lighter than air kite???

[diraklib]

Ok - so I had a brain fart - decided to share.

Problem - wind too light, kite (LEI) too heavy to fly .

What if - you filled it all with helium - I know, it's under pressure so it may not really help with the weight issue.

BUT - what if you where to put in inflatable wedges (with helium) in the spaces between the struts - as thick as the LE in front and tapering towards the leading edge. I am not an engineer so figuring out lift properties of helium vs added weight etc. is not something I have the slightest clue about... the wedges would not have to be super inflated and they would be there to provide two benefits - reduce weight AND the wedges could be configured such that they provide the same properties as twin skin foils - making the lighter kite more efficient flying and providing better lift.

could be a simple retrofit kit - velcro your helium lift wedgies when you need to, otherwise fly regular. Yeah, I know, now you'd have to haul around a helium bottle, but look at the bright side - you wouldn't have to pump up your monster kites any more AND you and nearly everyone on the beach would be hysterical from everyone sucking the helium out of your kite and talking funny when you are deflating and packing up...

Free idea - if someone makes money off of this, give some of it to charity and I'll be happy - I'll also buy the kite!...

[TheAlbinoSmurf]

I say use hydrogen. Then we can really talk about kites Hindenberging...

[gbleck]

Helium is a controled substance in a lot of places now.

[eree]

Ok - so I had a brain fart - decided to share.

Problem - wind too light, kite (LEI) too heavy to fly .

What if - you filled it all with helium...
Free idea - if someone makes money off of this, give some of it to charity and I'll be happy - I'll also buy the kite!...

well, if you are so inventive, why didn't you check this Forum on searchword "helium"?
you'll be surprised how many "inventors" reached this solution before you.

only problem they were not good at physics.
suppose litewind kite 14sqm weighs 3.5kg (8.75lb)
-density of air at sea level is about 1.2 g/l
-density of helium is 0.18 g/l

so, suppose your kite has in total (exaggeratedly) 200l of air in its bladders, it would make a difference of just 1 gramme per liter or 200g(7oz) per kite!
by this numbers you'll need a 3.5m3 of extra space to contain a volume of a helium enough to zero the kite's weight. so it takes a ca 18 times more volume than the original bladders volume. this volume needs containers with their weight, so the quantity of helium is even more then that.

and to fans of hydrogen, it is more buoyant than the helium for just 7%. and it is highly flammable.



why don't you search for "helium" in the Forum before you start asking questions that might embarrass you?


winds

[zerogee_ca]

Yep, funny how this comes up a couple times a year on every kite forum on the planet.

BTW, It takes 16 cu ft of helium to lift 1 pound.

[gbleck]

From a volume standpoint even with realy light weight materials you need a shape that is fairly close to spherical to get usefull lift.

[marazmas]

I think there is a bigger issue here, if the wind is weak (even if you manage to get your kite up in the sky, by what ever means) your kite won't be able to generate needed power that enables one to kiteboard, unless, of course, the idea of kiteboarding only involves looking at your kite in the sky....

[Windrider]

Just stick an anti-grav disk up under the leading ledge by the center strut. A little duct tape will hold it in place, fine. Use the 0.5G model, elsewise you kite will won't sit on the beach when you put it down.