Check out 2x kiteboarding world champion Jesse Richman perform a 790-foot tow-up over the Colombia River Gorge in Oregon. This stunt has never been
accomplished by a kiteboarder before.
#jessetowup
Wow. One false move and that guy could have easily been killed.
:eekdrull:
I have seen similar feats done before, but in the cases of both these videos below, the kite was held still at the top like a paraglider wing, and
both pilots 'flew' as such.
thats just paragliding. he used a paragliding harness, a paragliding reserve chute. and... a very low performance wing (tubekite) :D
only interesting aspect is flight characteristics of a tubekite. if he would have experimented with different bar positions, would have measured
airspeed, would have tested stall behaviour, then this would have been something interesting. but what did he do? junst dangling around ...
i do no want to sound arrogant, but from a paraglider perspective his last sentence: "this is just a beginning" is ridiculous. towing has been around
for ages.
short follow up: flying with a tubekite on SHORT lines might be highly interesting. this could allow maneuvres not possible with todays paragliders.
a modern high-depower tubekite might enable to vary airspeed in a huge range . paraglider can just change airspeed via brakes around 15 km/h, with
additional feet-accelerator 25 km/h. what if a tubekite would allow to change speed interactively via brakes only in a range > 40 km/h ?
could you dive full speed, then pull brakes to generate massive lift, maybe flying a looping ? or all sorts of interesting dynamic figures...
experimenting this way would qualify for "stuntman". not what is shown in a above videos.
thats just paragliding. he used a paragliding harness, a paragliding reserve chute. and... a very low performance wing (tubekite) :D
only interesting aspect is flight characteristics of a tubekite. if he would have experimented with different bar positions, would have measured
airspeed, would have tested stall behaviour, then this would have been something interesting. but what did he do? junst dangling around ...
i do no want to sound arrogant, but from a paraglider perspective his last sentence: "this is just a beginning" is ridiculous. towing has been around
for ages.
Lets see the footage of you letting go from higher up, kiting down safely and landing it then???
You don't sound arrogant you just sound like a typical armchair critic. If you want to put a downer on it go and do something bigger and better. then
you don't need to speak.
you shouldnt have asked
i am doing - for the external viewer - rather boring paragliding on big but safe gliders.
no speed flying and stuff - thats for the advanced pilots. and that is what would be interesting with a tubekite: a tubekite flown as a speedglider on
short / no lines with rapid turns and high dynamics.
i do paragliding since 3 years now. here is a video just 1 week ago where i was hand tow launched in smooth but strong coastal winds (denmark):
i just started learning to get a feeling for those smaller speed gliders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo2fkoeT_pI
they are fast and twitchy - you really have to watch out not to make mistakes.
but ii failed. the hill's slope was not steep enough. i was just lifted for a split second. next time i am close to a coastline with smooth winds, i
will try that again, but this time with a modified bridle, because the using the default bridle of the zephyr forced the tubekite into a too-much
c-shape (because it was designed to be flown on 20 meter lines, at least). with a flatter shape , a steeper hill and a stronger breeze i am sure i can
soar that thing.
Just curious , how high does the average paragliding tow up take you ?
790ft is a record for kite board . For that and SOooo many other things Jesse gets my full respect. I am not certain but think he also holds the
longest kite jump time record? King of the Air 2013 . Both in competition and the things he is pulling off on his tour.
I find it confusing that you knock him for saying " this is just the beginning " and then go on to explain how he could have done it different. He did
it different in that he went higher than anybody before ? Learned a lot about looping etc. on his way down , no doubt ! I think he is thinking on the
same lines as you ? He wasn't so much paragliding as repeat kite looping to lose vertical from my perspective ? He was rarely gliding ?
Sooo...
I was wondering when Alex Peterson might show up on this thread....
I'm responding in this thread not to bash, but to hopefully help any bashing from occuring.
Alex is a friend of mine. He used to live in my town, and we use to Paraglide together. As some might know, he started as a kite skier and helped
start the whole gliding thing with kites back in Utah.
To my point:
When Alex did this at our local "little" paragliding site, it caused a bit of a stir. Many were afraid that it could jeperdize the site (myself
included). I actually spoke to him about that. His reponse was that we're all pushing the limits to some degree, and if he hurts himself he's the one
to take the consequences. After getting to know him quite well, I began to have a good deal of respect for him as a person and an athelete.
Fast forward a couple of years...
I was paragliding this very site and screwed up and had a fall of around 30-40 feet. (bit of history on me: been paragliding around 10 years - and
kiteing the same amount). But needless to say, I stalled my wing, fell, and was pretty hurt.
Alex was at my side immediately and stayed there through. I'll never forget his face above mine.
Here's my thoughts:
Guy's like Alex and this other guy like to push things a bit harder than me.
Mostly they think the're stuff through pretty hard and are aware of the consequnces.
When normal people heard of my paragliding accident, many thought I was "crazy".
I kinda think that it's all just a matter of perspective.
Para gliders have layers and layers of redundancy. This guy was in a situation where failure of most any part of the flying system is total failure.
I'm ok with that if he was wearing a parachute.
Coastal Wind Sports Team Rider Landsegler Disc wheels
PTW Hero Buggy - XXtreme ApeXX Buggy US 88 - Libre Hardcore IvanpahBuggyExpo.com Youtube link
Bob Muse
HQ Montana X 8m, Montana IX 12m, HQ Ignition LEI 5m,
PL Phantom 12m, 15m, Big Blu 24m+, Synergy 10m, Venom 10m, 13m , Phantom II 12m Vapors 3.8, 5.4, Crosskite Sonic 7m, PKD Combat 10.3m
Uturn Butane 2.5m PKD Buster 3m Genetrix Hydra 7m Ozone Yakuza GT 14m
from a kiter's perspective this is indeed a huge achievement. it is the highest tow, and he was perfectly prepared with a safe harness and reserve
chute.
please let me explain my "frustration" with the video from Jesse: i am waiting for soo long to see a tubekiter flying in a forward position on
short(er) lines. with flying i mean real flying, similiar to that what is shown perfectly by sylvain on the dune de pyla:
or what Alex Peterson showed , soaring that ridge with his tube. that is skill and perfection and gives respect seen through the eyes of a paraglider.
but instead jesse was more testing looping the kite to get down. thats fine, but not what i was hoping for. i am very much looking forward for new
experiments done by him and others, testing the flying characteristics of tubekites.
again, sorry for my above posts, i was just hoping for a little more flying action and advancing of the experimental kite gliding sport.
I was pretty sure you were just excited about the topic all along.
I only hoped to point out that you and Jesse are sort of on the same page. He is just coming at it from a much different angle than Alex or Armen and
a paragliding background.
I respect these people who push the limits because they have done the background work. I remember when paragliding was dangerous and sex was safe !
![[*]](images/perspective/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
)