pstkk
Posts: 22
Registered: 10-12-2015
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Windsleds
Are you looking for Christmas list ideas? How about a windsled. Perfect for casual circumnavigation of polar ice sheets.
         
Just thought it was interesting and worth posting here. More info: http://greenland.net/windsled/
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Randy
Posts: 1886
Registered: 5-20-2014
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Interesting setup with the control lines. The lines are gathered up in the middle and spread out at the sled and at the kite.
NPW Test Pilot -US99
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abkayak
Posts: 2271
Registered: 1-7-2012
Location: a.b. NY
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Mood: loving life and becoming wise in simplicity
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omg...the npw guys are gonna love this
cant wait for pics of one of these going thru Indy
US-31...Cquad set/ 2.5 Bullet/ 2.6 Viper/ 2.9m Reactor/ 2- 3.5m Bullet/ 3.6 Beamer/ 4m Buster/ 4m Toxic/ 4m Ikon dp/ 4.5 Bullet/ 4.9m Blade/ 5.6
Twister/ 6.6m Blade/ 7.5 Apex/ 9m Fuel/ Phantom I 9,12,15,18/ 2 Flexibugs/ PL Big Foot/ landboards
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Feyd
Posts: 2956
Registered: 1-3-2009
Location: Norther New England
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HAHAHA That is insane. Wow! If you had described this to me I never would have believed it. Pretty awesome.
Chris Krug-Owner @ Hardwater Kiting. Authorized Dealer of Ozone, Flysurfer, HQ kites.
www.hardwaterkiter.com 603-986-2784
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skimtwashington
Posts: 1758
Registered: 3-22-2011
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Too fantastic....!
I'v never seen such ambitious use of the wind as an engine for hauingl/driving any craft.
How easy is it to launch a 120 m kite,,,and even though a single skin Nasa-how small does a '120' pack down to?
75-500m lines! Uh..oh..a twist!
Can you redirect and boost you and the module..?! Jump the crevasse!
120m,100m, 50m...?..okay.
..But the 3m(usually a good starter and high wind engine)...is mot gonna be able to pull several tons... or if so... what wind? 150mph polar storm
winds?
Misspelled NPW as NWP in 1st pic
Need to see video. also...very few pics of kite flying in 'Diary' section.
Seems all too fantastic but fantastic none the less.
But c'mon..let's see some video
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Windstruck
Posts: 3338
Registered: 5-16-2015
Location: St George, UT, USA
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Mood: Get in my buggy!
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You bet you're sweet bippy they will! I'm going to email Steffen Born right now and tell him to get cracking on an expanded quiver of NS4s to
replicate the sizes these guys use. What buggier hasn't longed for a 120m NPW for those light wind days (you know, the 1-2mph ones). Couple that with
500m lines and I'd be set for any conditions. Jank winds with 120m of FB fantastic up in the air - no problem! 
Born-Kites:
RaceStar+ (3.0m, 5.0m, 7.0m, 9.0m, 14.0m)
RaceStar (9.0m, 11.0m)
NasaStar-4 (2.5m, 4.0m, 5.5m, 7.0m)
NasaStar-3 (custom 3.2m)
Flysurfer Kites:
Peak-5 (2.5m)
Buggy:
Peter Lynn BigFoot+ nose & tail; midsection VTT rail & seat kit; home-brewed AQR
NAPKA Member US2815
SWATK Member UT0003
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Feyd
Posts: 2956
Registered: 1-3-2009
Location: Norther New England
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The last shot blows my mind. All that space...
Chris Krug-Owner @ Hardwater Kiting. Authorized Dealer of Ozone, Flysurfer, HQ kites.
www.hardwaterkiter.com 603-986-2784
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Windstruck
Posts: 3338
Registered: 5-16-2015
Location: St George, UT, USA
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Mood: Get in my buggy!
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Assuming you didn't freeze to death, I'm picturing you launching a 4m Access at first light and riding until last light. Let's see, 30 mph ski speed
(hey, it's snow Chris not ice) and about 16 hours of daylight and you're looking at about 500 miles a day. Of course even Superman needs to stop to
pee so maybe 475 miles.
Born-Kites:
RaceStar+ (3.0m, 5.0m, 7.0m, 9.0m, 14.0m)
RaceStar (9.0m, 11.0m)
NasaStar-4 (2.5m, 4.0m, 5.5m, 7.0m)
NasaStar-3 (custom 3.2m)
Flysurfer Kites:
Peak-5 (2.5m)
Buggy:
Peter Lynn BigFoot+ nose & tail; midsection VTT rail & seat kit; home-brewed AQR
NAPKA Member US2815
SWATK Member UT0003
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skimtwashington
Posts: 1758
Registered: 3-22-2011
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But i'm looking at next to last pic... and those deep narrow tracks in snow it's leaving ....and thinking there's got to be a more efficient 'sled'
design...
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Randy
Posts: 1886
Registered: 5-20-2014
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Not the first time a NPW has been used for such purposes. Here is a picture from an arctic expedition using a NPW 21.
https://picasaweb.google.com/113613585650434126323/NPW21Arti...
NPW Test Pilot -US99
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rectifier
Posts: 265
Registered: 4-21-2012
Location: Saskatchewan
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Mood: Shredding
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Beautiful madness!
But, the control scheme? Looks like in the pic flying off the bridles, they are 2 lining that monster NPW, using pulleys to be capable of hand
controlling it on the sled? Yikes, let's see some brake lines and save some arms!
The deep narrow tracks appear to go hand in hand with this quote from their site:
"It is possible to gird wind up to 80 °. The rear modules also help gird wind. Simply place the kite’s anchor on a corner of the locomotive module
to change the direction of the kite and place it in the wind."
I think the sled has massive deep keels, so that it can fly heavily overpowered to make good upwind progress without slipping. After all,
transportation is the goal, not top speed, and to be a useful vehicle it needs the ability to sail close to the wind.
Homebuilt: 1m NPW9b, 2.6m NPW21, 7m NPW21 UDS
HQ: 3.2m Crossfire, 5m + 7m Apex 3
6m Ozone Explore v2
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skimtwashington
Posts: 1758
Registered: 3-22-2011
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The nth degree of kite utility..or insanity.... but is this fun?
I love that the big tent/shelter is all set up and enclosed.
It's madness , I tell you....madness.
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ssayre
Posts: 3587
Registered: 8-15-2013
Location: Indiana
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It took me awhile to post because I was speechless with amazement. I thought npw's like that only existed in my imagination.
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ssayre
Posts: 3587
Registered: 8-15-2013
Location: Indiana
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Quote: Originally posted by rectifier  | Beautiful madness!
But, the control scheme? Looks like in the pic flying off the bridles, they are 2 lining that monster NPW, using pulleys to be capable of hand
controlling it on the sled? Yikes, let's see some brake lines and save some arms!
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Their set up must have been darn near perfect to be successful. Looked like all the load was on the sled. who needs brakes with that much wide open
area? npw sit deep in the window anyway. Most npw expeditions of various kinds I've seen only use 2 lines. I haven't been able to find an advantage
brake lines add having flown them both ways, BUT, I know a lot of npw people really like 4 line mode so nothing wrong with that.
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TEDWESLEY
Posts: 437
Registered: 1-4-2007
Location: portland maine
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Mood: cat-like,I stalk the wind, finding little, I nap.
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Gives a whole new meaning to cruising. Just you and a half dozen of your closest friends
Reactors 2.8 3.5 6.9
Peaks 4m 6m 12m
HQ Neo2 11m Ozone Chrono V2 15m WASP 5m
Flexi wide axle w/mids and runners
Skis Nordic skates and winter stuff
Quatro Wing Foilboard Slingshot Foils
NAPKA US06
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soliver
Posts: 3913
Registered: 12-15-2011
Location: somewhere, far, far away
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Mood: sleepy
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That IS quite amazing
I'm going to take a nap now
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rectifier
Posts: 265
Registered: 4-21-2012
Location: Saskatchewan
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Mood: Shredding
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The biggest advantage I feel would be having fixed power lines on the sled and steering via brakes rather than a heavy pulley system on the power
lines to allow the flyer to steer.
I always stake my NPWs on the brake lines for easy solo launching, or to park the kite while I take a break. I'm not sure how you 2-liners launch your
kites? This also allows bridle inspection with the sail filled pre-launch, in case anything has hung up - both would be handy in a polar environment
where safety and reliability are important.
Homebuilt: 1m NPW9b, 2.6m NPW21, 7m NPW21 UDS
HQ: 3.2m Crossfire, 5m + 7m Apex 3
6m Ozone Explore v2
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ssayre
Posts: 3587
Registered: 8-15-2013
Location: Indiana
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| Quote: Originally posted by rectifier |
The biggest advantage I feel would be having fixed power lines on the sled and steering via brakes rather than a heavy pulley system on the power
lines to allow the flyer to steer.
I always stake my NPWs on the brake lines for easy solo launching, or to park the kite while I take a break. I'm not sure how you 2-liners launch your
kites? This also allows bridle inspection with the sail filled pre-launch, in case anything has hung up - both would be handy in a polar environment
where safety and reliability are important. |
2 line on a bar is very easy to launch, land, take a break, reverse launch. I side launch by weighting the upwind tip which I always do regardless of
kite type. To take a break, you fly to the edge of the window and stake off in the bar pointed towards the kite. Nasa's are great for this. They
just stay put or bob around a little until your ready to fly again.
Also, one of my favorite things is your only dealing with 2 bridles instead of 4 so tangles are infrequent to non existent.
There may be some nuances of flight lost with bar control that keep most flying them 4 line but I haven't missed any capabilities of a nasa on 4 line
which is unlike a fb foil. I wouldn't even consider flying a foil on 2 lines.
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rectifier
Posts: 265
Registered: 4-21-2012
Location: Saskatchewan
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Mood: Shredding
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| Quote: Originally posted by ssayre |
Also, one of my favorite things is your only dealing with 2 bridles instead of 4 so tangles are infrequent to non existent.
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Agreed. I don't get many tangles these days but the worst tangles are when the brake bridle gets tangled with the power.
| Quote: Originally posted by ssayre |
There may be some nuances of flight lost with bar control that keep most flying them 4 line but I haven't missed any capabilities of a nasa on 4 line
which is unlike a fb foil. I wouldn't even consider flying a foil on 2 lines. |
My favorite thing with 4 lines is the NPW I have the UDS depower system on. Being able to flatten out the AoA really helps launch and keep the kite in
the air in dead air pockets or launch where ground winds are weak. But that's not a "normal" NPW.
I wish I could get that kite to work on a bar, but it just doesn't work that well.
Homebuilt: 1m NPW9b, 2.6m NPW21, 7m NPW21 UDS
HQ: 3.2m Crossfire, 5m + 7m Apex 3
6m Ozone Explore v2
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pstkk
Posts: 22
Registered: 10-12-2015
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This season the windsled team returned to the Greenland ice cap. The in-flight magazine from Air Greenland has an article about it.
The magazine is available from here http://aviisi.sermitsiaq.ag/2016/08/29/suluk_2016_35/ by clicking on the link that says "Laes e-avisen online". Pictures start on page 18 and
english text from page 28.
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