Which Kite to Fly When?
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I can share with you how I pick a kite and maybe it'll
give you some ideas. I can start by offering that much of my decision
process depends on the kind of experience I want on a given day.
1. Do I want a quiet, calm ride or do I want to get a full-body workout?
2. Do I want to play or am I practicing?
3. Do I want to fly quad- or dual-lines? (I don't fly single-line kites. They are fine kites,
just not what I like to
fly)
4. Do I want to fly strutted or foil? (both cover lots of options. Strutted kites vary in
design from deltas (like the
Beetle 2100) to Revolutions to CQuads. Foil kites go from Symphonies to SkyTigers to
FlexiFoils. I'm not sure where
you'd put kites like the NPW but I tend to put them in with the foils)
5. Do I want to tune my kite to the wind or do I just want to go fly?
6. How much wind is there today?
7. How stable is the wind?
Notice that I put the "wind" questions last? I tend to
decide the "Do I want..." questions then match my answers to the "wind"
questions.
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For example, if I want a full-body workout and the wind is
8-16kph, I'll take out my NPW5 LK300. |
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If I want a full-body
workout and the wind is 16-24kph I'll take out something like a Q2002
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| If the
wind is 24-32kph and I want a full-body workout I'll fly my SkyTiger26. By the
way, I'm including pointers so you'll get an idea of the kites I'm
describing. I'm not endorsing any one kite over another nor am I attempting
to sell you a kite.
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| So much for kites for full-body workouts. What about a kite
for a calm, quiet ride? I've noticed that most kite wind ratings are for
steady winds in one direction, like a wind at a beach. I tend to fly in
fields and on mountainsides or cliffs overlooking the ocean (I don't
recommend this). My point is that I don't fly where there's going to be a
steady breeze in one direction most of the time. This means I'm always
going to have my attention on two things; the kite's relation to the wind
and my footing (especially if I'm flying on the cliffs of Cape Breton).
But can you have a calm, quiet ride in unsteady winds? Yes. I'm willing to
bet that your Beetle would be quite responsive in a variable wind,
provided the base wind was at least 12-13kph. By "base wind" I mean that
the wind, regardless of direction, doesn't drop below 12-13kph. If the
wind is steady in one direction the Beetle will probably be an enjoyable
ride in around 8kph winds. Generally, the more surface area a kite has the
less wind is necessary to get it airborne. However, more wind does equate
to a more dynamic flight unless you go with a smaller kite.
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That said and using the same winds as before
(8-16, 16-24, 24-32kph) if I want a calm, quiet ride I'll use my Maxima (not
sure they still make these. It's a 10+ft, dual line
strutted delta),
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a
Legacy, and nothing because I've
not found a kite which will give a calm, quiet ride in 24-32kph winds.
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The
Legacy and the Maxima share one (to me) nice feature; they don't need
to be tuned. The Legacy's kid brother, the Utopia are tunable kites, meaning
you can make adjustments to the tension on the wings, curvature of the sail, etc.,
depending on wind condition. Tuning a
kite goes back to my questions about wanting to just fly or practice. My Maxima is
not tunable and will give me a good ride in anything from 8-24kph winds, steady
or not and variable
in
direction or not. I've flown a
Utopia and it's the only kite I've seen which can do a true 90 degree
turn, but it needed adjustments to do the same stunts in different winds
on different days. Somedays I want to tune kites so I can explore
flight dynamics, somedays I don't.
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| Are you interested in just getting a kite up and
then enjoying the sight with little work on your part, say the winds are
24kph or less? In situations like this, where I just want to mellow out
and enjoy the sky I fly a Stylus.
This is rated as a power kite but I tend to start beginners on it because
it's an easy ride, goes well in a light wind and doesn't break when it
crashes). To give you an idea
of how things can vary, if I want a calm, quiet, zen-like ride in 8-12kph
winds, variable or not, I'll fly the SkyTiger26 I mentioned above when I
talked about a full-body workout kite. It really depends on the winds and
what you want to do.
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Now what about sheer profundity? If I'm flying for an audience I'll usually end with my Synergy
kites. Synergies are
three line kites and are just sheer fun to fly although not for
everybody, I'll admit. These
kites are dynamic and will fly in winds from 4-24kph. I love them and they take some getting
use to. I was out flying
today with a friend and he couldn't fly one to save his life. I gave a gentle tug and got mine skyborne every time.
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| I hope that answers your questions, or
at least gives you enough to ask more or something. Let me know if there's
anything else I can offer. |
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