NPW 6.9 Review
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The NPW will "inflate" with a gentle tug and start to climb with little more than the rider walking backwards. I have an anemometer and it was measuring winds at between 1-2mph. Way too light for any of my other kites but, as I said earlier, I wanted a calmish day to learn how it flew.
With a 2mph wind it'll climb to about 30degrees from the horizon. After that it really wants another wind to get it higher, basically because the angle of attack becomes too little to keep the NPW open in that light a wind. There was a brief "gust" of about 5mph and the NPW did pull on my arms until it was about 45degrees from the horizon, at which point it started to drift.
It's drift was also an interesting part of the learning. There was no ground wind and probably not much where the NPW was (maybe 30ft up), but it was willing to stay open and hang with just the weight of my arms as a counterbalance. Very interesting.
It is a bit more sensitive to wind direction than other kites (think of a Stylus at the edges of the envelope) but this could have been due to the light winds I was flying in. I did notice that when one wing started to fold in I could pull slightly on the opposite wing and it would forgive me graciously, which is something a Stylus isn't happy to do.
It also has some aspects of the SkyTiger in that the kite can be on the ground on its nose and get airborne, at which point you can invert it and climb.
So it's a good ride and now that I have a better understanding of how it wants to behave I'll go out in a stronger wind and, if you'd like, let you know how it goes.
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NPW 6.9 Q&A
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How do I get the NPW aloft fast?
I'm not sure if there's more to your question beyond "How do I get the NPW aloft fast?" and my lack of understanding concerns me. Aren't you the
fellow looking to do some kiteboating?
Now, as to getting the NPW aloft fast, I have some land
based solutions and a boat based solution.
Please read through these carefully before attempting
them.
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| Land Launch: Light Wind (1-3mph wind) Method
You'll need your NPW, the quad lines, the handles and two
12" tent pegs (you can get a package of four
at a KMart or WalMart or any sports store for about
US$5.00).
Please notice that I mentioned QUAD lines above even
though what I'm about to tell you will sound
like I'm describing dual line action. I'm suggesting you
go with quad lines because in a sudden gust this kite
really wants to be controlled and dual lines don't (in my
opinion) provide the rapid control necessary.
Drive the tent pegs into the ground upwind of where
you'll lay out the kite and about 2-3 feet apart from
each other. I use lawn&garden gloves to drive the
pegs in deep by hand, so that maybe 4" is above the
ground. I also drive them in at an angle so that the pegs
are about 30degrees from vertical in the ground. String
up the handles (but not the kite yet) and place the
handles around the pegs as if they were horseshoes and you'd just scored
a ringer.
Now walk your lines out to where you'll launch the kite.
Make sure your lines are straight and untwisted.
Open the NPW flat on the ground.
Find the kite's bottom lines first and attach these to
the bottom lines from your handles.
This is an important step.
I prefer to attach bottom lines first because
there's no chance the kite will inflate and take off if
the bottom lines are attached first. Attaching the top
lines first means the kite has suddenly become a dual
line kite with an unstable flight geometry and can be
dangerous in the right kind of wind.
Once the bottom lines are attached attach the kite's top
lines to the top lines from your handles.
Lay the kite out so that the top of the kite is about
1/4-1/3 curled over the rest of the kite.
Take one of the top lines in each hand and, facing the
kite, walk backwards until you reach the handles.
With the NPW slightly folded over, a gentle pull on the
top lines with the handles will get it airborne.
In the above, it is important to remember that the
tent pegs are there in case there's a sudden gust
which does get the kite airborne.
The tent pegs give you a few minutes to think before you
need to panic because the kite is lifting you
off the ground.
Land Launch: Stronger Wind (3-7mph) Method In a
stronger wind (3-7mph) you will want to keep your
workgloves with you as you tie the lines from the kite to
the handle lines as described above.
When you get to the part above where I suggest you walk
backwards, put your gloves on and then grab the lines.
This much wind will inflate the NPW and you'll need to be
a little sensitive to the wind as you walk backwards
because you can "feather" the kite so that it
stays inflated but doesn't get any lift until you
get back to the handles.
Feathering means you provide just enough resistance to
the kite's pull to keep it open and windward
without giving enough resistance to get it airborne. If
you've ever done anything like push-hands in T'ai Qi
then you know what I mean, except now the wind is your
partner and the kite is your partner's hands.
The gloves are necessary in case there's a sudden gust
and the kite does get airborne, which now means
the lines are running through your hands and having the
gloves on will prevent you from getting burns and cuts
from the line (trust me, the speed and power could
seriously damage your hands without the gloves to protect
them. Did I mention I use thick, canvas lawn&garden
gloves?)
Also remember that you're only holding onto the top lines
until you get to the handles or the handles get
to you (I've had the tent pegs pulled from the ground
several times. If you're not careful, the pegs get stuck
in the lines and you'll know when they whack you in the
spine). Holding onto only the top lines means you're
flying a dual line kite until the you get to the handles.
Remember that dual line kites have different steering
geometries and characteristics than quad line kites.
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Land: Still Stronger Wind (5,6,7-15mph) Method
As the winds increase you can get a more stable initial
lift by running your lines at an angle to the direction
of the wind. For example, if the wind is East at 10mph,
run your lines so that your launch site is ESE or ENE.
All of the above still applies, with the exception that
your upwind wing (the wing most E at the launch site) is
going to want to be inflated first which means you'll
want to keep those upwind lines loose until you're back
at your handles. Likewise, your downwind wing will
require some tension on its lines so that it doesn't fold
over until you're ready to get the kite airborne. Once
you've got the handles in your hands the geometry and
strategy changes. Relax the downwind lines and tighten
the upwind lines. Your upwind wing inflates and your
downwind wing folds. This causes the NPW to pull itself
into the direction of the wind (E in our example) and,
if the wind is 15mph or above, you'll get pulled with it.
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Sea: Any Wind Method and Land: Very Strong Wind (over
15mph) Method First I need you to understand that I've never done any
kiteboating (if that's your interest), nor have I flown
the NPW in winds this strong (as of yet). What I'm
describing is based on other large kites (SkyTigers and
CQuads) I've flown in strong winds and this is a method I
think would work for you if you need to do a boat based
launch. You'll need your gloves as described above. I
have a jeep modified with tow hooks front and rear. I'm
assuming a kiteboat has some kind of hooking mechanism or
oarlocks or something which would server the same
purpose. Vickee can sell you a harness (gelding harness,
chastity belt, whatever it's called, Vickee'll know what
I mean). I put on the harness then run a plastic covered
cable (15' long, 500# breaking strength) through the back
of the harness to the tow hooks on the jeep (usually the
front because sometimes
I fly at night and need the headlights to see what I'm
doing).
I then take one handle and line set. I let the handle go
to the ground, walk forward and slightly to the side
about 3' with the lines in my hands, then let the lineset
coil on the ground in about a 1' wide diameter coil.
Take the other handle and lineset and do the same, making
sure the handles are about shoulder width apart, which
means the linesets are coiled in front of you and are
wider than your shoulders apart. Walk back between the
two linesets and hook the handles into the harness (or
into the oarlocks or whatever).
Walk back to the coiled linesets. Unlike the above
methods, leave the NPW crumpled up into a ball and just
free up the kite lines. As before, tie the bottom lines
first then the top. You should now be standing in front
of a ball of kite with the kites lines running behind you
and attached to the coiled handle lines, which have some
lines running to the handles which are attached to your
harness. Put on your gloves. Hold the upper kite lines
where you attached them to the upper handle lines. Shake
the kite like you're shaking a beach towel to get rid of
the sand. The kite will inflate. Let the lines run
through your hands (remember, you're now controlling a
DUAL LINE kite even though you have quad lines attached)
and work the kite so it stays into the wind as the lines
now pay themselves out. Do this slowly so that the coiled
lines don't twist up. Eventually you'll run out of coiled
linesets and you'll get a snap when the lines pull on the
handles you've attached to your harness. Be sure your
insurance is paid up because you're in for one heck of a
ride. LAST NOTE: I think this method would work for a
boat launch in a light wind and would love to hear your
thoughts on it. Remember, I've never flown the NPW in a
very strong wind and I've only used this technique on
other very large kites (simply haven't had the wind to do
this with the NPW yet).
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Land or Sea: Too much wind and what are you doing out you're going to kill yourself method
This is neither an endorsement nor an encouragement!
Since writing this original page I've had a chance to take the NPW out in a wind that only a fool or an idiot would go out in (steady winds over 17mph with gusts to 23mph). The easiest way to get the NPW airborne (like you could stop it!) was to feather as described above but using the bottom lines. This forced the NPW to remain deflated until I was in position and securely harnessed(!!!).
There you go, friends. I hope this has been helpful.
With about a day's practice you'll be able to get any
large power kite (dual or quad line) airborne using these
methods in very quick time. With winds 5-7mph I'll get
kites up in less than 30 seconds (after I've run out the
lines, etc.). In stronger winds it can take longer to
launch because some kites will self-launch until you get
the hang of feathering them (described above). It can
also take longer in very light winds but only because the
NPW is sensitive to the wind's angle of attack. It wants
winds around 3-5mph or better to get it above 30degrees
from the horizon, but anything beyond that might be too
high (maybe) if you're kiteboating.
Good flying, friends.
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Can the NPW be used for buggying?
Gosh yes, and within some limitations. Buggying is one of those things that requires more co-ordination than most people think. Your hands are working the kite, your feet the buggy. Meanwhile your eyes are making sure the kite's up and at the same time they're making sure you're not going into the trees, a ditch, the water, whatever.
My first question would be which NPW are you considering? My second question would be how big are you? The answer to the first depends on the answer to the second, the buggy you'll be using, and you get the idea. I have NPW LK-300, which is just over 6.9m of sail and great for all sorts of wind conditions. One thing to remember is that the more surface area a kite has the less wind it will take to get it aloft. This, of course, assumes the kite is made out of the standard fixings and not lead. Thus the LK-300 will go up in less wind than the LK-200.
I would think for buggying (and I'm going to assume a body wieght of 200# because its an easy number to work with) you'd want the LK-300,
quad line set up and winds up around 7-10mph for level buggying and over 15mph to go uphill with a standard highway
grade (less than 10%). The NPW is going to be slow to respond in all but the strongest winds (15mph and up). Even in a
good, steady, strong wind (like at the beach or on a plateau off a mountaintop) it won't respond as quickly as something like a
Blade. I've flown my LK-300 with two friends. My take on it was that it was like flying a hotair balloon or a
dirigible; Graceful as anything but slow on the curves. I didn't tell my friends this and waited for their reactions. One said
it was like piloting a balloon from the ground and the other said it was like a pedalpowered dirigible. Guess I wasn't too
far off.
The reason the responsiveness issue may be important comes with steering both the buggy and the kite. You can
do some mean turns with
the buggy but the kite may not keep up so, if you go this way, make sure you're wearing elbow
and knee pads and a helmet
until you get the hang of it. The NPW will respond much faster in a stronger wind but then you
have the problem of maybe
too much power until you get use to it. If you want to test the power over speed issue I'd
suggest you fly the kite
halfway between horizon and zenith and about 15 degrees from the edge of the envelope. This
will give you enough pull in
winds around 10mph to get you moving and give you the ability to pull the kite more into the
wind (ie, away from the
envelope and more windward) should you want more power and also to pull the kite away from the
wind (ie, closer ot the
edge of the envelope) to decrease power without running the risk of deflating the kite or
having it fold.
But what about really strong winds? I've just come back from a
vacation where I flew the NPW
in 12mph winds with gusts to 17. God, what a ride! I had to bring the kite down about every 5
minutes just to give my
arms and back a rest. At 65 degrees up and about 10 degrees out of direct windward the kite had
enough pull to get me
off the ground in those gusts (I weigh about 240) so you know there was work going on. I was
tempted to harness myself
to my jeep and go out when the wind got up around 20mph steady but I'd already been out for 4
hours and was dead. I
needed a rest. The next day the winds were more civilized (back to 7-10mph steady from the
South) so it was not as much
work to keep the NPW tamed.
The NPW is a great kite for the money, no doubt about that, and it's highly versatile. If
you're buggying for fun and to
learn what it's like, sure, the NPW is a great kite. You can buggy with it, learn some stunts,
learn how to maneuver and
so on. But if you're into serious buggying or are competitive, I'm not sure the responsiveness
would be what you need.
You want to pull stumps, though, go for it!
Enjoy and fly safe.
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