power kites

[xmus]

On a personal note:
I not only picked up the Renard hobby this year, I started flying "power kites" this spring. I'm up to a 3 meter kite now. It is so much fun, on a windy day it gets pretty thrilling!

http://www.prismkites.com/k_stylus.html

Anyway, I've been toying with the idea of going bigger; they make kites up to 20 meters wide. But you need a harness, and other fancy gear, and I just couldn't spend the money since I wasn't really sure what to buy.

It was really windy last weekend, and I took my daughter to the park to "fly", I have a really cool professional style kids kite for her as well, as we got closer to the park, we could see the "parachutes" flying above the park! My lucky day, there were 7 "real" kite-boarders out there, all with gigantic power kites.

Anyway, I got all my questions answered, I went home purchased all the stuff online the same day. My 6 meter power kite is inbound!

My point: Now that the Christmas setup is complete, it is a perfect transition into flying/kite boarding for the winter! I just got a call from a local instructor in the area, and we are going to have lunch in a few days! I've specifically requested a class on "how to not kill yourself"!

As much as I love the Christmas hobby, I'm looking forward to getting OUTDOORS as soon as possible; I've been gazing at the monitor for too long! This Christmas hobby has put 10 pounds on me!

[TheBigLog]

I love power kites. I have flown kites for a long time and have a pretty big kite collection but I have just recently got into the power kites. I have wanted to get a big quad line one but my mom said the bigest I could get right now was a HQ Symphony 2.2 dual line (I only weigh like 125lbs, apparently I could get hurt). Not a bad kite but the bad thing about it, and any other power kite, is that once the wind picks up flying can actually get dangerous, not so much with my 2.2m but with somthing bigger and the right wind I could jump. :lol: I wish I had enough money to get a bigger one and possibly a buggy too. :D That could be real run.

[xmus]

DUDE! (Technical kite lingo!) I picked up a 6meter for $132 SHIPPED.
http://www.panshkite.com/

This webpage is in China, they ship same day, you get it in like 4 days.

[TheBigLog]

Wow! Cool site and great prices. I will have to try out one of their kites when I get some money. Possibly after Christmas. :D

[xmus]

The kite arrived today... very cool, i've never flown a kite longer than my truck before :) Nice :)

[TheBigLog]

I almost forgot how big 6m is, almost 20ft! :o Make sure to have lots of fun with it. :D

[xmus]

I almost forgot how big 6m is, almost 20ft! :o Make sure to have lots of fun with it. :D

Only 20 feet? I think my truck is a bit longer :)
Raining here today, dark when the kite came anyway.
Also, tomorrow I'm going to put the 30 candy canes out (last step for my display).
Then Saturday night i need to see how my sequences look with the canes....
Probably wont be flying this weekend....

[kkmm]

Here are my kites I have been flying for a while now...

Prism Stylus P.3 (http://www.prismkites.com/k_stylus.html) I love stacking them, or flying them with my sons. (I have 3 p.3's)

My latest: New Tech Ballistic 4.9 (http://www.windpowersports.com/kites/new-tech/ballistic.html) This one pulls me anywhere I wanna go, and is very easy to control on either a bar, or handles.

We like to fly just about anywhere, but our favorite place is on the beach in Pentwater, Michigan. The winds are perfect everytime we go, and its a great time..

[xmus]

4.9 meters :) nice :) Well i'll be joining the ranks soon...
The kite I got came with handles, and 4 lines, but nothing is hooked up.

I have two red ended lines, and two green (red for right?)
how do the included handles go?
How do I wire all this up :) ?

My harness and airbar's will be here in a week, but for now I could fly with the included handles....

[kkmm]

Red for right, Green for left. Since you have 4 lines, 2 are possibly thinner than the other 2. The heavier weight line should go to the top (Leading edge) kite connections and top handle connections with a Larks Head.
http://www.awindofchange.com/lessons/lessonimages/larkshead1.gif
http://awindofchange.com/lessons/lessonimages/larkshead2.gif
http://awindofchange.com/lessons/lessonimages/larkshead3.gif
The lighter weight lines go to the bottom connections (trailing edge) on the kite (the "brakes") and the bottom of your handles.

CAUTION! For your first flight, fly in low winds! (The lowest possible wind speed your kite is rated for) These things can pull your arms out of their sockets...so be careful! I'm lifted off the ground regularly by mine in a 10+ mph wind (Fun when you mean to do it, not so fun when a gust hits you.), and I'm 200 lbs.

To Fly, simply lay out your kite with it's top on the ground so it's leading edge is away from the wind, trailing edge towards the wind, and the strings are all on top. (It should look upside down) I also like to place a little sand on the kite's trailing edge, so the wind doesn't grab the kite. Then lay out your lines to make sure you have no tangles or twists. When ready to launch, simply pull on your handles (lightly) and you should see the kite's leading edge start to come up and fill the kite with air. Give it a good yank and up she'll go.

Pull right to turn right, left to turn left. Tilt the handles forward to brake, tilt them back to release brake.
http://awindofchange.com/lessons/lessonimages/kitehandles.jpg

A bar and harness are hooked up differently. (Brakes on bar, mains on harness connections through "chicken strap") So throw all this info out when you get your bar and harness. Follow the directions that come with it. (Your life may depend on it.)

Here are some good lessons online if you care to have a look.
http://awindofchange.com/lesson.html

[xmus]

Dude, thank you... I had the two thinner lines hooked to the leading edge....


you see the "sides" of the kite have green lines, so I hooked the green kite string to the green lines... WRONG... those green lines are the bigger diameter lines. Thanks for saving me from destroying everything.

[xmus]

Got er all hooked up thanks to you man!
The wind was very calm, and this kite was seriously dragging me.
What a workout! OUCH.
I was skiing on my shoes at times, and doing that tip toe run as well.
Alright it is dark, back to WORK (xmus)

[xmus]

Alright, I now own a Ozone Frenzy 10m and a Ozone Frenzy 14m, and my kite buggy is inbound. Helmet and Harness arrived today, WRONG COLOR ON BOTH. They go back..... ah the joy of internet shopping.

I got Fritschi bindings used cheap, backcountry ski's used cheap, now I need scarpa boots (NOT CHEAP). If anyone has suggestions on where to get Scarpa or Rondonea (sp?) boots for less than $300 please tell me (used is okay).

[Walden]

haha i was looking up what power kites were and i found this lol ha ha

<object><param></param><param></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S8OSMq70bRg&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[xmus]

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PifF4f_5bRU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed>

[Walden]

Oh so your doing it on water

[xmus]

I'm just a wanna be. I own some kites, and I'm going to try kite skiing (snow) for the first time this year. I am buying a 15meter slingshot for the water however... but that will be in the summer.... water is harder, snow is easier, snow first! :)

[xmus]

I am officially no longer a wanna be kite skier :)
And I only have one bruise to show for it!

[TheBigLog]

Now thats what I'm talking about. :D Now I wanna try. :)

[xmus]

I forgot my harness today... so I was actually doing it with a carabeener around my hip strap for my pack! NOT ideal for your first time out, made it real hard to reach out and depower the kite!

[Walden]

thats cool, its like a skinner longer snow board?

[xmus]

I'm on regular skis. (AT boots, in the walk position, back country bindings, and shorter than normal shape skis, 173cm normally I ski 190-210)

Tonight I'm building a homemade "wakeboard" (just a scale model out of two layers of 3/4" plywood) to start balance drills for summer!

[Walden]

You look PRO in your all black atire.

[xmus]

Black ski pants from Ross = $12
Black ski jacked from Ross - $28
Black helmet (last years model close out, with built in headphones) = $28

Getting your (blond) wife to take a couple of good photos = priceless

(Don't even ask how much one of those kites cost)

[Walden]

Power Kiting looks like a fun thing to do. But i lack the money. I think me and my friend are going to buy a hanglider :D

[xmus]

My friend locally is selling two paragliders if you are interested.

[Walden]

I dont think it is actualy going to happen though :(((

But Ill talk to him about it.


We both unicycle though lol. Here is a video i made like 3 years ago.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1710391


And here is a video he made this year for something at his college.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=eu1p2HnCp7Q