Power Kite Forum

Dirt Outs - proper use - open or closed?

flyboy15 - 9-2-2010 at 08:43 PM

Ok so after flying for about 3 hours in a blizzard I am proud to say I found myself flying a kite full of about 8 lbs of snow lol.

Whats the proper procedure on the dirt outs. I always left them closed when flying thinking it might hinder the inflateablility of the rangers (they can tend to tip tuck if not flown carefully).

So whats the purpose i guess? I open them up after a flight and let the snow out, but could they be used for proactive in-flight snow dumping?

rudeboysaude - 9-2-2010 at 08:48 PM

Those open cell kites you can just land on leading edge and give it a couple pumps and get the snow out usually.. Are some cells sealed off near the tips?

OT.. where were you guys at the UMD Expo! I was looking forward to meeting your crew.

flyboy15 - 9-2-2010 at 08:53 PM

HAHA Dude i was ready to go! But I ain't got no car :flaming: !! and everyone else was busy. There was like 3-4 of us willing but no car between all of us lol, truly a sad story!

Im trying to stoke a trip out there still and maybe we can meet up. I'll let you know what the deal is.

Sorry we missed out I was looking forward to some kite panel action :(


Edit: O and yes I believe the first three cells on the tips are sealed.

Feyd - 9-2-2010 at 09:02 PM

I've flown my Ranger with dirt outs open just fine. It does fly a little different but less different than it does with 8lbs of snow.

Saude right tho. Easiest way to get most of the snow, at least the snow that didn't make it's way throught the cross vents, is by rolling onto the leading edge, reverse launch/shake it out.

macboy - 9-2-2010 at 09:55 PM

And maybe just wrap up the day with an open dirt out flight?

I come home and hang 'em up in the basement so they melt and dry on their own. But not everyone is willing to tolerate 20, 30, 40, 50 feet or more of ripstop cordoning off the entire basement :lol:

flyboy15 - 9-2-2010 at 10:20 PM

Ha thats exactly what I do now. I get back, open then outs, shake what snow i can out (4 or so snowballs worth) and then lay it out on the floor for a day or two.

Unfortunately in my small apartment, me and my roommate have do some pretty interesting maneuvers to avoid steppin on it. I was thinking about the dirt out flight too at the end. I Think I will give that a try and then fly all the time with the outs open and see what i like better

How do the sand guys do it? anyone have input?

WIllardTheGrey - 10-2-2010 at 12:00 AM

I always shake out the sand as I'm packing up.

lives2fly - 10-2-2010 at 03:12 AM

Yeah sand doesn't cause so much of a problem because you don't get that much of it in the kite!

Usually a good shake leading edge down is enough to get most of it out. Sometimes its better to wait until the kite is fully dry to do it (if the sand was damp in the first place)

Its amazing how much snow gets in though! I was flying in a blizzard (on the beach!!) a couple of months back and the kite took in so much snow it became unflyable!

I wouldn't have thought that flying with the dirtouts open will cause much of a problem but i don't thing it would shed much snow either - only one way to find out though - try it.

B-Roc - 10-2-2010 at 05:01 AM

How do you keep the dirt outs open? Mine are all velcro sealed and rather small and seem like they would self seal between the time I opened them and the time I walked back to my bar / handles to launch.

Feyd - 10-2-2010 at 05:14 AM

True. Even on the Ranger they close up a little on thier own. But for me it's usually really fine, cold snow that gets in there so it still comes right out.

The heavy wet stuff, not so much.

Maven454 - 10-2-2010 at 07:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by B-Roc
How do you keep the dirt outs open? Mine are all velcro sealed and rather small and seem like they would self seal between the time I opened them and the time I walked back to my bar / handles to launch.


Some kites have a ripstop flap inside the dirt-out that allows you to keep it open while you fly. Some don't.

acampbell - 10-2-2010 at 08:45 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Maven454

Some kites have a ripstop flap inside the dirt-out that allows you to keep it open while you fly. Some don't.


Yeah, I wish everybody did; it's cheap and easy. You can tape in a scrap piece of cloth with a piece of spinnaker tape, though.

When I clean a kite, if there is a bit of a breeze outside, I will stake the bridles so that the kite inflates a bit, then stick toilet paper tubes in the dirt-outs to keep them open & circulate air to speed drying inside.

Insect0man - 10-2-2010 at 02:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by flyboy15
Unfortunately in my small apartment, me and my roommate have do some pretty interesting maneuvers to avoid steppin on it


Hang it from the ceiling/walls?

Put small hooks parallel on each wall and tie a string between each set of hooks. Several sets and you've got a nice web for the kite to rest upon.

arkay - 10-2-2010 at 03:22 PM

I've found flying with the dirt-outs open doesn't really get any dirt out; and it does reduce the power, but I haven't found it to be that noticable. For that matter it's better to just invert the kite and shake when your done. but when flying if I get a pound of sand in my kite (yes windy days 20+ the kites _fills_ with sand, I tend to _carefully_ take the kite to the edge of with window not building too much speed and then inverting the kite and pumping. Just make sure you don't accidentilly down loop :) Also, if you come into inverting the kite too quickly all of the debris will be held in the back of the kite by movement forces. So you need to do this pretty slowly and controlled.

As for hanging the kite... I just hang mine up high on the wall on a wood bar. I've got it pretty high up so it works for up to a 10m, but when I had the bar lower, I just used another bar and draped the kite over both bars making an ''M' shape. Works great for me! ... expect here in winter at the coast when literally _nothing_ ever dries :( I tried the dtring thing, but the weight of the kite was aparetly too much forthe line length and you'd probably need to use 50/75lbs molleys.

dtoast - 11-2-2010 at 01:38 PM

My FlySurfer has velcro dirt outs, but at the last inch of the dirt out at the tip of the trailing edge there is no velcro allowing for some dirt to escape while in flight. If that fully works I have yet to find out as it is still in the bag, but I'll test it out once I get it up.

I guess what I am saying is you can maybe leave only half the dirt out open with some sail cloth and you may get the effects of self cleaning with less affect of losing pressure in the kite should you leave the whole dirt out open.