So I was showing a friend my kite for the first time the other day. And before it even got off the ground he wanted to know how much it could lift. I thought, "yep, that's a good question"

Anyone know how to calculate the lifting power of a kite? Taking windspeed and sail area into account. Feel free to throw out as much mathematical and physics mumbo jumbo as you want. I'm working on a degree in math so I can hopefully handle it. Not to mention I just started 10 hour days in a factory and have plenty of mind-wasting time. I need something good to think about.

I hope Krumly can answer this in math .
It seems to me that there are a a lot of variables. Wind speed, shape of leading / trailing edge, over all shape of the wing ( aspect ratio ), AOA ( angle of attack ) , speed of travel ( kite ) , pay load and of course COLOUR !

Something I discovered I find interesting is the odd shapes that produce lift. Peter Lynn is a visionary ! So are a couple of dudes I saw on T.V. that make R.C. planes in crazy shapes like lawn mowers and Snoopy's dog house.

Make a few shapes and see how they'll fly. That could kill a shift or 2 !

ahh yes, I almost forgot about color!

Given that the pendulum jumping technique is right, wind condition is about 15mph, weight about 65kg. How much lift can a blaze 7m produce? Any experiences?

I think you would need to put in a lot more parameters to get some kind of formula to calculate lift in a kite.

Aspect ratio, line drag, line length, sail weight, sail shape, etc... etc... etc...

That alone would be a ton of information but then you also have to add in another factor - the speed of the kite and where it is being flown in the wind window.

As a kite increases speed it increases apparent wind which will directly effect lift. If the kite is flown fast, it lifts more than if it is sitting static in the air. I don't know how you would be able to calculate the lifting ability of a kite unless you placed all the kites you were calculating at the exact same speed in the air.....and even that will change from one design of kite to the next.

Wow, this is too technical for my brain to comprehend. Now where is that physics master from NASA when you need him...