Hello PKF members. I'm new but not really. I've been flying kites since the 90's. My father built a 4 wheeled buggy out of the stunt kites 2 book and we used it for a few years successfully with a sky tiger 40. I had about 10 or so hours in the seat of that and about 30 minutes in the seat of a standard PL bug our friend owned. Around 97 or 98 I got out of kiting because I was fresh out of high school and looking for "action". Anyhow, after spending way too much money on cars and deciding I wasn't getting that much enjoyment out of my money I decided to take up kiting again in 2004. In December of 2005 I built this:






Click the pictures to see with better resolution.

It has seen some updates since then and many seat changes which I'm still not sure if I like the current. New standard buggy tires. Better bearings for the wheels and stronger wheel bolts.

The problems I'm having is I don't have any medium sized foils for these Ohio breezes. (lumpy ugly wind) The few times I've been out on the buggy I've been lifted out of it, flipped, or just sort of smeared along the side rails. I realize this is mostly due to the kites I'm using and the gusty conditions. I'm flying either a C-quad 6.3m or an Eolo Radsail Pro 6.0m. I figured for my size (250lbs) in a steel buggy those would be about right. But I find the Radsail overflying folding up and re-powering in the zone which is when I get into the hairy situations. I was thinking of trying to find a 4 to 5 meter low AR kite to absorb some of the gusts we have. I still feel a bit disoriented on this 3 wheeled buggy and haven't had much seat time on it because of my most recent experiences. But I'm longing to get back to the traction side of kiting and the buggy is calling my name again since it's been in the shed for a few months. Any advice, constructive comments about the buggy's build, or just saying hello is appreciated.

Chris Taylor
Dayton, OH

Welcome Back Chris!

Nice looking buggy

Nice Bug!

For those lumpy winds, consider a Peter Lynn Pepper. It's got a low aspect ratio of 3.1 and thick foil section that won't power up too quick in a gust. Very stable and easy to fly, too.
Next up and slight higher A/R is the the Beamer III from HQ.

For added pull without being too lifty, consider the Peter Lynn Reactor or the Flexifoil Rage, both excellent buggy engines.

When I fly inland with very gusty winds I use my nasa wings. I get a lot of flack from people but the nasa wings have a low aspect ratio and do the job. When I can get to the coast with steady winds I then fly my foils.

Susan

nice looking buggy Chis, I live in Cincinnati and my son Chip lives in Columbus (he is the more serious bugger). I might be able to help you because I have quite a collection of some foils between 1.5 and 6.5. Plus two NASA wings. We could meet somewhere and you could try different sizes. Chip has a full set of Quadrfoils and uses the XL which is about 5 meter a lot. His favorte buggy kite is his revolution blast.



Where do you buggy around Dayton

George

Hi Chris,
My bug is an old flexi that has straight side rails. I find myself wishing I had higher ones( Like almost everyone elses ) . I put part of the blame for popping out on them. Have you tried setting the seat lower so you can take better davantage of the side rails ? Your seat looks pretty high in the pic's.
If you fly in junky wind you should try to get your hands on an arc ( Peter Lynn ) They are poor in very low wind but amazing in the junk. Great gust absorbers.

Quote:

Originally posted by gbrown nice looking buggy Chis, I live in Cincinnati and my son Chip lives in Columbus (he is the more serious bugger). I might be able to help you because I have quite a collection of some foils between 1.5 and 6.5. Plus two NASA wings. We could meet somewhere and you could try different sizes. Chip has a full set of Quadrfoils and uses the XL which is about 5 meter a lot. His favorte buggy kite is his revolution blast. Where do you buggy around Dayton George

George are you the one that comes out to the PIGS Aloft kite flies on occasion? I'm always down there usually trick flying duals, quads, and static flying home built single lines all the time. I rarely buggy down there because of all the divots and junk to run into but I do buggy up here in Vandalia more often. If I'm thinking of the right person you were helping with the dual line demos at airwaves. I was the one that loaned the "diapers" for the demo kite.

Snowbird: I've rebuilt the seat about 4 or 5 times now and the latest design has me sitting about 4" from the ground. Even then I think the radsail pro has too much lift in the winds I tend to buggy in. 10-15 with gusts into the 20's. We rarely get any sort of steady breeze around here.

I think I may have to pick up some of those Peter Lynn Reactors. The price tags seem about right for me. I'd think for now I could get out more often with a 4m then work on filling in the spaces for other winds.

Yes that was me.
Buggying at VOA is a chalange but it generally has the best wind. In Columbus you can buggy at the school for the deaf on the weekend.
Chip picked up a 15m PL Phantom ARC at NABX haven't flow it here yet and so I can't say how it will work on the small fields.

nice, my mate built one out of an abb roler, scafolding pole, bike forks, and a pram for a seat, i will see if i can get a pic, it was unbeleivably light!! and had wheel barrow wheels, :P

I don't think you're that far off for kite size, maybe just something a little more stable. I'm a bigger fellow as well and get along quite nicely with my 5.5m Brooza. They were designed to be stable and fast when the wind was too poor for the PKD race team to fly their race kites. Everything about the kite is designed to be stable, luff resistant and gust absorbing.

What they ended up with was an awesome all around freeride kite.