If the kite is feeling mushey and it Over-sheets easy, could that also be caused by the front-lines being stretched ?jplmain wrote:I have a 12m airone 2012. At first I thought my kite was weak because it would deform also in high wind.
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Turning my kite with less range has made my kiting more manageable. kite turns a lot faster and use of the stopper to cut short the over sheeting out helps control.
Maybe adding a knoted 4 inch pigtail to the outside lines of the kite may help with the turning.
GrodanBoll wrote:I had a session recently when I was out with a 9m Airush Varial X from 2012. The wind was pretty strong... was riding with full depower and with my arms fully extended most of the time. I happened to end up in the middle of a frontal where the wind speed probably was above 40 knots/s. I know that I shouldn't have been out there in the first case, but I was and it wasn't much to do at the moment.
Anyway, the strong wind made the kite to collapse in the air. The centre of the leading edge was sort of being bended downwards and the wingtips got bended slightly upwards, the shape of the kite was more like a sigma than an arc.
It was pretty impossible to manouver the kite when it got deformed, all I could do was to ride downwind in an attempt to make the kite go back to its normal shape.
I ended up doing a massive wipeout before I got back on land.
The kite was pumped to 7+ bar.
Was wondering if this would have happened with any other kite in this wind? Anyone who has experienced the same thing?
lot of overpowered kites deforming one way or another. this "sigma" shape is probably courtesy of bridles pulleys. if bridles attachment points on LE are not secured in space with fixed bridles you can get any shape of deformations. but those pulleys allow to flag the kite more effectively.GrodanBoll wrote:.....Anyway, the strong wind made the kite to collapse in the air. The centre of the leading edge was sort of being bended downwards and the wingtips got bended slightly upwards, the shape of the kite was more like a sigma than an arc.
It was pretty impossible to manouver the kite when it got deformed, all I could do was to ride downwind in an attempt to make the kite go back to its normal shape.
I ended up doing a massive wipeout before I got back on land.....