Way to go guys! You both win!!

nope, we won't subscribe to the new age everyone's a winner philosophy. The race will continue, even if I have to switch to skis :D

Spencer. Was stropping into the AQR too much that day? Just curious. I noticed a lil' obe action there. In janky wind, mine is more trouble than its worth.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Cool video Randy, you captured his obe. Also, is that a standard atb your on. The wheels look large.

Thanks. That is my ancient "Terrasailor" (late 90's vintage) which I used with my windsurfing sails for a long time. Has 10 inch tires. The trucks are shot - I had to make some parts to fix them myself. The product is no longer made.

I got a regular atb last spring and started out with it yesterday but I thought maybe the bigger tires would help so I switched. It seemed that it did. Then again, maybe the wind just picked up.

Jason,... I'm finding that flying stropped really does (as they say) help your build down more kite. Thise winds were reasonably big in the gusty spots, and almost exactly the same as the wind I did my first buggy runs with the 3.5m. That OBE only happed because I had the kite too high in the window while trying to turn... The lift got me.

I really just had to tough it out and hold off my nerves once or twice, and now I can't imagine not stripping in. I also have to constantly remind myself to hold the handle with my hands fully under the power leaders, rather than with the leader between my index & middle finger. That really helps when you feel the need to drop the kite to crank on the brakes.

Was just curious if you are preferring the conventional spreader, or the AQR method for the inland janky

I really didn't like the bullet spreader... I use the QR cuz It feels safer to know I can yank that quick release and know I'm good. I don't have it set up with the auto yank strap, but I feel good about how changing the grip can make a big difference in getting the kite grounded in a sticky situation.

I gotcha..

If work schedule allows, I'm going to try again tomorrow. Snow melted today and is suppose to freeze tonight and tomorrow. Friday is no wind, then warm and rainy for the weekend. Tomorrow might be my only chance for awhile.

If the forecast stays as it is, I might get a try on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, but the forecast pretty much always changes over that much time.

I'll have the whole family out the Saturday after Thanksgiving for tandem rides... If there's wind... Maybe I'll talk wifey into going to the BIG field.

Now it's a race! 21.4 mph today. That's with a kite that looks like a red and white pillow.

Field was frozen and fast with ice and snow patches. Wind was up and down but enough to pull ahead.

Video and pics to follow.

Your turn spencer.

As soon as I can, I will!!!

Good work Sean!! Glad your surface conditions improved! Give us some more details... Red and white pillow I'm guessing is the 5.5m?

What kinda jank were you flying in?

Monday and Tuesday are both looking VERY promising!

Yep the 5.5 ns2. The kids have the computer tied up so I can't upload anything yet. I started off by checking my tire pressure before I left. They barely registered so I put about 25psi in them so they wouldn't slow me down before I left which probably made the small difference I needed to get past 20. I tried the wind meter that wg gave me and it was reading about 12 at ground level but intellicast had the winds 15 gusting to 23. Just guessing, I would say the actual wind was lulls of 9 and gusts of 20 with anything between. So pretty janky. The ground had barely re-frozen and there was a thin layer of ice crust on top of grass so the conditions could have been a little better but they were light years better than Monday. I pulled the safety on my fastest run because I was headed to a depression between fields for run off and I was worried I would get stuck. I ended up with a nasty bridle tangle somehow and that was all the time I had. It was awesome conditions for sliding and fun. I was slipping sideways at speed which made it exciting but made it difficult to edge back up wind. My helmet cam footage wasn't as exciting as I had hoped because it didn't have the front wheel in view to see the sliding. I need a rear axle mount like you have.

I'm hoping the forecast holds for early next week... Looking at 17 and 18mph winds, which really doesn't EVER happen here... The wind's been awesome this fall... Glad I didn't sign up for classes til January

It's going to warm up, rain through Monday and I'll have soggy fields for a week. So it's going to be a little while for me.

If you get 17 winds forecast are they accompanied with gusts in the mid to high twenties? That's how mine always are when we get decent wind forecast.

Yep... 17/18 gusting up into the mid to high 20's... And 65 degrees to boot!

Monday shows rain in the morning, but at 65 with that kind of wind, it'll be dry by lunchtime. Tuesday looks good too, 15/17 gusting to low/mid 20's but about 20 degrees cooler in the mid 40's.

Pre thanksgiving blitz

But also take into account that that's 4 and 5 days away... Very likely to change.

Video of attempts 1 and 2

I use kite tracker for gps, thats why I was checking the phone at the end and I got to try out the secondary release.

So much drag in that heavy grass. You need something big with some torque. I've never flown a nasa wing, so I don't know how well they make power per size. The principles regarding AR must apply to them though.

I've found that I'm faster with my nasa in high drag grass than with my vipers. The problem with the vipers is I have to constantly maintain the brakes to keep it in the optimal part of the window. Or I have to work it and if it gets too far in forward at all then I lose momentum. If I get a sustained gust, than its fine, but I still have only been 19 mph with the viper and I flew it quite a bit. The nasa is supreme when you need lots of low end to muscle through high drag areas. I wasn't expecting them too, but on average, I'm going much faster in a consistent manner with the nasas. I'm sure in a wide open smooth area, the viper would kill the nasa on the top end. I consider the nasa wings to be a 5 speed stick with only the first 3 gears. However, I haven't been able to get the viper out of 3rd gear in my fields which is why I prefer the nasa for my specific wind and field conditions every time. I could probably get more out of the vipers by hooking in when the winds up, but I generally only hook in when the winds are more in the middle due to the gust factor.

I give Spencer much respect for slinging his reactors around stropped in inland wind.

Edit: I might also add, that my problem with foils might have more to do with pilot error. :dunno: :embarrased:

Nice work Sean!... That field looks awesome!

I'm only just now getting comfortable stropped in... I actually feel like I can take the gusts better when stropped because I'm taking it in my whole body weight rather than just the strength of my arms... It took getting used to and I really only feel dialed in with it about 2 months ago.

My chances Monday and Tuesday are diminishing

It was fantastic fun field conditions, I wish I had more time. Basically, the whole time I was moving forward I was also slipping slightly, even at a downwind angle. If it wasn't for the soft layer of grass between the ice crust and the frozen ground, I think I could have gone faster.

What the video doesn't capture, is even when I was barely moving with the 2.5, It was pulling like a truck to pull me through the soft snow.

Awesome Sean!! I'm very impressed with your NASA progression. I've got a lot of catching up to do...

Join the race Jason!

Quote:

Join the race Jason!

I'm going to give it another go tomorrow, but chances will be few and far between after that. School is coming up and my workload is doubling pretty quick... will share my results afterward of course.

Good luck Spencer! Hopefully conditions will be good for you. It's raining here. We had decent wind and no rain yesterday but I had too much stuff to do.

Yea, it looks like it's going to be very gusty tomorrow. Tuesday is not so gusty but lighter wind.. I'm going to try tomorrow but if it's too nuts, I'll call it quits.

Ok, I got up to 21.1 mph today.



I got to the park and pulled out the 5.5m seeing Windfinder was showing 11mph. I knew this wouldn't get me there, but I hoped I'd catch a good gust to shoot me up to 27.

The wind all but died, until I had decided I was about to pack up... Then it showed up and gave me my fastest ride at Swift Cantrell park to date.

Got some GoPro footage which I'll post as soon as I can cull throught it.