Any rule of thumb on when conditions / kites are right to try an (intentional) pendulum jump or two? We're gonna be into the dead season here soon - too soon for snowkiting, too snowy for wheeled toys.

I was just u2uing with harddrive who bought my blade 6.5 and told him that with that kite at 8 mph, it is just barely going to lift you at all, maybe a foot or two. 10 will be much better giving 3-5 foot lifts with more consistency, and then 14 could loft you 15 feet or more. Smaller or less lifty kites will need more wind. The Crossfire or Crossfire II 5m for example needs 12-14 to start lifting me at 235 lbs, and 17 is fully powered on the verge of unintentional lofting. Those are two very lifty kites so you can adjust from there. Your 7m ace is going to be slower turning so your timing will have to be much tighter to jump with it consistently. I have no experience with your other kites except the blaze. Don't try to jump with it because with enough wind to launch, the landing will be fast. It doesn't provide much lift in any case though. Phreerider and others can talk about ARC jumping wind speeds and kite sizes.

thinking your 7m should be good around 12mph for jumping, and your 19 and 15 Arcs should be lighting up around the same wind speed. Make sure yo have plenty of room down wind if you static jump your arcs. Ive seen a pic on here of Dom on an Arc and he was at least 20 feet, looks closer to 30....................

I don't doubt it (the Ace). I was thinking of ditching it because I really don't fly it at all but maybe I'll keep it around until the lakes freeze over so I can try flying it static in a wide open space. I flew deezPanshes 6m Ace in the bug and didn't like the "light in the drawers" feeling on the transitions, swinging it around.

The Venom was lofting me in marginal winds the day I set it up so I bet on a good steady day she'll be the one to play with. TBH the Phantom was quite a monster too.....I had it out to set it up, needed to put on my helmet, took the kite to the zenith, handed the bar to my buddy and said "don't do anything I'll be right back". He started playing with it and supermanned a good 15 feet - no harness so he was fully powered.

I warned him ; ) Lucky I didn't lose a kite (Or a buddy ; )

ARC's are weird to jump, if you look at me, I look like im just tugging lines. I have to fly the kite over to like 8O'clock, pull the bar in to turn fast, let it out, run back and left while pulling on the front lines to really speed it up (it is a 17m) then let go of the front lines, pull in the bar, turn it up and hard, get ready for a 10-15 foot jump, and then the softest landing possible under a kite. I LOVE jumping with my ARCS!

But be careful, I got lofted a good 20 feet in an acceptable wind range for that kite, got a gust to 15mph, while the bar was pulled in, took a second to realize what was going on, and I was about 15 feet up at that point, and still going up, I let the bar out, and my climb leveled a bit, and pulled the trimmer in, and then I started going down, a bit scary.

I now realize from paragliding that suddenly letting the bar out could have been catastrophic. Causing a surge, and if I had been flying an open cell, a colllapse, which could have dropped me out of the sky.

"took a second to realize what was going on, and I was about 15 feet up at that point, and still going up, I let the bar out, and my climb leveled a bit, and pulled the trimmer in, and then I started going down, a bit scary."
geez, that's calm under pressure.:Ange09:
FS lit says to remain calm and let off power. i imagine one shouldn't simply 'dump' power though :megan:
Paul

I like using my 7 meter riot in 10 to 15 miles an hour but for 30 miles or so i like to use my 3.5 cult. I must say i really like using the Cult for jumping as long as the wind doesnt cut out on me.