TomTeaBags - 2-9-2008 at 02:53 AM
Hey guys,
As this is my first post here I'll try and make it pretty diverse..
somwhere on youtube I saw a video of kiters going up a chairlift to the top of a snowy hill, and then skiing downhill, but with a kite inflated
overhead..
does anyone know how they attached the kite to themselfs, as they seemed to be steering using brake lines...
well I had to try this for myself, so headed to the local golf course, ran down the hill with the kite (2.4m radsail) attached directly to the
handles.. needless to say this didnt work at all...
I'm getting an 8m Peter Lynn Hornet in a month, (a kiter at my local field let me try his 4m, and whil much more powerfull than the old radsail, I
still felt underpowered in high winds...), so I'll try the hornet downhill again, and see how that works...
Just out of interest, has anyone ever tried anything similar, with any success?
Tom
SjaakSwart - 2-9-2008 at 05:01 AM
I think you mean something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZV3IwQ_LEU&feature=relat... ?
If so, these guys dont use kites, and they aren't even "kiting". They are using very small paragliders. What they use is closer to a parachute then to
a kite. For some more information : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragliding#Sports.2Fcompetitiv...
So, I don't think using your new hornet to try this will work. And I defenitly would consider it not safe.
If u ment something else then what they are doing in the video I posted, I'm very curious to see it.
TomTeaBags - 2-9-2008 at 01:06 PM
Funnily enough that's the exact video that i wanted to try and emulate, but without the snow, or skis...
I wasn't trying to claim that it would be completely safe, and obviously - follow the old saying: start slow.. -- just jog down a gentle slope
witht the kite overhead, and progress slowly though a range of gradients, all the way to jumping off of a near vertical drop... although not for a
while...
Just wondered if anyone else had managed to do this with any success...
dylanj423 - 2-9-2008 at 01:15 PM
I think that para-gliding might be something you want to look into... I'm no scientist or engineer, but I'm thinking that power kites were not
designed for that sort of thing. The problem that I can see is getting slammed into the vertical drop that you were mentioning, as thes e kites
capture the wind, and even with a nice big, floaty kite, they well propel you with the wind i.e.- into the aforementioned drop. Unless the wind were
blowing the other way. But then you come into proper control and landing. It is nothing that I would want to try.
Hang-gliding or para-gliding seem like better options here.
That video is kick-butt, though.
kiteNH - 2-9-2008 at 01:43 PM
I saw that video when I first got into kiting. Those guys aren't flying kites. I'm pretty sure they are flying a special kind of paraglider. I
think its called speed riding or something like that just like it says at the top of that youtube video.
Of course that said, Chasta using that huge Red Bull Manta and basically paraglides with it so it IS possible to to use a kite for this. However my
recommendation would be to put this out of your mind and look into paragliding lessons if you really want to fly.
Bladerunner - 2-9-2008 at 07:36 PM
YES thes are NOT kites !
Ozone and JN make them. They have a lot more in common with a paraglider than they do a kite !
TomTeaBags - 3-9-2008 at 11:41 AM
Ahhh, maybe I'll give the flying a miss...
Just got back from a day of ridiculously strong winds, strong enoungh that i was getting lifted by a 2.4m radsail..
I managed to snap one of the lines, suddenly had a spinning kite and a load of tangled line on my lap. The 8m Hornet will be here soon, can't wait to
fly in low winds for a change, floaty jumps instead of landing pretty solidly will be nice..
I think the cause of the snap might have been due to there being a knot half way down the string, caused a disruption in the fibres, or somthing like
that...
One other thing is I reaalllllyyy recommend using kite killers, I made myself a pair, they have saved me from getting intimate with a tree a number of
times now... there the only sure-fire way of killing the kite... If you're in a high wind and tilt the handles forward, you can end up dipping the
kite deep into the window- and sometimes the wind is strong enough that it's impossible to tilt the handles forward completely- you-re then forced to
let go of one handle - messy
cheers for all you're help guys... might have saved me from a potential injury there... And looking like a bit stupid in front of a friend also...
Bladerunner - 3-9-2008 at 06:49 PM
Ha Ha!
Sometimes the learning curve is a bumpy rode !
Keep it safe !
TomTeaBags - 4-9-2008 at 12:23 PM
Just got a harness aswell, for when I move onto landboarding/buggying - where would I go to find out how to attach the harness to a pair of handles...
google didn't really help..
furbowski - 4-9-2008 at 04:15 PM
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=6864&pa...
and
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=6366