I got to take out my 16m Scorp last weekend. Only about 8mph wind.

Being brand new I was worried about it's rep' for being difficult at 1st. The issue with the intakes not opening was there all day. At 8mph the kite was struggling. Not taking a firm form . At about 10mph the kite took to life !!!! When the Scorpian had enough wind to hold it's shape it performed great ! A LOT more fast turning than I expected !

While good hearted folks assisted , they all had " ideas " about how to adjust it. I knew that they could play all they wanted but until I got enough air inside it I couldn't say their " adjustments " did anything.

The manual led me to think that if I am adjusting the straps to make up for low wind I go more loose on all straps ????

We get a LOT of 8mph wind days here.

How should I set my straps for these low winds ?

Is there an arc that performs well in 8mph ?

Well that's good to know that you got it flyin' in 10!! I'm going to purchase a battery powered air pump (the ones you get for camping mattresses), they're only like $15 :D. I'm hoping that will allow me to get it to fly in lower winds.


I look forward to any advice you receive on the low wind settings . I think you are right though, loose on all the straps? I too am new to the Scorp .

Try pigtales on the rear lines up at the kite, with knots at 3, 6 and 8". There was a thread on this here over a year ago and I remember it helped on my 10m Scorp. It tips the kite forward a bit of course and speeds it up in light winds. That helps inflation too.

Quick Q: Where can I get some line for the pigtails? I have no place that even knew what amsteel was here in idaho.... Where's a good place to order the line for them?

Are you near a lake or river that would support a marine store? Look for the sheathed spectra running line used in dinghys / small sailboats.

Light wind setup - Kite speed is the key:

All straps fully loose, depower strap fully pulled in all the way. Only pull in the bar to turn the kite and quickly let the bar out right after the turn. It's all about speed baby!

The reason - The Twinskins aren't really designed to be flown in super light wind conditions (less than 10mph would be considered light by myself - 8 mph for the largest twinskins). Any tension on the straps or in the chicken line will just cause the kite to stall out, killing any apparent wind / power the kite may be able to generate in the light winds. If you are flying the kite in anything less than 10 mph then you will be relying on apparent wind (kite speed through the window) to produce any type of pull / power or to even keep the kite in the air. Because of this, you need to allow the kite to fly as fast as possible to try and generate the maximum amount of apparent wind. Choking out the kite (stalling) will kill any speed and any possible power.

When the wind picks up to normal flying (above 10mph and stronger) all this changes and you can start to tweak the kite settings to start producing power from the current wind instead of trying to create power from apparent wind.

I have flown many Arc's in winds that were 3-10 mph, you have to do some serious work to get them up in the air and once you do, don't let the kite stall at all or it will fall. General rule of thumb for the Arc's, if you can fill the kite you can fly it. In the lightest winds we use a cordless leaf blower (Black & Decker model from the Depot for appx. 69.00 on sale) Fills even the 19 meters in appx. 30 seconds. In the lightest winds, don't bother with the side launch, just do a hot launch directly down wind to get the kite flying as fast as possible and get max air pressure inside the kite. NOTE** ONLY IN THE LIGHTEST OF WINDS!!!

Hope this helps.

Good info. Can't wait for my 16m Scorp to show up.

sometimes the intake flaps get caught under a strap watch for that. in light 8mph its about working the kite CONSTANTLY. once you get rolling KEEP MOVING. keep it higher in the window and quick deliberate turns right back to full power in bar if not set for unhooked. 8mph is doable just be ready for the WORK

I find the biggest trick is the shortest possible delay between filling and flying. Last time I had the Phantom out I struggled with it and rather than stopping to top it off I continued to struggle. Finally I dropped the bar, walked to the kite (that's how light the wind was) topped it off and quickly launched it (downwind hotlaunch). It was a delicate balancing act between yarding in on the front lines to get it to climb while watching closely and circumventing the TE tips bowtieing by letting the front lines out and giving a little pull on the bar only to immediately pull in on the front lines again and keep it climbing.

Once it was up it stayed for the most part but I had to fly the daylights out of it to keep the internal pressure up. I'd love to see a NEW PL and compare it's "air holding capabilities" compared to my experience thus far with them. They're OK for the most part but there are a few times when they deflate to the point where I need to crack a zipper again.

I've been flying my Scrop 16 for a bit now, and it seems to be quite the gutless monster. I had it out in 30knots, no problem. If I can get it going in 10mph, I'd be estatic! Wind report for tomorrow is 7-15, so I'll see what I can do with these low wind suggestions!

Thanks everyone!

AWOC , you confirmed most of my feeling / experience.

It needed a LOT of coaxing on the front lines as the day went on. It would auto zenith as soon as it had internal pressure.

Barnes, 30 kts on land or water ? I know Pablo would use his in 30 on water.

I don't think a 16m Scorpion should be gutless? Do you mean in light wind it's gutless?

The Scorpion kites are higher aspect ratio kites and you really need to fly the kite aggressively to get the most out of them. If you are a "Park & Ride" type of pilot then the Scorpions are not going to be that great of a kite. Another thing to check if you feel you are underpowered is to look at all of your setups. These kites thrive on apparent wind for their power, if you are choking the kite out then it won't be able to perform....you are holding the kite back from its full potential. Many people do this without realizing it by using a very short chicken line which is set for good depower but doesn't give you near the power capability because you cant power it up where it needs to be. Another thing to check is the internal straps. For moderate wind or in the average wind range for the kite, crank the straps in full or near full (shortest distance) and the kite will come alive. Last thing to check is to make sure your brake lines are not to short. If they have a ton of pressure on them then you again might be choking the kite and not letting it fly. The beauty of the Twinskins is that they will fly even if your setup is all screwed up. Don't be afraid to play around with the attachment points, internal straps and adjusting the lines to find out what works and what doesn't.

Speed is power! Fly the Scorpion aggressively by snapping it out of the turns and accelerating it hard, spank it around and it will come to life with power you never knew was there.

Hope that helps.

i quite enjoyed flying BR's scorpion in the light winds. we made some minor adjustments to the Top Bridle because we didnt have Brake line tensions at the time. with the limited wind we had, i could still get a short ride on the mtn board with it, and just love the Auto Zenith.

next on our list of kites is the Charger 19 / 24m

BR, maybe contact Nigel and find out where he got that mini fan blower.

PS. i have a Phantom 18 for you to play with too.

Kent is bang on with his comments. One of most common things I see - especially in light wind flying - is too many people let the kite fly the way it wants to. You need to be aggressive and really throw it around and get your arms moving working the bar in a rhythm to make that power and as soon as you have a hint of decrease in speed don't let the kite get to the edge, work it, turn - downward turn and get the airspeed up.
For all of the Arcs I've owned I've never been as much of a fan on the biggest sizes (above 15/16) or flying them in really light wind. But once the wind kicks in - love them. In the winter or on the water, it's great using them juiced and you have the bar pushed out and you are feeling a solid power, that's when you crank the bar, pull in and go for a major boost.
In the winter, using my 16 Scorpion it's got to be closer to 20 km (12.4 mph) before it starts to feel solid and then up to 40kmh (25 mph). Depends on conditions - sometimes it's just better to go a little smaller and you can go faster and handles better. Taking it on the water then add a little more to the windspeed again (depending on board and waves vs flat water etc)
In very light wind part of the problem is even less at ground level. Difficult inflation and then you gotta work the bar so much you can get more punch out of a large open cell foil. But if there is enough to get it flying, we get Jim's 19 Venom out on 150 foot lines and it a big sky anchor way up there - very slow to turn but you can get some long power strokes.
One other trick you can use for inflation in low wind - if you get a little air into it but not enough pressure to fill more than a third - zip it up, lay on the kite (upwind tip) the roll on the kite to push the bubble of air to the far end. Come back and open the zip and inflate that upwind end. You look like a kid playing on your kite but it does work - just don't put a hole in with your spreader bar hook.

If you find yourself struggling in gusty conditions on the launch - once you get a clean launch don't stand around static flying the kite in an area of turbulence. That's when you could run into trouble. Get moving, once you get a steadier airflow on the kite - the gusts aren't really noticeable anymore. You start to hunt for them to look for the power surge.

What do you guys tune your settings to (vpc knot and straps) when your wind is increasing to...lets say 20mph or more?

For internal straps, I always like to keep the shoulders at tight as possible because it does help with the turning speed and center strap middle setting or tighter...but...in high winds I usually start loosening up all three internal straps. If the wind is uncertain and very strong, all straps are wide open to dump out as much wind as possible. In the stronger winds, turning speed is usually never an issue at all. Just to clarify, this is when the kite is starting to get near its upper wind range and I start getting a little nervous about flying the size and can't quite decide if I should drop down to the next smaller size. In good solid strong winds, crank the straps tight and get ready for some awesome insane air time!!!

VPC setting is about the same. Strong winds I like as little bar pressure as possible with the greatest amount of depower (again, when I can't decide if I want to go down a size or fly fully lit up). In good solid winds I like a more neutral feeling with speed in the turns and solid feel.

The same goes for pretty much every size PL for the current wind conditions that size will be flown in.

It really does depend a lot on personal preference. There isn't really a "right" or "wrong" way to set it up, just what works for you and your style is what you need to do.

Hope that helps.

That was exactly what I was looking for thank you so much