Hey Randy, what wheels are those on the board? Are you using skate board trucks?
I have a land sail board also. This is what I use for wheels. But I am always looking for maybe better ones. The 4" wheels are for pavement. The 8"
wheels are for hard packed sand. The 10" wheels are for grass and looser sand.
I scrounged them from a couple of scooters/sliders. My idea was that they would have less rolling resistance than a skateboard wheel because of the
diameter and also be easier to roll over twigs etc. They seem to work pretty well, though I'm not sure if they are a lot better than regular
skateboard wheels. They do seem to ride smoother over rough asphalt.
You can also get ones that are about the same from companies that sell wheels for medical rehab scooters used for people recovering from foot or leg
injuries.
You might look around Goodwill, Craig's List, etc for used "Sliders" or Trikke scooters or similar. You might find one for less than the price of a
single wheel. Unfortunately, they come with 3 wheels so you may still need to buy another.
Jack - do a search here and on extremekites for "granny wheels" - there are a few threads about those. They still don't work in powder sand, but you
can definitely get going through softer wet sand that would hang up the 8" wheels.
Randy - I looked around my local CL and Goodwill nothing available at the moment but I will keep an eye out. I am not in a hurry.
Jeff - I watched the video really cool... Where did you get your set of "granny wheels"?
I was hoping for a some good wind this weekend, but it looks like is going to be raining here. I would be ok with some snow too, I have a new toy to
try out. With a kite or downhill.
Randy - I looked around my local CL and Goodwill nothing available at the moment but I will keep an eye out. I am not in a hurry.
Jeff - I watched the video really cool... Where did you get your set of "granny wheels"?
I was hoping for a some good wind this weekend, but it looks like is going to be raining here. I would be ok with some snow too, I have a new toy to
try out. With a kite or downhill.
But no, just lots of rain....
Cool. Where did you get the blue skids? (I guess that is what you call them).
These will fit a 8mm axle... I had to drill out to 9.5mm to fit the MBS trucks..
After mounting the ski would spin/rotate around, so I added some bungee cord to keep the skis for rotating. Oh, and the spacers are different.
I got them on ebay:
10"x3" (3.00-4, 260X85) Pneumatic Mobility Tire with Spirit Ribbed Tread (Primo)
But I'm sure you can get them cheaper if you look around. I was face planting a lot at the time so I didn't look around too much and wanted them
quick. I think any 10" wheelbarrow tire would work just as well, and less expensive.
My only problem with them was the height it raised the board caused speed wobbles. I just tightened the trucks. Your board looks like it drops, so you
shouldn't have that issue.
Not too long after the wheel upgrade I acquired a Flexboardz Haize, and have not touched the granny wheel board since - though as a winter project I'm
going to fit the grannies on the Haize and see how that goes.
Your ski board looks fun, though not sure what the advantage of it over a snowboard would be. Pop those skis on a bug! Someone makes boards like that
with metal skates for ice - I assume that's where the bungee idea came from? If not, look those up for inspiration. There's a video explaining the
bungee I think. I forget what they're called (hey, that's helpful Jeff!).
Jeff I will hunt around for those grannie wheels... secondly, I have never been on a snow board so can't really compare. Only advantage that comes to
mind is no special boots and if you have a mountain board the skis cost $30. Oh and the cool dad factor as you pass 10 year olds sledding down hill.
Ok, I'm a day late. Yesterday rode kite buggy at the fairground. One of the most "wicked" days for wind I can remember. Lots of sudden nasty gusts,
sudden holes, direction changes, etc.
Started out NPW 21 underpowered. Went to NS 2 7.0 - overpowered. Next NS 2 5.5, at first was ok but then overpowered. Ended up with my kite in sort
of thorny bush. Pulled it out but it was too tangled to use (and I was afraid it was ripped up). So I went to 3.75 NPW 21 - underpowered. Went back
to NPW 21 5.0, mostly underpowered.
As it turns out the 5.5 looks ok. I wish the same was true for my thorn poked fingers.
randy, you now have a VENTED npw! oddly, i was going to ask about those. today, actually.
using the rev idea, why aren't there vented peaks or npw's? why not just have the same size sail, bridles, and bars, and just change the
effectiveness of the sail?
of course, i'm not saying ONLY one size kite, like a 12m nasa made with spaghetti straps to make it equal a 2.5 nasa. but 3 or 4 sizes could likely
equal a dozen sizes.
i gotta believe that with the types of materials available today, there something that could be used as the mesh component that could easily handle
any loads thrown at it.
just wondering. fire away...
tom
Not sure I fully understand venting, but seems like you would be changing kites to adjust to the wind, and it wouldn't matter if they were vented or
not. It would still take the same amount of time to change to a smaller kite or to a larger vented kite. I don't really why a vented NPW wouldn't
work though. Riffclown has built lots of mesh Rev type kites and they seem to fly great.
Got a more proper flight in with the 8.2 M NPW 21 this morning. It is big, but seems a lot smaller outside than it did in my house. Spent most of
the morning learning to ride by skateboard with the wing. I'll how the video turned out.
Not sure I fully understand venting, but seems like you would be changing kites to adjust to the wind, and it wouldn't matter if they were vented or
not. It would still take the same amount of time to change to a smaller kite or to a larger vented kite. I don't really why a vented NPW wouldn't
work though. Riffclown has built lots of mesh Rev type kites and they seem to fly great.
The main purpose of the mesh or venting is to reduce force over surface area. Seems counter intuitive to me when it comes to traction kiting. It does
have the side effect of slowing down the kite a bit overall so I can see a larger say 4M single skin vented to produce 3M level of pull. It could make
controlling the beast a bit easier.. For buggying, little kites absolutely rock in high winds but they are rarely the "relaxing" experience you get
with some of the much larger sails in lower winds.. Cruise vs. Sprint, I guess would be the obvious comparison.
Also FWIW, I can't think of a very practical way to vent anything other than a NPW or single skin as an inflatables or foils would introduce a drastic
change in wing shape as well.
I also think this would be for fixed bridle since the sheeting action of a depower might lessen the effect of the bars position in and out..
Since you mentioned Meshes, I'll share that I finished my stack today..
stuck in the tree on the first flight?! that sucks!
just kidding. i absolutely love the shimmering light effect of the sun behind that fabric.
keep up the great work!
tom
Got out yesterday for some chilly and gusty practice on the surfboard. Finally nailed toeside, still working on jibes, but will get that down shortly
I think.
![[*]](images/perspective/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
We need to see those all stacked up in the sky Riff....
