This new hobby has really made me realize how much the wind here in Pittsburgh sucks. Thus far I've found one field where it looks like i have a chance of actually getting my Beamer up in the air. It's pretty large with several soccer fields, a track, tennis courts, and such, but the trees around it are also huge. So far though, not even the stormiest days have had steady enough winds for me to launch without running backwards.

Thus far my flying has usually consisted of setting my kite up in the direction I think will be downwind, waiting for a gust, then running back to launch into it. Once in it I try and do some figure 8s until the wind dies down and my kite luffs. However, there was one gust which let me not just launch from standing, but which then proceeded to pull me flat onto the ground.

Any tips for learning in these winds?
Luckily, I'll be visiting my parents in CT very soon and conditions should be better there, but knowing what to do with these conditions would be nice. I try and keep the kite moving, but when the wind slows my kite slows until it becomes a ball of nylon falling from the sky.

if it makes you feel any better...and im sure it wont...you need to set up and pack up many times over and conditions like that need to be paid attention to...so there is that

Try and get as far down wind as possible from the trees. Wind will be messy for 7 - 10 times the distance downwind as the trees are high.

bladerunner: I'm aiming to get as downwind as possible, but these trees are tall and the wind doesn't want to blow in a consistent direction (likely because of all the trees). I think longer lines might help get my kite above some of the turbulence, but I'd worry that'd require even more space. Perhaps I just need to look for better places. While I'm not sure I'm going to find nearly as open of an area I may be able to find places surrounded by shorter trees.
There's also a rather open hill nearby, but I worried that'd limit my range of motion since the wind usually appears to be heading up the hill. Might be worth trying next time.

abkayak: I'm not sure what you mean. I definitely don't think the wind was too much for me, just I wasn't quite expecting it because of what I was used to here. If that gust had stayed long enough for me to launch again I think I could have kept control of the kite.

Yeah, gusts are nothing but trouble. Frustrating at best and dangerous at worst. Maybe its just summer winds ?
Like anywhere in the northern hemisphere at the moment, a lot of us are just sitting it out.

Three metres is too small anyway. You might need an 8m something.

Yeah, can't wait to both be out of the city and get my Century II 8.0m. I've heard other people say that the kite flying is much better here in the winter. I'm used to the winter keeping me from my other hobbies so it'll be nice being able to do this when things start getting snowy.

jusayin...that on and off thing w/ the wind can get you in trouble..be careful

Don't feel bad. Wisconsin isn't much better in the summer. LOTS of trees here....summer winds are on/off all the time. Winter is where it's at for us. Better winds, trees have lost their leaves, lakes are frozen and they provide an open winter playground. I fly very little in the summer. Only thing I can recommend is flying on the down wind side of a lake or field to get better winds.

rofer...I feel your pain!

Hop on google maps, satellite view, and explore for open areas - you may have to get to know some farmers. I also gotta think that with your population, there would be a few other kiters on this forum in your area that may know of some goods spots.

Inland wind usually sucks as a rule, but throw in turbulence from big trees and buildings and that just adds to the crap!

Also limited because I don't usually have access to a car. I do know there is a kite group here though, but I'm leaving town just before the next meeting. The spots they usually fly at are probably much better than where I've been trying to fly. Just wish they were closer.

That is what we call janky wind rofer. Pretty much all us poor inland peeps have to fly in

Remember, JUST LET GO!!!

Welcome to the Janky Wind Club... Recent progress has been made to define janky as the following:

Quote: Originally posted by soliver

Janky-- Adjective for the poor quality of wind; usually filling one or more (usually all) of the following descriptors: Shifty, gusty, lull infused, multidirectional, generally unstable, or within the metro Atlanta area. Used in a sentence: It looked like it was nuking, so I called my girlfriends to head out. But the wind turned out to be really janky so after a few attempts, a good take, one or two lawndarts and a vicious OBE turned superman, I did the walk of shame, packed it up and went home.

Sounds to me like your wind meets many of these qualifiers... I hereby nominate and welcome you to the Janky Wind Club... The JWC has yet to have been provided with a sub-categorical forum in spite of multiple petitions to Admin. but progress is being made,... Primarily we like to discuss the phenomena of OBE, superman-ing, lack of motion and general dismay/pissing and moaning... You'll soon be getting your membership ID card in the mail.

Welcome aboard.

Spencer..... you just mad me spray Pepsi out of my nose!!!!

The JWC be gettin no respect

Apparently I didn't just pull the term out of my backside:

http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/janky

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

The JWC be gettin no respect

The JWC be like....

Rofer, you can take solace in this... The poopier your wind is when you are learning, the better you'll do when you get into some clean beach-type wind. I remember Don (Tridude) saying that to me when I was first starting out at a meet up at OOBE field.

Think about it, when you can get your kite flying in less than ideal conditions, just imagine how well you'll do when you're in ideal wind.

Summer usually is lame anyway, wait until fall and winter wind and see it'll be better.

be careful when you get that 8
That janky wind can hurt you bad.
It nearly killed me.

Quote: Originally posted by soliver

Welcome to the Janky Wind Club... Recent progress has been made to define janky as the following: Quote: Originally posted by soliver   Janky-- Adjective for the poor quality of wind; usually filling one or more (usually all) of the following descriptors: Shifty, gusty, lull infused, multidirectional, generally unstable, or within the metro Atlanta area. Used in a sentence: It looked like it was nuking, so I called my girlfriends to head out. But the wind turned out to be really janky so after a few attempts, a good take, one or two lawndarts and a vicious OBE turned superman, I did the walk of shame, packed it up and went home. Sounds to me like your wind meets many of these qualifiers... I hereby nominate and welcome you to the Janky Wind Club... The JWC has yet to have been provided with a sub-categorical forum in spite of multiple petitions to Admin. but progress is being made,... Primarily we like to discuss the phenomena of OBE, superman-ing, lack of motion and general dismay/pissing and moaning... You'll soon be getting your membership ID card in the mail. Welcome aboard.

Epic Spencer! I love how janky wind includes anything in the metro Atlanta area :-) Must be bad if even the Northerners are complaining about the lack of wind. Welcome to July in the Northern Hemisphere!

That's the definition posted in the "kite terms" thread.

You are correct about the janky skill Spencer. New kiters who struggle day in and day out with these winds don't know how much is pays off when you finally get some clean wind.

I'm learning to embrace the janky

Release your anger....
Let the janky flow....

Rofer, you can take solace in this... The poopier your wind is when you are learning, the better you'll do when you get into some clean beach-type wind. I remember Don (Tridude) saying that to me when I was first starting out at a meet up at OOBE field.

Think about it, when you can get your kite flying in less than ideal conditions, just imagine how well you'll do when you're in ideal wind.

Summer usually is lame anyway, wait until fall and winter wind and see it'll be better.


you guys keep telling yourselves this.......im logging hours...its nice down here by the water:D

I fly nasa wings in inland gusty winds. Since it is a single skin kite it has half the weight of a foil. Nasa wings handle gusts well and does not ball up like a foil in lulls.

Susan (npw goddess)

kitemaker4: I've been seeing lots of good stuff about those. I feel like somewhere down the line I'm going to have to pick one up.

soliver: Glad to hear. I hoped that was the case. It'd be great if I could figure out how to at least keep it up in this. I keep hearing it's possible to fly these things just on apparent wind, but I've yet to figure this out.

Abkayak nails it. Without a doubt, learning in the gusty makes you a better pilot hands down. When I first rode smooth air I felt like a damn rockstar. It made it so clear to me why people in some places get so good at certain aspects of kitesports. Having steady reliable power makes a huge difference.

If you get your flying dialed in the gusty, you can handle dang near anything.:D

And like he said, every second you fly adds up. Even just messing around static for 10 minutes on your lunch break really builds muscle memory and that is what gets you by in less than perfect conditions. You eventually get to the point where you sense a hole or gust before it really hits and you adjust for it automatically. Eventually you pretty much only look at the kite when packing and unpacking when you're really dialed in.

And the example of the use of "janky" in a sentence was awesome Soliver
:D

Hey now Chris... He was quoting me... Look higher up... He just neglected to credit his source

See:

Quote: Originally posted by soliver

Rofer, you can take solace in this... The poopier your wind is when you are learning, the better you'll do when you get into some clean beach-type wind. I remember Don (Tridude) saying that to me when I was first starting out at a meet up at OOBE field. Think about it, when you can get your kite flying in less than ideal conditions, just imagine how well you'll do when you're in ideal wind. Summer usually is lame anyway, wait until fall and winter wind and see it'll be better.

I call for an official plagiarism hearing