hiya...

just curious...

What kind of ground did you learn to fly / scud on?

I fly mostly on soft dry sand, and scudding on wet hard grassy ground scares me.

I recently took a ten-foot dump while jumping and while i walked away, it's been making me think, so the follow-on Q is what was it like in different kinds of ground?

just read a post by BeamerBob.

he mentions his safety rule for his 13 yr old son, who's flown some pretty insanely huge kites: if you can't hold your ground, land the kite...

it seems like the ground you fly on can make a huge difference in holding power, which in turn translates into the degree of safety you can enjoy.

any good stories out there?

Soft sand on a beach when I was learning. These days it is always on turf due to flying location.

I learned on dead grass with running shoes that had a semi-worn sole. I was able to slide pretty easily and when I wanted to stop, I stopped figure 8ing in the powerzone and let the kite fly to the edge of the window. Live grass can be cool or suck depending on what kinda grass it is. Some types of grass seem to grip my shoe soles more than others, but I notice I slide easier on grass that's got thin blades.

Hard packed dirt is cool for the dust trails you kick up, but I think you'd wear your soles down faster? Also watch out for rocks that might be packed into the dirt.

I've scudded on soft, dry sand which was cool, and wet packed sand which was alright but gets messy.

Dog poop is my least favorite surface to scud on

My first scud was the first day I flew the Beamer 3. Pics of that day in my sig link. They were relatively short and were zig zags because the wind was 8-10. Tide was heading out so the sand was hard and packed which is typical for Jekyll Island. Perfect for most anything to do with kiting.

Wet grass right after a rain is probably my favorite, but I learned on the grass at the local park. I was wearing some semi-worn out shoes, and they worked a lot better than the boots I was wearing the first time out. Less traction on the grass equals more scudding.

Now if I could only find some butt-armored pants to do some seat scudding without shredding all of my pants!

I learned in deep soft sand. I do scud some on hard pack wet sand now but when I started I just stuck to the soft stuff.

Grass at a soccer field, with VERY worn down converse=skis!

I wear boat shoes (Topsiders) as they do not have treads and slide well on sand and wet grass.
I am lucky that I have tons 'o beach so skudding is never a problem.
I have not tried but have read on this forum that 2-liter plastic soda bottles cut open on the side and worn over shoes like slippers make a good sliding surface for grass.

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell I have not tried but have read on this forum that 2-liter plastic soda bottles cut open on the side and worn over shoes like slippers make a good sliding surface for grass.

Sounds like that could be VERY fast scudding.

if you can't hold your ground is a good rule.I took my ACE 2.0 and 2.5 out in25-infinity and at zenith it was all I could do to stay on the ground,I was really on my tippy toes like a puppet. I was either too scared or too smart to try and fly the dam thing. I just wanted to see what their behavior was in serious wind.DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A SMALL ( LAME)HA HA ) !KITE.:o