Power Kite Forum - Bonding with the Scorpion

Bonding with the Scorpion

shaggs2riches - 23-1-2010 at 07:30 PM

So I woke to 24km/h winds this morning. Off to the lake I went taking all my gear. I met a friend there and it turned into a great day for the most part. Both of us had our fair share of frustration as the winds were extremely gusty. I rode the day with my Scorpion and when I wasn't moving the kite, the wind would occasionally cause the kite to invert or bow tie. With my limited experience I had to suck it up, land, secure and unhook the lines and untangle them. Once everything jived I had a great time. I made my way pretty much across the small lake, then back again. I probably had a total of about 5 hours flight time.I can't believe how easier things are to go up/down wind and move in both directions, when the kite is powered up enough to do the job. My legs, hips, stomach and lower back are all aching but I can't wait to get out again. Winds are looking good for tomorrow, hopefully they aren't too gusty.

Shaggs

P.S. If I do go out tomorrow I'll be with someone who will take pics and video if so I'll post them here.

furbowski - 23-1-2010 at 07:37 PM

sounds like your arcumcision is going a lot better than mine... :frog:

you'll hurt worse tomorrow, take it easy at first if you go out again, a lot of the pain will go away as you warm up.

man you guys with your frozen lakes make me jealous!

shaggs2riches - 23-1-2010 at 08:00 PM

yeah we are very forunate with our open space out here. Except it would be nice to have a nice steady not so luffy coastal wind. Guess one can't have everything.

furbowski - 23-1-2010 at 08:16 PM

yeah my beach in HK is tiny (50x100m at max low tide) but the wind can be smooooooth!

WolfWolfee - 23-1-2010 at 10:51 PM

25km is really the bottom end for your Scorpion. They just start to do there job at 15 mph but from there up the fun begins. What are you running your straps at, pays to have lots of bar pressure at first to get a better feel and more grunt in the lift department(IMHO).
I have been told by guys who snow board they like the higher bar pressure little more to lean into or feels that way. Met a guy from Alaska was insane on his snowboard, was flying a Ozone and had some mad skills. Funny how you run into people in the middle of nowhere in white out blizzard condition and your both smiling like idiots...lol..
I find the big lakes like Slave can get some pretty nice winds, we started out in 17km winds but as we got down the lake more hit sweet and steady 35km winds. The ice can get pretty rough and pressure ridges are something you need to be aware of at all times. Sometimes they make great ramps and other times you want to avoid them.

shaggs2riches - 23-1-2010 at 10:53 PM

Speaking of which; does anyone, have a setting that they use to fly the Scorpion in real gusty conditions. The biggest downfall that I have found from the really gusty conditions were that the kite really tried to overfly the zenith. When that happened is when I would run into issues with it inverting or bowtie. Basically I had tension and control of the kite then the gust would shoot the kite up and when the gust died the lines would end up slack and the kite opened up, usually falling back towards powerzone, where I would regain control. If a gust hit again the kite would either invert, bowtie , or fold in on itself. In those conditions auto-zenith really didn't work that well

shaggs2riches - 23-1-2010 at 10:56 PM

Thanks for the info Wolfee. You are probably one of the few in our area of the continent who understands the conditions. Especially when it comes to the scorpion.

shaggs2riches - 23-1-2010 at 11:00 PM

I have on pigtail connections and have been using it with the first (longest) knot. I seem to have a good bar pressure right now. Haven't done anything with the internal straps jsut been flying with it the way it was set when I got it. Maybe I'll try some tweeking tomorrow and see what I can get out of it.

Kamikuza - 24-1-2010 at 02:00 AM

I think it was macboy who posted a video recently showing him de-bow-tieing his Scrop (?) when out snow kiting in lulling conditions ... looks easy :lol:

macboy - 24-1-2010 at 02:11 AM

Only if you're lucky and it falls to the ground right. Mine was just a simple invert, started flying inside out which brought it to the ground leading edge down - all lines straight - not twisted. Just move to the kite so it lays out flat - belly down, then grab an arm's reach of centre lines as you scurry towards the kite. Let go and the LE should flip up and off you go, searching for the next lull :lol:

I got really lucky that day. Normally if the wind drops out like that it's gone for a while and by the time it comes back you've partially deflated which makes it a pain to relaunch. I think near the end (unless I cut it out) you can see it struggling to get airborne with the TE wing tips curling in trying to clap like a seal. When this happens it's 'cuz I'm holding an arm's length of centre lines - you have to watch it and let go so the tips can open up again, then grab the center lines and repeat until it's flying enough to work it and get more air in.

If you're surging to the zenith with any sort of "crap, it's gonna overfly" speed, pull HARD on the bar and if that's not enough (usually isn't) grab an arms length of each rear line and stop it before she overshoots. Sometimes you have to discipline these arcs with a heavy hand, sometimes a kind reminder is all it takes. In all cases blame our lovely inland winds :lol:

ripsessionkites - 24-1-2010 at 02:19 AM

try less trim in (on bar) and I still like ALL TIGHT (on kite) for my settings

csa_deadon - 24-1-2010 at 06:12 AM

If I am reading this right you have the rear line on the very first knot farthest from the kite.

If so, STOP!!! wrong knot!!!!
After playing with those pig tails I found the pig tail knot closet to the kite is best and I had no over fly issues with it at all.

I would have over fly issues with the knot that I belive you are using.

shaggs2riches - 24-1-2010 at 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by csa_deadon
If I am reading this right you have the rear line on the very first knot farthest from the kite.

If so, STOP!!! wrong knot!!!!
After playing with those pig tails I found the pig tail knot closet to the kite is best and I had no over fly issues with it at all.

I would have over fly issues with the knot that I belive you are using.

Okay lol I guess when you said you found the first knot to be the best I misunderstood you. I'll try that out when I head out this afternoon. Thanks a lot, there is more to understand with these bad boys than the foils that I'm use to flying. But I'm sure everyone who flies an arc has had to go through the learning steps all the same. At least I have an awesome group of experienced fellas here to turn to for advice thanks again.

Shaggs

csa_deadon - 24-1-2010 at 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by shaggs2riches

Quote:

Dude, I'm still learning also. But that setting is what I found to work best for "me". You will find your sweet spot.
I just need to get another Arc in my quiver soon.

shaggs2riches - 24-1-2010 at 10:39 PM

Took it out for a short session this afternoon. I set the rear lines to the first knot and tightened the steering up about half way, and tightened up the flight a bit as well. Had to drop the rear lines to the second knot as there was too much tension causing the kite to stall about 10 feet above the ground. I then backed off the steering a little bit and added some more tension to the flight and I finally found a happy medium. Maybe it was static but a couple snorkel vents were stuck shut. Winds were 20km/h by the time I landed and packed up. I think that might have been a huge problem with my start off. Hopefully next time I can get the settings down quicker instead of constantly landing and re-adjusting settings. It was getting dark and I was still sore from yesterdays session but through the struggle I managed to get a 45minute ride out of it.

csa_deadon - 25-1-2010 at 06:10 AM

If the inlets were just stuck to the vents and not caught under the strap running through the leading edge, try rubbing a fabric sheet over the mesh. Most of the time the inlets stick due to static build up. Had that same prob with the inlets when I had her. Rubbing the fabric sheets over the mesh of the inlets will reduce the chance of the fabric sticking the mesh covering the inlet.

csa_deadon - 25-1-2010 at 06:11 AM

Oh! and it gives the big Scorp a nice fresh spring time smell!! :lol: