dark.

Sthrasher38 - 16-12-2007 at 07:27 AM

Inch, How is that Riot working for you?:?:

Inch_Speller - 16-12-2007 at 08:49 AM

Yesterday not so much a a squirrels fart worth of wind inland so today went to the coast............ OMG!!!!!!!!!!!

ABSOLUTLY FRAPPING BRILLIANT.

Cold, sore fingers frozen in that painful gripped position i.e. holding on for all my life's worth. Also one smile so big people may mistake me for a resident of the local nut house.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f260/inch_speller/16122007...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f260/inch_speller/16122007...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f260/inch_speller/16122007...

Sthrasher38 - 16-12-2007 at 08:56 AM

Sounds like you had a good time. Some pretty good little scuds too. Looked like you had the beach pretty much to yourself nice spot. How was the riot for lift? I think it is more for pull but I have never flown one.

Inch_Speller - 16-12-2007 at 09:11 AM

Sthrasher compared to my Beamer I thought it was gonna pull my arms off.

That said put it high and it lifts.

I followed the pendulum jump guide very cautiously as in moving back slowly (not running like a looney) to get tension on the lines and only got a few feet in the air so I'll have to practice.

But 'lift' it feels like its got more than enough.

Stay tuned!!

Sthrasher38 - 16-12-2007 at 09:15 AM

Keep up the practice and wear a helmet Do you have kite killers? I have a 8m Ace comming soon and I am going to fly away!! I really need it today to with this pidly little 5mph breeze.:yes:

Inch_Speller - 16-12-2007 at 09:20 AM

I've got the Ozone KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s

And I probably gonna get slated but currently don't have a helmet but gonna get a full face one for christmas and a harness to save the arms.

Sthrasher38 - 16-12-2007 at 09:22 AM

Check out the father like son post in kite jumping I think it is the 2nd pic I did not have a helmet on that day and got a nasty bruise on my head ouch!:borg:

Inch_Speller - 4-1-2008 at 10:15 AM

The Riot is an animal - got a few nice jumps in using the bar but wanted more control on the brakes so swapped back to handles.

Wind had picked up a little more but kite was pulling real smooth and very strong - Right up to the point a gust came in scudded me about 30ft picked me up clearing about 10-12 ft in distance (not sure how high) and I came down a little awkward...

So now no flying for about 4 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

Spiral fracture to my right Ulna

BeamerBob - 4-1-2008 at 10:47 AM

OUCH! Hate to hear about the arm break. I understand about coming down a little awkward. I have a blue big toe on the left foot. Didn't slow me down any but made me put that kite back in the bag. From now on, I will be wearing my Teva sandals to make landing and scudding more comfortable.

Sthrasher38 - 9-1-2008 at 01:44 PM

Sorry you got hurt. Bob, I lost my big blue toe nail on my right foot from comming down hard how funny. I hope you get well soon inch.:borg:

BeamerBob - 9-1-2008 at 05:35 PM

Mine turned out to be nothing at all. No lingering pain, just a funny color for a week. No more barefoot jumping for me.

Inch_Speller - 10-1-2008 at 12:59 AM

I've been signed off for a month and ever since the wind has been better for flying :(