Got my twister a couple weeks back, and every day that had some soft winds ive been out, i have a goofy sunburn to prove it too!

Anyway, went out in my first 'good' wind day. My prior days were really just 'barely enough wind to fly the kite.' Seemed like the smart way to get into these big kites. well this weekend i had some actual wind, id say 12-15 with some good even gusts. Got really good at scudding, i bet on sunday i scudded a mile or more through out the afternoon. Well the wind started goin a little more and i figured ill try a few jumps. My first dozen or so attempts were a little more than funny hops, but i finally nailed one. I was really concentrating on the re-direct aspect, so im not really sure how high i was(couple feet at most im sure), but i had a good 8 sec hang time, and a REALLY soft landing. It was really cool, and a really odd sensation, ive never done an 8 sec jump before.
:wee:

so ya, slow and steady is the best way to get into this, i think if Sunday would've been my first day out, id prolly be in the hospital and cursing the day i bought that kite... but now im really happy, and still ridin' that cloud!
:singing:

I thought it'd be good to post a positive first jump, and not the typical 'i did something stupid' speech so often found here... Happy flying!

How much do you weigh? I am trying to decide between a 5.6 or 7.7 on a bar. Any suggestions? Was is gusty where you were flying?

8 seconds seems like some great hangtime.

are you sure about an 8 second hang time? I jump 10+ feet regularly and am rarely up that long if ever.

there's probably a bit of adrenalin-fueled time dilation in the mix... I know from my videos that the subjective impression of the jump is usually about fifty percent larger than the real thing! ie what feels like a ten footer is barely head-high....

just a suggestion -- maybe a little of that affect in there.... 8 secs is looooong hangtime!

if true, i'm very envious-- I've had a couple ice floaty bits, but nothing like 8 secs, more like 3 or 4, so 2 or 3 in reality.....

very nice,


keep on flying!

quite true furbow. What I think is like 20 feet is sometimes only 12

Sounds like me doing wheelies on the bike ... "Man I musta been scrapping the rear mudgaurd I was up so high" ... "Dude, the front wheel never left the ground - all you did was extend the forks"

Still - feeling good is good enough

i get the time dialation thing...and now that im counting in my head it prolly wasnt 8 sec, but it was real floaty, and really soft landing. I doubt i was over 2 ft in the air, but there was some distance traveled, how far, im not sure, but now that you got me thinkin 4-5sec is much more realistic, and 'feels' right when i count.

gbboy, im 230lbs and 6'2", where im at i think a 7.7 would be signing a death wish. Winds are always gusting, and our average wind speed is 10mph, gusting to 20. I really have to pay attention when kiting not to get in over my head. Wind speed today is listed as 10-30 winds, gusts to 40. It sucks because i could see a 'window' of perfect wind, but i know it wont last. The 5.6 keeps me in a good mix, so to speak, i can do the light breezes, and i can stand some gusts. But that 7.7, i would get one gust and be toast.
if this is your first power kite, get a smaller one. That 5.6 may not be the biggest out there, but at times it is comparable to flying a Mack truck. If you dont know what to expect, this kite will be no fun.

way to be realistic, and crush my dreams
i still had fun tho, and i can still walk, lol

Quote:

Originally posted by Drewculous i still had fun tho, and i can still walk, lol

I can't really after today, so be happy:P

Took the kite out the other day during a stint of calmer winds, and got some really sweet jumps! I had a friend there to get some video, but we only had a phone, so it all kinda sucks (quality-wise).

But i did a 360 in the air, and had a couple jumps in the 5' neighborhood.... verified by third party... furbowski... lol! I had about 20 jumps in the 2-3' range, the wind was just a hair too light. i didnt even botch a landing the whole day! It was a riot. Cant wait to get back out there and jump some more!!

If i can get around ill put up my first few jumps, they are kinda lame, but it was a blast

Sorry to hear about your injury ike, get better soon!