ucdcrew

Udall Park - Tanque Verde and Sabino Canyon Rd. There are a bunch of soccer fields - I usually use one of the back ones (south side). I've also flown at McDonald Park off Tanque Verde. George Mehl would probably work too - E. River and Pontatoc, just east of the JCC. I thought about taking it up and flying it off one of the observation points on Mt. Lemmon, but was worried if I crashed I'd have to bushwhack through the Cholla to get it back, or would wrap it around a Saguaro and kill it (the kite OR the cactus). Jacob's Park just west of Prince and Oracle looks promising too. I'm lucky though because I have a couple of midweek days off. Google maps has most of the parks listed in green, and then you can look at the satellite picture to look and see what kind of park it is. I'm moving on Monday or I'd go fly with you I use this website to look at the wind, although it used to have the parks marked in green. Looks like NOAA switched the base map. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/gmap.php?map=twc

I wanted to learn the basics on this guy since there are no frame pieces to snap. But eventually I'll probably go with a Quantum or an E3. I'll stay with prism until I feel I have good control over those kites, then maybe look for something else.

I think its too windy to take it out today again! BAH! Maybe at my new duty station it will be better.

LOL - I have a broken arm and am really bored. I can manage flying pretty good with the cast - although untangling with it is ridiculous. Don't tell my doctor...HA! I think the first indication that it was too windy was the red flag warning they issued.

I've flown it 5 times, so its pretty new. I did adjust the line length on one of the lines because I was having to make larger movements to turn on one side. The first launch today was perfect - I'm pretty sure the line length discrepancy had been addressed completely. Now I can get it to stand still at the top of the window. The bridal does look even and symmetrical when I start. I did end up taking off the tail today because when I would crash, it would get wrapped around the bridal and get it stuck. I feel like the problem is made worse after I crash, because the kite was blowing across the ground while I was trying to relaunch it. Looking at the weather, it might have been faster than that. It was gusting up to 33 which is above its range. It was pulling pretty good too.

I have a snapshot 1.2. Today I took it out (it was blowing 17-20), and for some reason I keep managing to get the bridle tangled. It seems to get all twisted up and catch on one corner of the foil, which this causes the dizzy spin, and then it crashes, and I have to take it to the back of my truck to get it all sorted out again. It was too windy to try and sort it out on the field. Anyone else have this issue, or any ideas? I did get loops on both sides though, and if I pull on the right I can get it to loop twice and recover! Would a delta kite alleviate this issue?

I redid the line length and am gonna try that today - I had a horrible rats nest last time I flew because it may have been too windy

I haven't seen my MesoWest site pop up for wind. This one is preset for the Tucson area, but you can move the map around. It has all the RAWS and HADS stations on it, so you can check what the weather stations are reporting. It helps me pick where I'm gonna fly. If you zoom in, more stations show up. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/gmap.php?map=twc

I flew it a couple times today. The wind died for a few hours while it switched direction, perfect for a lunch break and then back at it! My first first attempt was not so successful. I kept trying to get it into the air to launch. It wouldn't go, or it would automatically do a nosedive. Someone I didn't know even held it up for me but it crashed right away. Then I noticed the bridle lines were tangled, and had to unhook the flying lines, straighten them out, and reattach. I must not have been very careful when putting them on the first time. After that, it self launched with a water bottle fairly easily. It moves pretty quick! I think I figured out what the 'window' means. If I go too far to one side or the other, it slows down and starts to lose altitude. I got it making figure 8s pretty quickly. Then I started having to 'flare' (for lack of a better word) to keep it in the air - so I put it down and brought it home. When the wind came back up, I went back to the park. I can self launch it no problem, and even if I crash it I don't usually have to go and fix it (unless it gets really twisted). I started making ground passes as best I could, and got it to do some loops. For some reason, looping to the right is much easier than looping to the left. Then the air force showed up to play flag football and set up right where I could crash into them. So I went home, but it was so fun! I cannot wait for it to be windy again.

I got to go into the NWS (NOAA) office here in Tucson. They were really cool, and showed us how they look at all the models and make predictions. They say they just read data, I say they're brilliant. They also like to write us tongue twisters for the discussion we have to read on the radio. "Seemingly showery on Sunday"...and I'm tripping over my tongue on the radio.

For tomorrow, NOAA says: Breezy

Well I tried to fly it yesterday, but I could not remember how to make the lark's head knot without the video. I was going to use a clove hitch and was almost ready to launch it when I decided that might not be the best course of action. I wasn't 100% convinced that the kite would not just fly away if the knots slipped over the ends. I may try again today.

I got my first kite this week! I was following NWS's forecast and Mesonet Observations religiously, but not enough wind! Today looks like the day, I'm excited. Its a snapshot 1.2 - I got that one so there is nothing to break.