mongo - 5-7-2007 at 09:58 PM
I thought I was getting the hang of my powerforce velocity 4.1m foil. The wind was a steady 25mph, when I launched, but within 20 mins or so had built
up to around 30mph. I usually land at the edge of the window, as I am led to believe that this point of the wind is the safest to land in. However
when my kite got to within about 10 feet of the ground, (controlled decent with brakes). it powers up with a massive pull, and off I go. I take it
back to zenith and try again. After an hour of this, I eventually landed by kneeling next to my ground stake, and just as the kite was about to power
up again, I managed a coupl of raps around the anchor with the brake lines
Fortunately I have been using a 24" pry bar, battered into the grass with a 10 lbs club hammer as my g/s so it held firm. It still managed a dozen
spins before i could get over to it and stuff it in the bag
What is the correct technique for this type of landing.
We are having some great winds of late, but I am a bit hesitant about taking it out over 20mph.
Thanks
Mongo
acampbell - 6-7-2007 at 07:51 AM
4m in 25-30 mph wind sound like too much work for this lazy boy.
In conditions like that there is not much more to do. First, I move my hands way down of the handles to get leverage and see how much I can do to
land the kite normally. If that does not work, then I take it to the edge as you did. When it is close to the ground, I stretch out and grab the
brake lines as far up as I can reach and pull in to kill the kite. I always fly with sailing gloves, so this is easy on the hands.
Then I just wad the kite into the bag any way I can and para-pack the lines (stuff them in the bag). Later on, in the calm of the evening in the
front yard with a beer in hand, I stretch out the kite and lines, and neatly re-pack and re-wind for the next session.