Power Kite Forum

Well THAT was interesting!

DialedN_07 - 3-9-2016 at 10:07 AM

Went to the expo center parking lot today with my rollerblades. decided I'd ride on the tailwind of this tropical storm passing up the east coast. Winds were around 15mph with up to (I'm guessing here) 25 MPH gusts.
Had excellent pulls, and started learning how to travel upwind on the blades.
HOWEVER when the gusts came in, HOLY COW. I'm not advanced enough to kite in that kind of wind, and got in over my head about 3 or 4 times! Never touched the ground, but completely let go of the handles a few times.
Never quite been that fast on the Rollerblades before!
Learned a lot today, but also got a bit sketchy. I'll hopefully be back when the winds are a little more steady.

ssayre - 3-9-2016 at 10:35 AM

What kite? 3m tensor? Way too much wind for skating and that size. Good thing about skating is it doesn't take that much wind to be moving quickly. 12ish wind would be plenty on a 3m and asphalt.

Great you got moving. It's an inexpensive way to gain motion when first starting out and you can learn a lot about how to transition, stay upwind and downwind tack for that matter. It's a blast. If your careful, you can slowly bring the kite up and behind you to act as a parachute brake (I longboard so this may have undesirable effects on inline??).

Lastly, watch out for rocks. Enemy number one when on asphalt. I don't have to look at my kite at all anymore so my focus is almost entirely on the surface in front of me. Keep that in mind on your first few runs at a given spot to scan for hazards.

bigkid - 3-9-2016 at 11:13 AM

3 or 4 times? Slow learner or hoping for better things? We are all glad to hear your ok.

DialedN_07 - 3-9-2016 at 12:16 PM

Sayre, I'm completely guessing on the wind speed. And yes, the 3.1 Tensor. it was pretty rough grade asphalt, but no cracks or potholes to speak of. Just light poles. About rattled my teeth out with the online skates. Might need to look into the blades in the for sale section for a smoother ride and potentially be smoother rolling over the small rocks and other hazards.

Got my turns down during steady winds, and even worked on some downloop turns! :)

Learned some of the tricks like using the kite behind me as a brake, but wasn't practical every time.

Bigkid.Im hard headed. I'd honestly say 85% of the time it was IDEAL conditions. but when the gusts came the ground speed came like a light switch.

bigkid - 3-9-2016 at 12:47 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DialedN_07  
Bigkid.Im hard headed. I'd honestly say 85% of the time it was IDEAL conditions. but when the gusts came the ground speed came like a light switch.

In a blink of an eye, it's too late. Been there, done that, never again.
Good lesson to learn, better to be under powered than over powered. The gusts are like that sneaker wave that will catch you off guard.

soliver - 3-9-2016 at 02:46 PM

Since the rolling resistance is so low on asphalt, consider shorter lines. It may take a little longer to build power, but you might have a little better control.

Suds after thuds - 3-9-2016 at 03:01 PM

You got to scratch that street kite itch don'tcha!

shehatesmyhobbies - 3-9-2016 at 03:59 PM

Small word of advice, when there is gusty wind, fly a kite that you can handle closest to the avg Max gust. I know it's difficult to judge, but it will be the best way to keep you out of too much trouble. Try not to go out if the current max gust is double the average wind speed. That also makes for a not so much fun experience.

Glad you had a good time, keep on getting it!

Windstruck - 3-9-2016 at 05:28 PM

Welcome to the kite skating fold. I found FB darn well dangerous on skates, particularly on a low friction surface like asphalt or dry lake bed playa. When gusts come along or you just guess wrong and get too much kite in the air things can get really hair ball when you've got wheels strapped to your feet.

What sort of protection were you wearing? It will absolutely suck when you go down on asphalt at high speed. The more plastic courage the better I say.

If you are feeling as if your fillings are wrattling out of your grill then you may be better served with inflated tires than high durometer solid rollerblade wheels. You probably already noticed too that solid wheels will get really worn down quickly kite skating. Something to think about is to take a look at some of the skating stuff I'm selling. High quality stuff for practically nothing.

Really happy you are enjoying yourself, but please be careful.

DialedN_07 - 3-9-2016 at 05:33 PM

Windstruck - Couldn't describe the sensation and my sentiments on it any better. I've decided my next kite will be a depower. But won't buy one until I can take a few members up on their generous offers to fly some of their kites. looking forward to that.

I have been eyeballing your blades in the for sale (also mentioned above.) And your boots are my size too. But even though it's a great deal, I still have to have the funds first. :(

As far as protection, motorcycle jacket and Kevlar riding jeans with reinforcements in knees and hips with a mountain bike helmet. Weak spot was hands as I didn't bring gloves even though I have them.

Windstruck - 3-9-2016 at 05:45 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DialedN_07  
Windstruck - Couldn't describe the sensation and my sentiments on it any better. I've decided my next kite will be a depower. But won't buy one until I can take a few members up on their generous offers to fly some of their kites. looking forward to that.

I have been eyeballing your blades in the for sale (also mentioned above.) And your boots are my size too. But even though it's a great deal, I still have to have the funds first. :(

As far as protection, motorcycle jacket and Kevlar riding jeans with reinforcements in knees and hips with a mountain bike helmet. Weak spot was hands as I didn't bring gloves even though I have them.


That sounds like excellent garb. Sucks that we have to talk about all that stuff, but man, the alternative is worse. I'm pretty sure plastic courage saved my life in early July.

Depending on what sort of RollerBlades you have, you should be able to remove your frames off of your boots and put other frames on. A place to start would be the Metropolis SUV frames and wheels. These are inflated 125mm wheels and could be good in the setting you described. No pressure; stuff is just sitting in my garage.

ssayre - 3-9-2016 at 05:46 PM

I use fixed bridles on asphalt all the time and don't use any protective gear. Probably the safest kiting I do. Nasa stars and more recently low ar fb like you have works like a charm. Safety really isn't an issue when not hooked in as long as you know when to let go.

Windstruck - 3-9-2016 at 06:03 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre  
I use fixed bridles on asphalt all the time and don't use any protective gear. Probably the safest kiting I do. Nasa stars and more recently low ar fb like you have works like a charm. Safety really isn't an issue when not hooked in as long as you know when to let go.


Sean - I think you are completely correct when using a form of skateboard. Whole different sort of situation with skates. In your case you can drop the handles or bar AND step off the board. Those blasted wheels stay with you on skates. Also agree about the use of NPWs, particularly short lines.

DialedN_07 - 3-9-2016 at 06:22 PM

Yeah. ice skates you can carve to a sharp stop.....but in line skates, there's no real way to get stopped very quickly. At least not on a parking lot surface.

I wished a couple times I had tennis shoes and a long board instead of wheels strapped to my feet!

So tell me about the NPW Stars, is that considered a FB kite, or depower?

Windstruck - 3-9-2016 at 06:45 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DialedN_07  
Yeah. ice skates you can carve to a sharp stop.....but in line skates, there's no real way to get stopped very quickly. At least not on a parking lot surface.

I wished a couple times I had tennis shoes and a long board instead of wheels strapped to my feet!

So tell me about the NPW Stars, is that considered a FB kite, or depower?


Born-Kite NASA Stars (either 1s or 2s) are really nice kites out of Germany. A pretty large thread about them can be found here:

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=30721

In short, NS2s or NS3 are FB 2 line kites that have a third line in their standard setup that can be used as a safety line or as a means of scrunching up the nose a bit which makes them pull less efficiently and thus "depower" a bit. This is not the same as DP kites which use pulleys to change the angle of attack of the wing to change its flight characteristics.

Born-Kite sells these kites as "street" kites with a bar and short (or no) lines or with a bar with long lines and a chicken loop. A number of us are big NASA Star fans and post regularly on the worship thread. :frog: