Power Kites

Narj

Narj

Narj

Soldato
Joined
19 Feb 2010
Posts
13,254
Location
London
Anyone here use these? Seeing as it's been stupidly windy this year, I've been thinking of getting a 4 line power kite (w/handles) to have some fun with when it's too windy for my other windsports. The idea is to just start flying it about and then do stuff like jumps, then finally perhaps get a land board.

Is an Ozone Octane 4 a good start? I weigh ~88kg at the moment. I'm hoping it won't be too tricky to learn seeing as I fly a paraglider anyway! :p

Cheers!
 
Where I live we have 4 crazy ass fools with paragliders, and a couple with power kites and a board. I speak to one of them on a regular basis, and I have to say it looks really fun, but also really scary and dangerous. :eek:
 
Yeah this is what I'm looking to do:


Perfect for when it's too windy to do HG or PG. Looks like a great workout too.

Not sure how you fly a 4 line kite as a 2 liner with those handles, either.
 
I used to do kite landboarding / surfing and am keen to try snowkiting over here.

I went through a dozen or so different kites to try while I was at it.

That Ozone kite you mention is a good starter kite, low aspect ratio so easy to handle and get used to.

Smaller lift profile because of that... but easier to get the basics down with handling before you move onto more aggressive kites.

Ozone Frenzy was one of my favourite kites... but Peter Lynn Phantom was the best I ever flew/owned... although the Flysurfer Speed 2 was mental... it could lift you off the ground without you doing anything, like a miniature paraglider :)
 
that Octane should be ok at its only 4.0...but it has been a while since ive flown a kite.

Go with handles first to get the basics then the board.
Then move to bar and harness when youre comfortable.

Make sure you are in a wide, clear space (preferably with clean wind - on the beach) and there is never anyone directly downwind.

I learnt with a Flexi Bullet 3.5...then moved onto a Flexi Blade 3, 6.6m.
 
Narj said:
Yeah this is what I'm looking to do:


Perfect for when it's too windy to do HG or PG. Looks like a great workout too.

Not sure how you fly a 4 line kite as a 2 liner with those handles, either.
Click to expand...

not sure you really want to do it when it is too windy, a sudden change in wind or a wrong move and you can end up in a fair bit of trouble

they are good fun though, I just have a small flexi foil one so not so great if you want to be able to leap up into the air

did do a brief kite surfing course too, that is also fun but again rather dangerous
 
crinkleshoes said:
Ozone Frenzy was one of my favourite kites... but Peter Lynn Phantom was the best I ever flew/owned... although the Flysurfer Speed 2 was mental... it could lift you off the ground without you doing anything, like a miniature paraglider :)
Click to expand...

I was tempted to buy a speedwing PG but those are quite expensive. These seem very cheap and are much more simple so no real stress untangling lines when it all goes wrong!

Are you better off with the separate handles or a bar? Will I get off the ground with that Ozone! Is it worth using a harness or does that limit what you can do? :D

Cheers for the input! :)
 
I used to wanna do kitesurfing. After watching that video I would probably have ended up with a dislocated shoulder :D
 
Narj said:
I was tempted to buy a speedwing PG but those are quite expensive. These seem very cheap and are much more simple so no real stress untangling lines when it all goes wrong!

Are you better off with the separate handles or a bar? Will I get off the ground with that Ozone! Is it worth using a harness or does that limit what you can do? :D

Cheers for the input! :)
Click to expand...

A harness will transfer the force from your arms to your waist. Will make it more confortable in the long run but it means that if you do not keep your eye on the kite, it could loop and drag you 100m downwind.

Separate handles first...then move onto bar and harness.
 
I remember one part of the safety briefing on the kite surfing course - something along the lines of:

'and this is the 'oh ****' loop, if you're really in trouble pull this, you might well lose the kite though'
 
Narj said:
I was tempted to buy a speedwing PG but those are quite expensive. These seem very cheap and are much more simple so no real stress untangling lines when it all goes wrong!

Are you better off with the separate handles or a bar? Will I get off the ground with that Ozone! Is it worth using a harness or does that limit what you can do? :D

Cheers for the input! :)
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the PG Speedwing... flown quite a few kites on top of the ones i've owned, but that's not one of them.

The one you picked is a good starter kite, for sure... good brand and targetted for a learner.

Getting off the ground depends on three things:
- Kite size
- Wind speed
- Technique

The technique you use is quite important, perhaps not easy to describe simply in words - you go along-wind with the kite pulling, turn up-wind with your running/riding and then flick the kite over to just the other side of the 12-o-clock position from which you were travelling and then bring it back in the right direction to land. I'm sure there are plenty of youtube videos to show you the basics.

Only real tip there would be to get really comfortable with kite control and sliding around on the ground before you try jumping too much/high as it's quite easy to twist your wrist in the wrong way while in the air which could result in a painful landing / injury. It's not too dangerous, IMO... just worth a note.

I started with handles for a few months before moving to kites with bar control / harness.

They're different things really.

For a starter, I'm glad that I started with handles as they are the simplest/easiest way to control the kite, I think... with the most control-ability and reaction opportunities.

Then move onto a bar when you're happy/comfortable with what you're doing.

You mentioned you've done/do other wind sports, so you'll likely get to grips quickly.

Getting off the ground also depends on aspect ratio of the kite, as that affects how quickly it can move through the sky and subsequently, generate lift.

Slower kites (lower AR) require more effort to get you off the ground than faster kits (higher AR)... but they're much easier to control, less twitchy and less prone to over-fly (the Flysurfer speed 2 I had would over-fly, crumple and fall back a bit before trying to lift me up again... you had to be "on it" all the time with that kite, you couldn't relax at all while it was in the air... whereas the one you picked to start with will sit quite happily at the zenith [12-o-clock above you] without any effort).

I also quite liked starting with handles as it was when I was 18 and it gave me some nice arm/upper-body tone that I might have missed otherwise. It can be like doing quite a few pull-ups over the course of a day ;)
 
dowie said:
I remember one part of the safety briefing on the kite surfing course - something along the lines of:

'and this is the 'oh ****' loop, if you're really in trouble pull this, you might well lose the kite though'
Click to expand...

Most kites for last 10+ years come with a tether that's connected to the back of the kite (or single side of kite), should you have to pull this safety chord.

It means the kite stays connected to you, even if you pull this (although, you can disconnect that safety too, if you really have to) then the kite stays connected but flaps around like a flag with no real pull on the user.

With handles... you can release both in an absolute emergency, but generally you would just release one handle it will spiral to the ground without much of any pull on the user. But then you'll have a pain in the backside untangling things for half a day ;)



When I first read that though, I though you were talking about a power loop... it's a move where you do a full 360 loop with the kite in the power zone, while under full power.

I would only ever think about doing that on the water, although some nutters do it on land and snow... it's such a massive power pull that it can launch you 30m up in the air and 50-100m forward in the blink of an eye in the right conditions :)

I have to admit, I was a bit of a pussy and never tried that.
 
it was a few years ago on a kite surfing course... maybe it was 'oh **** handles' rather than loops, can't remember exactly

it was definitely the last resort option, there was a cord etc.. too that you could use first


I've just got a beginners power kite that I use in the park occasionally, handles - no harness/bar... I do need to give kite surfing a go again though
 
Last edited:
Yup - had a Flexfoil Rage 3.5 I used for kite boarding and general mucking about.

I also bought a Flexifoil Blade IV 4.9m and it broke both my ankles on it's third outing.

Great fun - until they spank your ***!
 
When I was younger a mate had a power kite and it was great fun. Something 8 it was called? I think he's continued with it and now does kite surfing.

Edit: a Flexifoil Proteam 8.
 
Last time we were in South Africa we saw an elderly chap kitesurfing, he must've been 60 odd and very clearly knew what he was doing. It was windy as hell too, we had to stand "strategically" as the beach sand was basically sandblasting the skin off our shins. A few minutes later we look out and this guy must've been 400m out to sea, we could barely see him. We were on our way to the car to grab a phone to call the coast guard when another elderly chap in full surfing gear comes to us and asks if we've seen the other guy. A bit panicky my wife says "he's there, he's in trouble, we're calling the coast guard" to which this guy laughs and says "nah, don't worry, he knows what he's doing". Lo and behold, about half an hour later, we walked past and there he was on the beach again as if getting dragged out to the middle of a notoriously shark infested ocean in the middle of a massive storm was the most normal thing in the world.

That was a proper WTF moment, but the guy's no-stress attitude really made me smile in hindsight. These guys must've been doing this for decades.
 
Last edited:
Narj said:
Yeah this is what I'm looking to do:


Perfect for when it's too windy to do HG or PG. Looks like a great workout too.

Not sure how you fly a 4 line kite as a 2 liner with those handles, either.
Click to expand...

My god if I was 15 years younger and not had a screwed up hip and knee from a motorbike accident I'd love to do that.
 
I've got a couple of Flexifoil Super 10s stacked whicH I once took out to a football pitch on a particularly stormy day, ended up being pitched head first into the mud from several feet off the ground. A little kid wanted a go so I said go on then, he ended up getting dragged face first 20 yards through the mud, which was pretty funny but I never did it again.
 
SickAsAParrot said:
I've got a couple of Flexifoil Super 10s stacked whicH I once took out to a football pitch on a particularly stormy day, ended up being pitched head first into the mud from several feet off the ground. A little kid wanted a go so I said go on then, he ended up getting dragged face first 20 yards through the mud, which was pretty funny but I never did it again.
Click to expand...

Well part of any windsport is being able to assess whether the conditions are suitable or not - that's lolworthy though! :D

I've read that stacking these things can generate enormous amounts of lift. Don't think I'll be doing that!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom