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What do do in high wind?


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12 hours ago, SparkieRob said:

Had a fly on Jan 1st and it was BLOWIN'! In the high 60's km/h with gusts into the high 70's. I had my PoloVTD still with the 3 frame out on 120's. Glorious!!

Wind energy was large to say the least. Biggest I've flown.

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You are nuts -- I'm lovin' it.

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My max wind to date is 65mph, full vent factory B with double 4 wrap leading edge and 150# lines.

Everything (even forward flight) was a controlled hover, one burst of speed and VOOOOOM! Big load up.

I also tend to sit up to an inch lower on the foam so the main pull is centered off in my fingers (less surges).

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I do remember that gusty Sunday at Lincoln City, when they took the sound tent down for fear it might blow away!! Pretty sure we were getting gusts around 35 mph, Still on X/Vs, I had a 4 wrap in, still using 120' x 90# lines! Pretty sure there were a dozen of us in that line!!

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1 hour ago, John Barresi said:

My max wind to date is 65mph, full vent factory B with double 4 wrap leading edge and 150# lines.

Everything (even forward flight) was a controlled hover, one burst of speed and VOOOOOM! Big load up.

I also tend to sit up to an inch lower on the foam so the main pull is centered off in my fingers (less surges).

It really helps me to read these type of descriptions as I can now realize what has been going on in similar situations I have experienced.  Thinking back on a recent high wind Rev session with my B2 I get it.  I now understand that I was also gripping lower & mainly hovering.  Just didn't have the perception of a master flier to retain any learning.  But that's me, Know Eye Deer.  So with understanding comes repeatability.  

Thanks for the insight, SHBKF

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  • 5 months later...
  • From this Atelier Transfer kite video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDNH6zj8yKQ ) I'd say: Get yourself a kite and lines that can take it and try to learn to deal with the wind (veeery easy... :)). What is shown here is something I didn't expect was possible - this kind of tricking close to the centre of the wind window in these kind of winds. Normally, when the wind increases, tricking takes place closer to the wind window edge instead. Notice the effect of the wind on the pilots and also the speed of the kite.
  • Close to the ground the wind is also lower. Quite recently I flew on a field on the leeward side of a low hill with a hardly detectable slope and experienced a thick ground boundary layer of reduced wind speed - get to know your field to figure out if it offers any possibilities here!
  • When only having access to the 4D in winds that were good for standard kites (but not for the 4D) I discovered that for figure flying triangles were good. Picture one side of the triangle quite close to the ground and the two "ground corners" almost at the edges of the wind window. The last corner is close to the top of the wind window. Everywhere along the path power is now reduced, especially where turning.
  • A trick that is actually helped by non low wind is the sleeping beauty take off. When the kite close to being in the dead launch position with its nose close to the ground the wind helps to lift it up. When being not so far from the centre however, this launch can feel very sudden - first the light flick to spin the kite on the ground, then sweep/pull both arms and then bang fully powered.
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  • 9 months later...
On 05/07/2016 at 8:00 PM, SparkieRob said:

Had a fly on Jan 1st and it was BLOWIN'! In the high 60's km/h with gusts into the high 70's. I had my PoloVTD still with the 3 frame out on 120's. Glorious!!

Wind energy was large to say the least. Biggest I've flown.

Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

New Year's this year topped out just under 90km/h and that was an experience to say the least. Definitely don't do it if you aren't comfortable or have faith in your gear. You can get away with shorter lines in big wind to keep you under the higher layers. 

 

Wish I had a stack of Vickie's....

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  • 1 year later...
  • 6 months later...

Launch and land from the edge. Mind Trick when landing I try to get the kite belly down nose forward. Delta Hawk a crash is as good as anything cause it's TOUGH. Winds 25+ usually means gusts and minor direction changes causing self launches. When setting up for launch one hand on spine the other on nose. Not keeping my hand on the nose got me some watery eyes and a bruised chin.Once kite is positioned big step back before releasing the nose. Walk around the edge away from the way the kite would fly from a self launch.15+ I fly all my kites like that. On 120' lines in 30mph I doubt I could avoid the lines until the last 20' . Took awhile to enjoy 15 to 20 . Fun and exciting no doubt. Took even longer to enjoy the 20 to 25. People say low wind flying is the hardest to learn. B.S. tricking in 20 to 25 is a LOT harder than 1 to 3. My SULs are Lam kites too.25 to 30 I still have to get my moxy going or I just whine a lot.Above 30 I still fly scared but that's probably a good thing.Finally got a bit of time on my quads and by next year 25+ days will probably be a Vickie type thing. Main reason I'm learning quads.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/6/2019 at 1:28 PM, Cot51stState said:

This is what I pull out when the winds pick up. I'd love for you to be able to try it. 

I purchased the 10' Scimitar when I was in rehearsal for EPCOT's "Surprise in the Skies". We had already been flying stacks of 5 foot Peter Powell's off the back of ATVs when the producers informed us that they were looking for a different stack of kites for another segment of the show. In my mind the Scimitar would have been perfect to fly off the back of a boat; the producers had other ideas. After testing one of Mike Simmons' 12'-15' RBK wings, they settled on a three stacks of TOTL Hawaiian Team kites. I, on the other hand, settled on returning to my permanent job at Disney 😉. Power kiting has never my my thing. After visiting someone who was recovering from a broken pelvis due to a man-lifting accident, it never will be. 

BansheeKites~2.jpg

That would be fun to try!! I was told to try and find a 10' one!!

 

Nator

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I'm so happy this thread is still seeing posts. OP here and I am pleased to say that I have found three tried-and-true answers to this question. 

  • Prism Micron is a little bullet. It holds up pretty well in high wind if you can keep up with it.
  • HQ Delta Hawk is a brute and cannot be fazed when the wind is sandblasting the skin off your calves. Try it with a 200' tail!
  • I recently picked up a Silver Fox 2.5 Vented. It can trick in high wind!
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