Feeling a little humbled today. went to the park to landboard, and the wind was about 6-8mph gusting to 14mph (measured with a Kestrel, but WindAlert has the same). I decided to try out the used Twister IIR 4.1 I bought. Normally I'm flying a Tensor 5.0.

I got it up, scudded a bit and flew it around the wind window to get comfortable with the conditions. I thought I'd practice jumps before getting on my board, since I haven't tried those yet. Having watched the Progression Landboard DVD a bit, I wanted to start with just sitting down as it goes up and having it lift me back to my feet.

I put the kite at 11, sent it up to 12, and HOLY CRAP I AM FLYING. I think I must have gotten 6ft of air. One second I'm expecting a bit of a tug, the next I am looking at grass that is too far away for comfort. The kite apparently set me down gently, because before I knew it I was back on the ground and thankfully hadn't hurt myself. I'm glad I always wear a helmet and knee pads.

I packed up the Twister and got out the Snapshot 2.5m and tried to board, but it could barely get me moving. I packed that up and got out the Tensor 5.0 and was feeling pretty comfortable (for me that means I was probably underpowered, but just a tad) and had a blast.

So a few questions. I'm 240lbs. Is the Twister IIR 4.1 really supposed to have that much more power than the Tensor 5.0? Maybe it was just a freak gust, although I don't think I would have been trying to practice jumping if it felt gusty at the time. When I've seen videos of others jumping, they are usually running to get air, but I didn't run at all; I was just standing there. I'm wondering what wind range I should be practicing in, or how I can control the amount of lift so I don't get lofted like that again.

On the other side, I flew the Twister in 3mph winds yesterday and while it was work to keep it aloft, I was feeling pretty good about my skills doing so. When I started with these kites, it took quite a bit more wind for me to keep them in the air. Maybe some of that is this new Twister being that much better.

I haven't flown the tensor, but I believe it is considered low ar. I have flown the 4m twister hundreds of times. It is higher ar than the tensor which means it will accelerate much faster. Speed equals power so it's possible you'll find it more powerful and less forgiving. It will surprise you on gusts until you get used to it. Spend a lot of time getting to know that one. I use mine all of the time and wouldn't trade it for anything. It's a very fast powerful kite while being stable at the same time. Very versatile kite. Oh, I forgot to mention to not try and jump with it when it's more gusty than usual. You'll be asking for trouble.

I realize everyone has a different comfort range, but what kind of wind do you find best for your 4m Twister?

I'll definitely won't try jumping in that much wind again anytime soon. I wouldn't have tried it today had I realized how much more power it had.

That's a question with many answers. If I'm static on grass, then probably 12 - 14. Static on sand or snow up to about 15 to 17. In the buggy I fly it in gusty wind up in the low twenties. I don't landboard, but I would imagine that would be a bit much. It makes a huge difference if you are on a surface that you can slide on. Also, I started out in less wind and I seem to keep trying to push the limits with that kite especially in the buggy.

My guess is you had that kite a little farther over than 11 giving it more time to build speed plus catching the upper limits of a gust ... voila ... lift off!
A small kite moving fast in decent wind will generate lift , now add the gust and you have extra lift from the additional wind speed of the gust plus the kite is going to move much faster due to the gust and suddenly you have an exponential spike in lift. You now know that whipping that kite around (knowingly or unknowingly) in gusty wind could get you in trouble. Good luck have fun!

Beer....repeat...you got this....and your finished w/ the snapshot

My first kite jumping was done on my 5m Tensor. If I had to guess, the wind was blowing 15-18mph. I was never more than 4-5 feet off the ground, but every jump felt huge. 4m is a small size to be jumping with your weight. I wouldn't jump with anything smaller than 5-6m. You are asking to get dropped and blow out a knee or roll an ankle or worse with a smaller kite.

Quote: Originally posted by Demoknight

4m is a small size to be jumping with your weight. I wouldn't jump with anything smaller than 5-6m. You are asking to get dropped and blow out a knee or roll an ankle or worse with a smaller kite.

I agree with the above.

You are very lucky that the kite let you down soft! 4m isn't much canopy and the odds are greater that you will drop like a rock.

Better to use the Twister as an engine. You just learned how fast movements can cause huge output. One of the best bits of advice I got for riding was to dip the kite lightly at 1st . You can always bring the kite back up and dip it deeper.

/agree

4m is way to un-floaty to be doing much kite jumping, in my opinion. Lifty, because it's a twister, yes, but floaty, no (because it's a 4m). Plus, they're wicked-fast. I (175 lbs.) once got lofted by a super-fast 3m pansh ace in about 8-10mph winds because it was just moving so fast and generating so much lift (again, no float). You're very lucky that it let you down in one piece. I'd say use that lift in a sideways manner to power your buggy/board/skud/skis, and get a slightly larger kite (and less-gusty winds) for static jumping.

I have a couple rules of thumb after getting worked a few times:

1. Don't static jump in anything gusting more than 50% of mean (so for 8mph average, if any gusts are over 12mph, no jumping).
1.5. Don't ever trust wind estimates from your friends... they're wrong... always *
2. Don't ever jump on anything smaller than a 5m (fixed bridle)
3. Buy and wear the beefiest, most ridiculously bulky knee pads money can buy.**
4. Fly your kite static for 15 minutes before even attempting a jump. It'll give you a much better idea of what you're going to face when you're up in the air.

* They mean well... they really do, and yes, you develop some intuition for wind speeds, but having data is better when you don't have the flexibility that comes with experience. Off by 1mph could make a difference when you're new, IMO.
** You'd be surprised at the impacts you can absorb with the foot-leg-knee slide-landings.

I really wish I had gotten one of those 7.7m Twisters back when I was static jumping FB's a lot. Of course, I rarely do that any more since I switched to the floaty control-freak awesomeness that is depower kiting . There are certainly days where I miss my 8.5m Blade IV, but she's in good hands now and getting much more use.

You won't have any problem getting floaty air here very shortly
:evil: :D