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If you are flying in gusty inland winds have you thought about nasa wings. Susan (npw goddess)

No I hadn't, I would like to try one out.

high wind kites should also be high AR as well. if youre going at speed the last thing you want is more drag or the kite not keeping up with your speed.

I don't think that high wind kites always need to be high aspect kites. A slightly lower AR kite in high winds would be more manageable and less twitchy to give a similar feel to a slightly larger kite in lighter winds. Just because a kite is lower aspect, I don't think overtaking the kite would be a serious problem. It depends on the level of the rider. Not everyone is comfortable at 45mph+ in 20mph winds. They might want to use a smaller low AR kite for high winds to stay safe and keep their ground speed in check.

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high wind kites should also be high AR as well. if youre going at speed the last thing you want is more drag or the kite not keeping up with your speed.

If you're an expert flyer and racer, ok... for us guys that don't have your skill, the more forgiving the kite in high winds the better. Personally, my 1.5m Nasa Star 2 is now my goto 30 knot + kite. It's a lot calmer than my small low AR foils in high wind and gives me the confidence to fly in really crappy conditions. Sure, it is not fast, but if I can't feel safe and in control in 30 knots and up then I figure the risk isn't worth the reward.

Quote: Originally posted by ripsessionkites

high wind kites should also be high AR as well. if youre going at speed the last thing you want is more drag or the kite not keeping up with your speed.

Rip, you sold me a Reactor II 2.2m kite that you had for flaky high winds. You even explained to me why you had it. It was custom colored to match your vapors.

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Quote: Originally posted by ripsessionkites   high wind kites should also be high AR as well. if youre going at speed the last thing you want is more drag or the kite not keeping up with your speed. Rip, you sold me a Reactor II 2.2m kite that you had for flaky high winds. You even explained to me why you had it. It was custom colored to match your vapors.

that's when you were a pansy pink skirt (when you moved to LAS).
I sold everything smaller then a 2.7m

my smallest kite now is the Quantum 3m

Quote: Originally posted by ripsessionkites

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob   Quote: Originally posted by ripsessionkites   high wind kites should also be high AR as well. if youre going at speed the last thing you want is more drag or the kite not keeping up with your speed. Rip, you sold me a Reactor II 2.2m kite that you had for flaky high winds. You even explained to me why you had it. It was custom colored to match your vapors. that's when you were a pansy pink skirt (when you moved to LAS). I sold everything smaller then a 2.7m my smallest kite now is the Quantum 3m

Well, you gotta ask who's kite was it first? And indeed I was a scared pansy pink skirt when I moved here. My smallest kite I have now is my 2.7 Vapor. What's the smallest size quantum Ozone makes? Please make it to IBB so we can have some laughs!

Quote: Originally posted by ripsessionkites

high wind kites should also be high AR as well. if youre going at speed the last thing you want is more drag or the kite not keeping up with your speed.

For me, speed is not of concern, so I find the opposite to be true. Here in North Ga the higher the wind speed is, the more unstable it is. As the wind speed increases it gets more gusty, shifty and generally cruddy (I call it "janky"). Given that higher AR kites are less stable, I tend to do better with lower AR kites in high wind.

Case in point, I had a out a 3m HQ Toxic (4.5 AR) and a 2.6m PL Viper S (3.85 AR) in a 14-17 ish mph eastern wind flying static recently. I couldn't get any marked performance out of the Toxic because it kept shimmying in the unstable wind and luffing in the shifts. However the Viper was cranking like a Mac truck, it was munching the gusts and handling the shifts without problem... I subsequently sold the Toxic to 3shot. I know its a great kite, it just wasn't performing in my conditions.

All that being said, I'm not a fan of LOW AR kites,... I like Mid/high AR kites... I like to have kites that are both stable and have good upwind ability. I have both the 2.6m Viper and a 4m PL Core (3.75 AR ... I think). The Core is my favorite and both perform REALLY well in my Janky wind and move upwind really well too.