Forecast for D.C. this weekend is some pretty good winds. 15-18 gusting to 25 mph. If the forecast holds true, this will be my first time in big winds. I've got a Twister II 4.1, and I'm looking to get some good jumps in. Any tips, pointers, and things to watch out for?

I usually watch for high kite speeds. If you double the kites speed, it quadruples the lift it produces, so keep that in mind when your sending it around the window.

Also, see how gusty the conditions really are (15G25 is on the high end for a constant/gust spread). I hate when i catch a great gust and then it stops haha and i fall more quickly than desired.

I would start making small maneuvers with the kite, and get used to how its pulling in those conditions. Then you can start to exaggerate those movements to build your way up to a jumping power.

Finally, have a plan if the kite luffs or stalls really bad, and is falling toward the bottom center of the wind window. A sudden relaunch from that spot can be rough (been there).

Let me know what you think!!

i agree completely flyboy. It was a 4m crossfire that lofted me 25 feet in the air because of exactly what you said. Winds were 20 gusting to 30.

you might want to jump over some soft sand if thats available.......

just take small steps until you get a feel for it... instead of a full run back the first few jumps... stay in one spot, swing the kite around and lean against the kite and jump... if the wind is nasty you can get a few good jumps just by doing that... after you hit a comfort level there, run sideways to the wind... the just keep altering your direction until you are booking it straight into the wind... then you'll hit some good jumps.

If you have a steady 18... man, you are gonna have a blast!!! I love my twister 5.6 at that speed... just watch those gusts, and if you start to feel overpowered at any time... pack it up! Better to be skunked than nuked!

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Originally posted by Drewculous Better to be skunked than nuked!

Yes I agree with that 100% :tumble:

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Originally posted by Drewculous run sideways to the wind... the just keep altering your direction until you are booking it straight into the wind...

What do you mean by this?

Yesterday, I went out in the field and set up the 4.1. Wind was probably around 8 but sometimes it would just die. About half an hour later the wind had picked up to 10-12. A lot of getting hauled around but not that many great jumps. Soon enough, the winds were 15-17 gusting to 20. Loads of power, and this is still my first time out in big winds. Just resting at the zenith, the kite was picking me up and pulling hard. I decided to go for a pendulum jump. Started running left and somewhat into the wind, and when I pulled the right handle for the first redirect, I saw the kite go zooming back to the right and I knew I was getting launched. Got ripped about 8 feet and I'm not sure if I did the second redirect or not but I was going out really fast and downward on the slower side. I crashed into the ground and let go of my kite, just to see the handles getting sucked away. I grabbed one before the kite went into the trees. A little bit shook up, but it was AWESOME. How can I prevent getting shot forward once I'm up in the air?

wind here are 25-35 with big gusts--no jumping today, but i might try to buggy if i can find a HUGE field......good day to fly my snapshot 1.2

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Originally posted by power How can I prevent getting shot forward once I'm up in the air?

get the redirects right, basically.

also you can set up for the jump higher in the window, the lower you go for your power the harder you'll get pulled downwind. start your run upwind a little earlier and don't dive the kite for power so much, but the less you dive the kite for power the less room you have for redirecting, you'll need to find an in between point that works for you.

but the higher the winds you fly in the harder you'll get yanked downwind because as soon as you leave the ground you start going downwind, and in the big winds it all happens a lot quicker.

if you were getting lofted at zenith you were rolling the dice, glad to hear you're alright!

hope that helps...

btw, here's a good video of a guy flying a small kite in big winds, i count seven tumbles in the surf on the last wipeout, but it all happens so quick you'll have to wait for the slo-mo replay before you can count the tumbles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNDYw-lAdRc

might be educational. be careful out there.

Also get some kite killers, seriously.

Went out again today and conditions were averaging about 16-18 gusting to 25. I know that is a little bit much for a 4m twister, but I was mainly just doing long scuds. The one jump I tried I moved the kite from about 11 to 2 o'clock and I got ripped about 8 feet before I let go. The landing didn't hurt (young knees) but I feel that I cant get lofted that high without shooting forward and smashing into the ground if I hold on until the landing. A couple questions: First of all, is this way too much wind for the kite and what I am trying to do (mainly jumping)? And secondly, if I had held on and done the redirect, what would have happened? Am I just getting scared and letting go or is this actually way too much power?

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Originally posted by power Went out again today and conditions were averaging about 16-18 gusting to 25. I know that is a little bit much for a 4m twister, but I was mainly just doing long scuds. The one jump I tried I moved the kite from about 11 to 2 o'clock and I got ripped about 8 feet before I let go. The landing didn't hurt (young knees) but I feel that I cant get lofted that high without shooting forward and smashing into the ground if I hold on until the landing. A couple questions: First of all, is this way too much wind for the kite and what I am trying to do (mainly jumping)? And secondly, if I had held on and done the redirect, what would have happened? Am I just getting scared and letting go or is this actually way too much power?

its fine if you do it on sand, but in a field you're might break something. i got a 5m and didnt let go in 25-30mph gusts and broke my collar bone

Sorry to hear that, sofa king, I hope all heals well.

Smaller kites can be very deceptive in a big wind. My 4m depower would prob. be the equivalent of a 2-something Fixed bridle. In a 30-40 gust, it jerked my up 4' or so and landed me on my (aging) hip.

It's the wind that takes you up but it's the kite's size what lofts you down...

Sofa King, did you do this after the buggy bash?? Hope you heal well, did you see the video of you I posted??

SofaKing - you just did this? Or were you talking about the past? Dang!

Lad your depower has the power of a 4m. The loss of depower is minimal. There is only a small bit of added drag. Now totally depowered it may be like a 2m.

Hmmm...the conventional wisdom has been that a depowers power rating is one or two sizes below that of a FB of the same size.

If you take a FB kite and convert it, your loss is only in the added weight and drag of the pully/line. The shape of the kite is unchanged at a netrual point on the bar. The angle of attack is then increased/decreased from this point. You will loose a touch of bottom end as you have extra weight/drag but the overall power of the kite is unchanged and sometimes can be increased a touch.
I am working on getting a kite to convert to a depower. Something that everyone has flown and knows. convert it to a depower and do a side by side test.

I guess the performance downgrade of depowers refers mostly to their low end.

You're working on a kite conversion...with a broken collarbone?

no thats sofa king

nah its all healed now, i broke it a long time ago

POWER i think your very brave or stupid a couple of weeks back i flew in considerable winds for the first time, they were constant 14 and 15 gusting to 20mph and i was on a wet field so i decided not to jump, i had the 4.5 Ace out, it was sooooo much fun but those 20mph are very scary to me, with the ace in the zenith i was HOVERING at times, even when i sat down i was still hovering!

I decided that i was over powered at the zenith and couldnt keep it up there for more than 5 minutes at a time due to my arms being slowly pulled from their sockets and the fact that i was running out of field very quickly, and i was on my own.

Eventually i gave up on flying standing up and decided to ruin the field by scudding on my arse, it was sooooooo much fun! People in the other field must have thought i was mad, i was just launching the kite and scudding to the other side of the field screaming like a girl. VERY FAST scudding, you know the kind that will rip you onto your face.

i was just ending up on the other side of the field in a few seconds then deploying the kks, walking the kite back and doing it all over again lol. I learnt ALOT that evening, recovering the kite in ways i didnt even know of or thought was possible. crazy fun.

Defo get some kks mate, its 90 percent safer lol and you wont lose your kite.

I know Jack. When the winds were gusting over 23 or 24 I was getting freaked out with my 4.1. Any shot to the zenith was a guaranteed lift. But now I've got a board so hopefully I'll be able to go out in those winds and just keep the kite low in the window.

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Originally posted by power I know Jack. When the winds were gusting over 23 or 24 I was getting freaked out with my 4.1. Any shot to the zenith was a guaranteed lift. But now I've got a board so hopefully I'll be able to go out in those winds and just keep the kite low in the window.

:o you will be travelling very fast buddy! Be careful, have you got full body armour? lol

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Originally posted by power I know Jack. When the winds were gusting over 23 or 24 I was getting freaked out with my 4.1. Any shot to the zenith was a guaranteed lift. But now I've got a board so hopefully I'll be able to go out in those winds and just keep the kite low in the window.

The problem with keeping the kite low in the window is that it generates a lot of side pull, which is an easy way to end up doing a belly-flop or a face plant. Take it from me, I did a nice belly-flop while I was at Wildwood.

Something that I forgot to mention when I sold you that board (and you may or may not have picked up elsewhere on this forum), make sure that you have the bindings loose enough that you can easily jump off the board. I would have had many more intimate encounters with the beach if I'd had the bindings too tight.

Yea I had a feeling that you wanted to be able to slip out real easy in case your gonna crash. But if you jump up and point your toes downward, how do you prevent the board from falling off your feet?

Scrunch up your toes ...