What Temperature

[Fred Wagner]

 

At what temperature does the spars and sail become to brittle for safe flying?

 

 

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[TubaKite]

  On 10/23/2019 at 1:00 AM, Fred Wagner said:

 

At what temperature does the spars and sail become to brittle for safe flying?

 

 

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At a temperature far lower than any sane pilot would fly in. 

[TubaKite]

But in all seriousness, it depends on the material type and age. 

[riffclown]

  On 10/23/2019 at 2:01 AM, TubaKite said:

At a temperature far lower than any sane pilot would fly in. 

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Sanity is not a virtue shared widely in this hobby 

[TubaKite]

  On 10/23/2019 at 10:03 AM, riffclown said:

Sanity is not a virtue shared widely in this hobby 

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And sanity is relative.

[Wayne Dowler]

There are folks in Alaska that fly whenever the weather lets them. if you are worried about cold! 

No, you don't  want to be slamming stuff into the ground at those temps, but decent flying all year round is not out of the question. We even have a New Year's Day Fly up here in Portland OR!

[makatakam]

Sanity is in.

They make these things called parafoils . . . . 

So, I was sitting in my car, flying my kite out the partly open window, when a surprised-looking squirrel came by and said, "I'm sorry, I thought you were nuts."

[Fred Wagner]

  On 10/23/2019 at 2:01 AM, TubaKite said:

At a temperature far lower than any sane pilot would fly in. 

I have seen quite a few photos of Prism Kites being flown in the snow and I was not sure if the ripstop nylon or Icarex sails would tear mor easily in freezing temperatures.


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[riffclown]

  On 10/24/2019 at 10:45 AM, Fred Wagner said:

I have seen quite a few photos of Prism Kites being flown in the snow and I was not sure if the ripstop nylon or Icarex sails would tear mor easily in freezing temperatures.


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You've brought up a very good point in this comment. Icarex and RipStop Nylon (RSN) are two similar yet very different materials. The key difference for this conversation being water absorbency. Icarex is by design pretty resilient and it absorbs very little moisture. RSN however varies widely due to age, coatings etc. Depending on those factors to a degree, RSN WILL absorb water and get heavy quickly.. Knowing that RSN will get soaked,  I can think of one scenario that if you carry a water drenched Nylon kite out in sub freezing temps, let it freeze and fly it frozen, the frozen water crystals in the fabric would be sharp and could cause accelerated wear/failure. This is a very specific set of circumstances that most people would avoid anyway out of common sense but it does highlight the specific differences in the fabric itself.

If you are flying in 40 below, Have fun and good luck. (Fun Fact, 40 Below is the one temp the Celsius = Fahrenheit. ( -40C = -40F ))

[makatakam]

  On 10/24/2019 at 10:45 AM, Fred Wagner said:

I have seen quite a few photos of Prism Kites being flown in the snow and I was not sure if the ripstop nylon or Icarex sails would tear mor easily in freezing temperatures.


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They do, but not enough to worry about. It's the frames that suffer more from being "frozen". Letting a wet sail freeze is not as bad as it sounds. I've done it without dire consequences, but it can damage the sail material if the circumstances are "perfect". Usually if you don't make hard contact with the ground or other things in cold weather, you'll be fine. A little caution goes a long way.

[frob]

Yeah, ground flying is tough on kites and rips them to shreds. Sliding along the ground quickly eats through anything from Kevlar to Icarex. Even the Djinn with aluminum tips get chewed up a bit sliding on the ground or landing on pavement. Avoid ground flying at any temperature. 😉

Fly, use it, enjoy it. Parts will eventually break, it is part of the sport. You generally don't see soccer players worrying about mud and gravel that shreds the $15 ball, or tennis players that must replace balls every few weeks as they lose pressure. Sometimes you need to order additional spars, they break and it is normal. Crash less and they break less often, but they still break.