15 stone and I wanna jump?

[maxx]

I'm buying a kite, on a rather tight budget, like 200 quid. One thing that I really want to do is jumping, but as far as I have heard, there is no mathematical way that a 3m foil will lift me anywhere.

So now I've got this opportunity to get an HQ traction quad 5.5 . Some ppl say it'll be enough to get me some air, but i'm just crazy buying such a large kite for a first traction kite.

I've been flying stunt kites for years, so I don't see myself as a total novice. Can anyone give me some advice. Any comments will do, even the "You're just an idiot" ones.

Cheers

[Guest]

just go for it - bigger IS better!!

[Lineman]

You need a kite with lift for jumping. Many kites are designed for traction, vertical pull, and designed specifically not to have lift which is a bad thing if you're in a buggy. The flexifoil blade is regarded as the best for lift ... but be careful as it all depends on the windspeed. Start small 3.0m or 4m in moderate winds.

Regards,

[HiAsAKite]

Blades are awesome for lift..... definitely the way to go if your budget can stretch it...

For your budget you may be able to find a 2nd hand Blade 2 4.9 should allow you to jump in 12 mph+ wind.. BUT.. be warned it will give a lot of pull, and until you get used to it you should not go out in more than 10mph until you are familiar with the kite...

If the blades out of reach then maybe a buster, little devil or Firebee would sort you out...

You say you have flown stunt kite, that is good, what you need to do is learn to fly 4 lines kites and control the braking etc.. and be able to do this under power.. which is where it will differ considerably from your existing experience

Be warned though, that these are not toys and can hurt you if you are not careful. If this is your only kite than I would advise you to go for something smaller intead, since the risk is that you will put it up in too much wind because you do not have a smaller kite... remember that lift is proprtional to the square of wind speed, so going from 10mph to 15 mph gives 2.25 times as much lift, not 1.5 times!

The best bet is probably to try and meet up with local flyers and try a few things out first, and whatever you do, wear old clothes and enjoy