Light wind outdoor safe limits?

[frob]

I've put my Kaiju up a few times outdoor when there was approximately zero wind, but some recent conversations got me wondering:

What would you consider the safe range for flying a Kaiju outdoor?

When the wind is strong enough for a full size sail I can use those, but I'm wondering about the transition zone. I don't want to discover their strength through a destructive test. Does anyone know from experience roughly where the limit is?  Can I take it all the way out to when wind is hitting perhaps 10 knots, without much risk?  The spars seem rather small for that, so I'm curious where the limit is.

[John Barresi]

I haven’t pushed the upper limits on long lines but you can find videos of me working the Kaiju in up to 8-12 mph gusts on 7’ lines... On long lines (bigger power zone) I would estimate the upper range at 3-4 mph, with some slack given in the turns.

[SparkieRob]

Don't push it too hard. I can't believe I actually said that! What I really mean is, in the upper wind ranges the lower spreaders will pop out. Wind and input pop will do it. Trust me...

Sent from my SM-G950F using KiteLife mobile app

[Breezin]

7 hours ago, John Barresi said:

working the Kaiju in up to 8-12 mph gusts on 7’ lines... 

Dang now I'm extremely interested again.Kaiju has always seemed like a lot of kite for the money to me.The sudden gusts I get here make me real leary of most low wind kites.0 to 10 mph in a couple seconds especially this time of year. 

[Wayne Dowler]

It is not rocket science folks - use common sense and change if conditions warrant. Unless you have deep pockets or unlimited access to new kites ......

Most of us can feel our kites. We know when they are reaching their limits. Why push it? I don't depend on numbers (mph) for feedback, my hands can tell. Develop that feel!!

[frob]

1 hour ago, Wayne Dowler said:

We know when they are reaching their limits. Why push it?

That's exactly it. I think I'm quite conservative, and there's a range where my full-size dual line kites are too heavy, but winds were strong enough I haven't trusted the kaiju in it.

It's a great kite, I try to fly indoors twice a week so I've got a good feel for it in zero wind, but I'm cautious about it outdoors.  I've only set it up when the wind is completely dead. I don't think I've reached anything near the limits. It isn't about pushing the limits, more about expanding the range of caution.

I'm not trying to ask "Where are the limits before it breaks?" since I imagine some of the spars could be twisted into a large pretzel without breaking.

Instead, I'm trying to ask "Are there more safe regions I can play?"  I know that zero wind is safe. And I've seen videos that 2-3 mph is safe. I've also seen videos of higher speeds, and I'm wondering if they are safe places to play or if they're out on the fringes.

[Paul LaMasters]

I'm the other side Wayne,

test unmercifully until failure,... nobody ever got better skiing without an occasional fall on the slopes.  Some were downright terrible crashes, but you've learned something along the way too,.... maybe about yourself, or the conditions that day, maybe even about your own equipment, or that cute surgical nurse for rehab?  If you could change one item, what would it be?  How would that impact changes things?

Possible example?, owned a little Prism kite (3D), didn't connect with it at all until I rigged it for quad and flew it in utterly outrageous conditions.  In between trees and power lines in a booking wind.  It was totally worth the money that day and wasn't even used according to it's design.

So can you fly in the full power zone with an indoor kite? sure if you can dump some pressure and preserve your smile doing it! Otherwise explore the edges of the wind window.  Make up some new "yank and spank" technique for underneath the tree limbs.

Lam Hoac can jump rope with/over his indoor kite, or throw it a dozen feet sitting in a chair and catch it back again.  Work on your rolled-up launch, (maybe released down a smooth wall as you gently walk backwards?, I've seen 4 or 5 revolutions happen seamlessly)

Kite's all aquiver?, whipped around in too much wind? Then consider another option.  There's no bad weather, only a poorly equipped kite flier.  Terrible conditions?  Hey it's time to borrow someone else's equipment and see how it handles that abuse (OPKs rule)

[frob]

I just realized I have written about it in other places, but not here. Following up on the topic.

TL;DR: Surprisingly durable outdoors, no broken parts despite a bunch of hard landings. Shakes and deforms but survives about 10 mph gusts.

 

This bit is all about flying the Kaiju outdoor, not my indoor practices.

In my lovely inland location highly variable conditions are the norm. Wind forecasts may say 5G15, and in the field wind varies from a breath's force to decent speeds from moment to moment.

Often I find myself setting up a Kaiju on 40' lines as a backup plan when winds calm down and I can't keep other kites up. Often I fly the Kaiju ten minutes at a time, or friends flying it for ten or twenty minutes, then returning to other kites. Sometimes an entire hour or more may go by drifting around on the Kaiju. I'd estimate around 10 hours of flight this way since writing the question a year ago.

Over the past year I've found it can handle a decent gust, probably around 10mph, but it shakes and shudders and deforms as I race to the edge of the wind window. I've had a few hard crashes, and I've also handed the kites over to beginners once I was confident in the kite's ability to handle it. (I know one beginner, a neighbor, bought their own Kaiju after trying mine.) So far hard crashes have knocked spreader spars from their fittings, and also popped standoffs completely out but they could be reassembled without damage. Attempts at slackline tricks have generally pulled the spreader bars from their fittings, although that could easily be due to my relative novice skills at the tricks.

There have been several times (mostly when others have flown it) when I was certain I'd be replacing a spar, but have been pleasantly surprised that all it required was hunting for a spreader bar that had bent under tension and flung itself from the kite under a bend rather than snapped. They've always sprung back to normal. I've watched spreader bars fling themselves quite some distance from the kite but still not break.

If the wind is strong enough for another kite I'll fly them instead. On light wind days I'll set up the full sail Djinn and Kaiju both on 40' lines, other times I'll set up one of the dual lines (Hydra, Kymera, ZigZag, or Quantum) for practice with the Kaiju as a backup. When the bigger kites won't stay up, I can get a Kaiju in the air to pass the time.

It is sensitive and doesn't handle large input well, without pulling a spreader. It is very relaxing, I can fly one handed with lines looped around pinkie and pointer fingers, and still make comfortable twists and turns in the air with my wrist alone. It doesn't handle much more than gentle twists and turns, but at least it is airborne.

It is very rare that I can't get the Kaiju on 40' to stay aloft. People I'm with also usually have no trouble with it. On the rare occasion I find myself falling back to indoor skills on those lines, or find my flying partners struggling to stay aloft, it's usually not worth the time at the park, time to pack up and do house work.