Coping with Wind
Speed Problems
So
you've got all your gear ready, headed out to the field and the wind is blowing in excess
of 25 mph, or worse yet ... just a puff of wind. Believe it or not, there are simple
changes that you can make to your kite that will make it flyable.
You can tune your Flexifoil for better wind performance.
Just move the rubber grommets at the ends of the spar in or out (about 25 mm or about
1/8th inch increments). Move them out for lighter winds and more speed, in towards the
centre of the spar for heavier winds and better turning.
For a
2 line stunt kite you can add air brakes or wah
pads, make your kite heavier or lighter or just adjust the
bridle.
Heavy
Wind Solutions
Wah Pads & Air Brakes (wind
tamers)
1. Wah Pads
Air brakes do just what the name implies. Slows down the speed of your kite. Wah pads, are
little triangular strips of gauze that attach inside the belly of the kite. Notice in the
photo below how each pad attaches from the top spreader down to the lower spreader, close
to the spine of the kite. These particular wah pads were designed by Carl Robertshaw and
can be fit quickly to your kite, folded over the spreaders using velcro thereby
eliminating the need to remove the spars from the kite.
A Matrix wearing "Wah Pads"
Close up of a Wah Pad
2. Air brakes
Air brakes (also called wind tamers) are another separate strip of gauze which is attached
to the kite, between your flying lines and the bridle. Air brakes are not as effective as
the wah pads as the precision performance of the kite is affected, but certainly helps
bring down the wind speed by a few mph.
Making Your Kite Heavier
3.
Weighting your flying lines
Your kite can be made to fly slower by weighting it down. One easy way is to use heavier
lines. Instead of maybe your usual 75' / 150lb spectra, why not try 300 lb spectra or even
500 lb spectra. That's a simple solution.
4.
Spar Inserts
The standard Matrix uses a 5P Skyshark frame. 6mm spars will fit nicely inside of the 5P.
To weight down my kite I have inserted 6mm Excel spars in the lower spreaders, and also in
the spine. This spar had to be lengthened so it fit inside the spine running from
nose to the end. This solution considerably weights down the kite, making it easier
to fly in high winds.
In a
ballistic wind I have ended up using the 6mm spar inserts, wah pads and air brakes which
worked just fine and didn't have too much of an adverse effect on performance.
Light
Wind Solutions
When
the wind is low the opposite of everything above applies here. You want to make your kite
light as possible. In the absence of a super ultra light (SUL) you can do the following.
1.
Put on lighter and shorter flying lines. Try going down to 50lb lines, but be careful you
don't yank too hard on the lines.
2.
Removing a spar???
Yes, have you ever tried to lighten your kite be removing the top spreader? It may fly a
bit funkier than usual, but it can still fly. So, if you're willing, give it a try. |
