if in really high wind ill either start sitting and get dragged 100ft on my butt as i launch, launch from the side and fly diagonally up to the zenith, or launch and fly LOW and limp to the edge of the window and then cross up to the zenith. i'll probably just launch from the side to begin with as its the easiest.

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Originally posted by piku303 i'll probably just launch from the side to begin with as its the easiest.

And by far the safest !

Your butt won't stay on the ground for a nanosecond hot launching this one !!!! Honest !!

You no longer will go downwind but UP in the air ( using the wrong method ) with those moves :wow:

agree with BR. The ace is remarkably gentle on hot launch I find, so it won't prepare you for the blade, which has like double the vent area of the ace and will inflate instantly!

ok no "hot butt" launches for me

Yup interesting reading for sure. Make sure you have a camera on you at all times. Will make for good YouTube videos and we might have to add your city to Ft. Lauderdale.

Seriously, in one of your earlier posts you mention you will pack up when you "feel" you are getting out of control. WRONG ANSWER!!! Always pack up before you get that feeling!!!!!!

Kite killers is a hot topic. For me there is no reasonable reason to use them. You should already be far enough upwind of anyone and anything that letting go of the kite will be no problem. If you use killers it can put the kite in a partly powered death spiral. It can also rip the brake bridles out of the kite or snap something else.

I can launch the biggest and longest jumps with my 8.5 meter Quadrifoil. On my 10.5 Blade I get scared when jumping waves. The height is huge and the float is tremendous. Wish I had video. Here's another picture of me kitesurfing with a 7m kite in light wind (this is from almost 10 years ago wow I'm getting old!) Hint-no whitecaps. Look at the take off point.

I'm not convinced this is the kite for you after flying a 4 meter for awhile. But I don't know you. Just make sure your on camera.

Scott

"we might have to add your city to Ft. Lauderdale."

whats that mean?

ill be sure to keep the camera on, but honestly guys you dont understand how low my wind is...

Ft. Lauderdale is the city where the guy almost killed himself flying a kite that was to big for the conditions (among other things wrong). Got lofted and slammed into a building and was all on video. Made headlines coast to coast.

That incident has had reprocussions in my area. At one spot the land is owned by a corporation and they now require proof of insurance and wavers etc etc etc. Basicly closed the spot down.
Scott

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If you use killers it can put the kite in a partly powered death spiral.

Hey Scott...don't doubt you, just can't visualize how this can happen...(i.e. what sequence of events would need to happen in order for this to occur?) please explain...

EOHJ....

when you let go to killers on a big kite it can break the bungee on the killers, but it will only break one, it rarely breaks both at the same time. Then you've got the kite by one line, which will throw it into a spiral. Yes, it's just a brake line, so it won't be powered. But if it's a big kite in biggish winds -- the situation in which you're most likely to want to let go to the killers -- it won't be completely depowered and it will spiral like crazy. the bigger the wind, the longer it takes to fall to the ground. And if it is a big kite, it can still be pulling pretty hard, making it difficult to reach up and grab the velcro on the killer to release yourself from the kite.

pretty sure that's what scott had in mind...

hahah very funny...i will not be added to the ft. lauderdale list...like i said before tuscaloosa winds are LOWWWWW... its usually either super crappy low or close to 20mph. use blade for super low, ace for 20mph winds...

Yup, that's what I had in mind. I didn't think of a broken bungee but it can happen. Here is a picture of a finger that got caught up in a partly depowered death spiral like we are talking about. Not due to kite killers but from a similar thing. We used to put long leader lines on our handles so there would be something to grab to "kill" the kite. The same principle of using kite killers. Well this time my friend missed and only grabbed one brake line leader. The other line broke and his hand got caught up in the death spiral. This is from 1999. Still lots of power in this situation.

I would rather worry about one of the actual brake bridle lines to pop or pull the whole brake bridle set off the back of the kite when you activate the killers.

But a broken bungee can happen also.

Scott