Out on the lake last night, trying to jump as high as possible :D screwed it up and the kite must have powerdived the kite straight into the water although I don't know exactly what happened cos I ended up head underwater, ass in the air

Anyway, relaunched and it looked and flew a bit strange so I rode back to shore, landed and inspected.

Damage results ...
One of the A bridle lines had sheared the knot of the little connecting line so I replaced that but ...
An internal rib has been ripped in half.
The spare part line on the RHS was running on the core only :o

Repair time

Say, when the kite is headed straight down, what's the best plan of action to slow it's divebomb? Haul the bar in or just let it go? Cos I let go the bar and I think it might have been a mistake

Pull the safety? Kite would lose a lot of power very quickly potentially saving cells from bursting or seams opening. Course, I don't quite know anything about your kite.

SO sad!

Silver arrow and a broken heart!

Sounds like the break away tab worked as designed ? I noticed the Speed III we demo'd didn't have blow outs. Weight reduction? Is it the same with yours ?

Does the NON-deluxe version of Speed III have blow outs? Seems like a good example of why they are there?

Going to safety would work but I doubt I could pull it quick enough ?

Got blow-out valves but the ripped rib is about halfway between the left most BOV and the LH tip ... but I don't know if the bridle line breaking is what caused it or me relaunching it ...

I've nosedived it a few times and wondered how best to reduce the force it hits the ground with :D

Quote:

Originally posted by Kamikuza Got blow-out valves but the ripped rib is about halfway between the left most BOV and the LH tip ... but I don't know if the bridle line breaking is what caused it or me relaunching it ... I've nosedived it a few times and wondered how best to reduce the force it hits the ground with :D

Is this the SA you just got?
No disrespect but WTF are you doing crashing a big beast like that so regular? Try NOT flying the kite so hard? Do you crash your arcs as much? An instructor once told me I am far better off UNDER doing my dive of the kite, setting up and going again than I am overdoing it and paying the prace???? :puzzled:

:D yes, the one I just got ...! 10 sessions on it for about 30 hours total - given the wind I was flying in, that's probably 20 hours more riding than would have been possible on my other kites ...

It's usually when I get dunked and can't see the kite that it nosedives ... I'm not doing it on purpose, honest! One day I'll get a helmet cam vid and you can judge my skills for yourself :D

I am surprised you even pulled yourself out of bed after that. I would be crushed. I haven't had hardly any time on mine though. At least you have gotten 30 hours on it before something happened.

Excrement occurs ... cest la vie and all that could have been worse etc etc. I did drink 1/4 a bottle of whiskey when I got home though - needed to warm up honest

Thinking about it, the only time I nosedive arcs is when they've inverted and I can't get my tiny brain around how to steer them - so advice on how to avoid that will help too!

There's a place in Japan that does repairs to paragliders, so I might not be up the poop river without the paddle ...!

Nice write up on your blog. Seems like a good evening untill you crashed it all to crap!! Good luck with the repairs.

LE slam ...pop. it happens and what a mess. even worse add a twist , then half the kite opens up. it'll be fixed and all will be fine.

pull your safety on nose dives that wont be recovered........................off to Powerzone for repairs?

I am not second guessing skillz. I hope it didn't come accross that way!


I struggle like crazy on water and am in no position to do so. I just thought I would pass on what my instructor had to say about MY nose dive habit.

10 sessions in a few weeks ! I'm SOooooo envious !

No worries BR wait till the wife gets the camera down the beach and you can check out my jumps ... you'll laugh, I'm sure :D

That's right tri ... say, do I REALLY need an FDS?

Any riding is fun for me ... I'm easy pleased

I hate the fds on the 17... It always ends up w/ a kite in a mess.... Its probably fine as an emergency safety, but nothing else... I have fls on my new one, and tried it and had no tangles, kite came down easy and could probably have relaunched it....

I figure if I have to dump the big speed to the safety , either type its a swim in..... Landing overpowered i fly to the edge of the window, unhook and hang on the the lower steering line and get upwind of the kite.... no twisting or problems...

I staked the kite that night and just as I unhooked the FLS safety from my leash, the wind gusted and pulled the stake out :o so I made a dive for the safety but the stake got tangled up and I had to hold on for grim death till it slipped properly and flagged. And it was a tangled mess down there ... although I think if I was on the water, I could have untangled it and relaunched - tip through the bridle again. We'll see ...

Quote:

Originally posted by borntofli I hate the fds on the 17... It always ends up w/ a kite in a mess.... Its probably fine as an emergency safety, but nothing else... I have fls on my new one, and tried it and had no tangles, kite came down easy and could probably have relaunched it.... I figure if I have to dump the big speed to the safety , either type its a swim in..... Landing overpowered i fly to the edge of the window, unhook and hang on the the lower steering line and get upwind of the kite.... no twisting or problems...

Actually over the past few days reading I've learned that quite a few people have preferred the FLS over the FDS. Makes me wonder if that is why the speed 3 is sold with FLS???? When I first started reading bout it, everything pointed to the FDS as having easy landing and relaunch as well as great safety. Guess I'll see how I like it with a fifth line installed.

I think that it was over in kite crowd that I read someone installing a landing handle 12-14 inches from the bar, sounded kinda like what Ozone has on their setup. Has anyone else ever tried that or does it sound like that is asking for trouble????

Just use the balls on the leaders, shaggs.
Oh my that sounds rude!

The only time I've used the safety on the FS kites is landing ... and that's supposedly not what they designed for

Quote:

Originally posted by shaggs2riches I think that it was over in kite crowd that I read someone installing a landing handle 12-14 inches from the bar, sounded kinda like what Ozone has on their setup. Has anyone else ever tried that or does it sound like that is asking for trouble????

I've seen people just grap the break leader on either side on the Flysurfers when they want to stall it without pulling the safety, but I'm sure you could put a strap there. It shouldn't be an issue with the FLS, but I could see it being an issue with the FDS maybe (haven't ever seen the FDS...)?

FDS is like a fifth line, straight up the middle ... gets in the way of the Kitehero camera mount :D