Power Kite Forum

Problems with motion

Looking_Up - 24-5-2009 at 03:46 PM

:puzzled:

so hear is the deal i recently completed a hombilt bug made out of polyurathane pipe it works suprisingly well after a few grimlens ( engeniring mistakes ) were rectified.

but my problem lies with my Kite or lack of buggie skills I think?

I am using a 4.5m Little Devil for power which there is plenty of. But transfuring the power into sustainable forward momentume sems to be my query.

I have kite boarded and own an Sle for my Kiteboarding this kite is verry good at going upwind and not overflying the wind window It just has to start moving in a lateral direction and it takes off My problem with the little devil is not the kite it is the operator it seems when i make my power strokes the kite drives to the wind window and stalls but if i fly it further back in the window i experiance obe. i am up to four times.

the kite generates lots of pull in low winds but likes to stall at the edge of the window before i get sufficient speed to park the kite and use the brakes

having said all of that this leads me to fly in a little bit stronger winds to compensate for the lack of kite and bug skills i weigh 295 w/ all of my gear on and the bug wheighs about 60lb so i can hold it down but i am sure that i could improve on my skills so that between 7 to 13 i could be powered fine without crashing all of the time

once the kite is flying where it is comfortable it screams upwind and just feeds off of the aparent wind i got moving pretty good.

so my questiion is this how can i drive the buggie or fly the kite in a way to get the kite into its comfort zone faster without droping the kite

please help:yes:

bobalooie57 - 24-5-2009 at 07:55 PM

Have you seen the article "A Little Bit of Better Buggy Basics" by acampbell of Coastal Wind Sports? It is a free tutorial available at his website, and it explains a lot of the physics involved with how the wind window changes when you are moving, although you probably already experience this on your kiteboard. I know I found the tutorial very helpful, at any rate.

heliboy50 - 25-5-2009 at 02:14 AM

Good advice, bobalooie57. This article is a great place to start. Just came back from my own 2nd ever buggy session. What you might do is face about 30 degrees from directly down wind, bringing the kite up through the window. As you start to roll swing the kite down into the power and turn away from it. This will give you tension in the lines and will get the kite accelerating (this is called a "beam reach", I believe.) Now you are off- if you turn too far from the kite, it will slow you down and can get the kite behind you. Then you get the OBE (I pulled this move today.) Check out the article mentioned above- that should help a lot. My first time out was last week and it was about 2 hours of tiring frustration and getting yanked sideways until it clicked. Today was working upwind, building more speed, pitching the bug sideways in turns. Just absolutely epic. Keep trying- you will get it.

Looking_Up - 25-5-2009 at 06:15 AM

thanks for the advice Guys

I read the artical and picked up a few things

I still think i have a problem with the kite staying to far forward and overflying the wind window

would it matter if there were short lines on the kite maby some longer ones would get me moving before i ran out of window

still need advice going to try again today if i can finish my mods in time

lad - 25-5-2009 at 07:28 AM

You said you kitesurf too. So I suppose you can access an optimal buggying environment:

- consistent coastal wind
- low tide
- hard packed sand

Just sayin' ...'cause all the buggy and ATB tips I absorbed here and elsewhere didn't start to click until I got to Wildwood Crest at low tide.

Choppy winds, mud, high grass and silty or mushy sand just didn't cut it.

acampbell - 25-5-2009 at 07:39 AM

What kind of surface are you on and what kind of tires? You'r a big guy and with the buggy that is a lot of mass to accelerate. Added friction will not help.

Heliboy is right on to start facing more downwind, and as soon as you break the stand-still, start to harden up away from the kite to keep the lines tight. If the kite gets to the edge of the window before you accelerate enough to keep up with it, do not be afraid to bring it back for another stroke, even if it means flying the kite in the opposite direction of travel for a moment. After your power strok down fly it back up to over your shoulder - but not behind you obviously. If you fly too far back, all is not OBE yet- just turn downwind a moment so the kite is not behind you, bring it forward and turn back upwind as it catches up with you to resume your power stroke. To you in the drivers seat it will look like a figure eight path, but to a static bystander it will look like a saw-tooth sine wave.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the new buggy.

Looking_Up - 25-5-2009 at 07:50 PM

Thanks for the advice

I am located in west texas so not really any where for good smooth wind unless i was able to pipe dream (earlier Post) I fly on a local school yard that is about 1000ft by 750ft so it has a decent size minus the few obsticals It is kept pretty well like a soccer feild and is pretty hard packed

as for my tires they ar 16 by 8.5 with a turf tread they also run on bearings already installed in the wheels not to shabby for 25 bucks a pop. and they have a 1" axles

I think that you are right angus about me not turning back towards the kite when the kite gets behind me but you kindoff forget about that the first trip out in the bug

also my kitesurfing is still in its infancy so if i get to the ocean once a year i am lucky, but i have been scouting the local lakes for an alternative to the ocean

by the way angus My little devil 4.5 is great for static because of the short lines ( i.e. its not in the window for long) but whould it be beneficial to me for the bug and boards to pick up a set of longer lines to keep the kite in the power stroke longer:bigok:

acampbell - 26-5-2009 at 05:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Looking_Up

I think that you are right angus about me not turning back towards the kite when the kite gets behind me but you kindoff forget about that the first trip out in the bug


completely understood. Things happen faster than you think and there is a lot going on. It took me a long time to figure out that you can change the location of the window and the kite relative to the buggy with momentary heading changes that work to your advantage.

I see it often with first-timers in the bug where they are so startled by the initial acceleration that they completely forget where the wind is coming from.

Quote:

by the way angus My little devil 4.5 is great for static because of the short lines ( i.e. its not in the window for long) but whould it be beneficial to me for the bug and boards to pick up a set of longer lines to keep the kite in the power stroke longer:bigok:


I forgot to respond to this- yes, longer lines or extensions will help to slow things down and lengthen your power stroke.

One thing I learned (still am) about flying in light air with larger foils is that you need to be mentally ahead of the kite by about half a wind window to keep things sorted out. Longer lines will give you a bit more time to think about it.