Just got back in from my 4th time out with the Rage and i've finally managed to take it out in half decent wind, slightly on the weak side if anything and keep it up for 10-15 minutes twice... I had a few 'unplanned' landings, but also managed to prevent far more by teasing the kite back up. Is this normal in weak (4-6mph) winds?

Also, is it normal for the kite to really pull even in this kind of wind when approaching Zenith at 12?? Felt like it was gonna lift me a couple of times and had to brake hard to prevent it.
(Sorry for asking so many questions, but you guys have been really helpful so far!)

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Originally posted by fulhamatt Is this normal in weak (4-6mph) winds? Also, is it normal for the kite to really pull even in this kind of wind when approaching Zenith at 12?? Felt like it was gonna lift me a couple of times and had to brake hard to prevent it.

I would say yes to the first question. Seems normal to me.

As for the 2nd question, without more facts it is hard to say. But it doesn't seem normal to me for such low wind. Usually not much lifting going on at Zenith in 4-6 knots. But the questions I have are.......How big is your Rage? How are you measuring winds? What kind of location are you kiting in.

My guess is that you had stronger prevailing winds at Zenith than at ground level. I have been at ground level and felt very little wind but because of obstacles around me experianced much stronger winds in flight.

To jump you fly the kite up past zenith with speed. Speed is the key. If your kite is sitting at the edge it should hold reduced power. Fly it at the ege and it is a different game.

The kite should just sit at zenith and all along the edge if the wind is right for the kite. Too much pull when it is at the edge and it is time for a smaller kite.

Pull is produced by strong wind or the kite moving fast - if you fly it 'up' to the zenith fast, yes it'll pull some kites pull up (lifty) more and some pull out (side pull) more ...
4-6mph is barely enough to keep it in the air unless it's real clean wind ... smaller kites fly faster due to less drag from bridle lines etc so often pull more than you'd think.

The Rage i'm flying is a 3.5m and to be fair, the wind was probably more like 6-10mph, when it was at it's slowest i was struggling to keep the kite up and when it was at it's fastest, the kite wasn't overpowering me, but seemed very very eager to fly up to zenith rather quickly.

Where I was flying, there were some obstructions which started off about 40 metres up wind, but ended up only about 10 metres behind me (this coincides with the kite really pulling at zenith, so i'm guessing the obstructions could have been causing the wind to change...?)

doesn't sound like great wind.

find a beach!

but yeah, if it's moving fast as it approaches the zenith, it'll give you a good bit of power.

and yes, inland you'll often have better wind up where the kite is.

windshadow often has the effect of producing lumpy wind with gusts significantly stronger than the prevailing wind. the lumpiness makes the flying difficult in general, but the gusts often have a couple seconds of clean fast air in them which can make the pull quite hard and unpredictably.

don't know if that sounds like what you were experiencing.

the 2.5 rage I've flown was pretty good at the edge of the wind window, not super stable, but it could take a bit of shaking and abuse and still sit there.

in gusty winds, the edge of the wind window will shift about too much, and one can't let the kite sit at the edge....

sounds like you're having fun, keep on flying! get those hours in! they make all the difference!

My 4.7 has lofted me when I've been caught not paying attention to it and letting it zoom to the zenith. Saved me once actually cuz it started to drag me and I was standing upwind of the buggy. I gave a little shuffle-step-hop to clear the buggy and landed about 15 feet downwind.

Don't be intimidated though - the Rage isn't generally thought to be a lifty kite. You do need these things to happen though so that when it happens again (and it will) you know what you need to do.