Can you fly a Power Kite in the Rain? Has anyone tried? Did it work?

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Originally posted by Bryan_Jarvis Can you fly a Power Kite in the Rain? Has anyone tried? Did it work?

if it was just rain, it might work, but rain frequently comes with lightning, so I don't imagine a lot of people want to fly a kite with 4 soaking wet, highly conductive lines a hundred feet in the air during a storm :-P

I would think that the rain, if heavy enough, would weight the kite down and keep it from flying very well.

I don't think it's recommended but i had my 2.4 crossfire out when it was light rain, back in March. we had a spell of no wind for like 2 weeks and i was itching to get out. the wind was 20mph and i just had to try it. I put on my old HQ lines that came with the kite, i didn't know if the rain would damage my flexifoil lines i replaced . Had a blast for about an hour and was all muddy from slipping all over the wet grass. Packed up went home and hung the poor wet raggy Crossfire in the garage out to dry. :D

wouldn't suggest it - I have and the kite becomes a big wet sock - the smaller the kite in stronger winds can handle it - but it can create a situation where the kite can get more damage from ground hits and just the stress of flying since the water on the fabric does not allow the air to move through it as easily - can start to tear up seams - something you really don't want to do.

I agree its not something I want to do, but it's possible.

Light rain / drizzle is no problem at all for a few minutes or more, but heavy rain will slow the kite down pretty quickly. I've flown for an hour at a time or so in lightish rains.

The wetter the kite gets, the more wind you'll need to keep it up, and after a certain point its not much fun anymore.

I fly on sand and so my kites will pick up a lot of sand while doing this, drying and cleaning can be a bit of a chore afterwards.

crashing wet kites is definitely bad, as ripstop nylon, especially as it ages, can get pretty weak and easy to rip when it is wet.

I'd say that if you are not crashing your kite at all and you don't mind the cleanup / drying out aspect, go ahead and find out what it's like for yourself, you won't be putting your kite a much risk.

Having said that, after a few flights you'll likely not bother with flying in rain unless you really really need to fly a kite for some reason...

Last summer some of us were out in a field and it started to rain. We did not hear any thunder so we continued to fly. It is possible to fly in the rain and we found that nasa wings do great. They do not collect water inside since they are only a single skin kite. The ones flying foils had a hard go of it but the nasa wings keep flying.

Susan (npw goddess)

rain... wind turns to less consistent
the lightening thing
that would be a big NO (X2)
your conditions selection would be poor if you choose it.
plus not only is all the gear wet, it will be muddy
fly your rig and keep dry jedi
i see electrical activity over the water and shoreline enough to know what to do like a reflex...shut down
respect it.

Thanks Everyone

I imagine a LEI kite would work fine though....?

yes they do work fine in wet conditions. but the THE PILOT isn't suitable for lightening.

This is true, but rain only, you would be fine, and I would imagine that the kite wouldn't do well with lightning either, it MIGHT melt......:duh:

OH NO THEY STOLE THE RATINGS!!!!!!