Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 22:08:10 GMT From: salanne@convex.csc.FI (Simo Salanne) Message-ID: <1993Mar25.220810.19827@nic.funet.fi> Organization: Finnish Academic and Research Network Project - FUNET Subject: Tethered power kiting I am not involved in power kiting, personally. In rec.kites there was some discussion about "tethered flying" a couple of months ago. The following story is a quotation from STACKNews, March 1993. *** Begin quotation *** A year's experience in power kiting provides a basic understanding of the forces and dangers involved in the sport, but it's easy to become complacent and forget that safety comes first. Recently I read an article in a kiting magazine describing how a power kiter anchored himself to secure stakes to become airborne 'in a more safe and sustained fashion'. This is absolute rubbish, how can a flyer be safe when fighting against the force of a severe wind? Last month I was involved in a serious accident that could have been fatal. While flying only 2 stacked Super-10 Flexifoils in high winds, I quickly became airborne, supported in a sit harness and securely attached to a strong point by a 20' (6 m) rope. A split second uplift threw me out of control and banked the kites sharply, causing them to rocket to the ground at over 70 mph (100 km/h) with me attached! On impact I was unconscious for 10 minutes and suffered 3 broken ribs. I believe that skuddind and jumping (and buggying, kitesailing, etc...) can be conducted safely, where the power of the kite is used to create forward movement for the kiteflyer. However, tethered flying in high winds offers no way out if things go wrong. Stay in one piece, don't do it! I hope this will be of use. Mike Jeanes, Coventry. *** End quotation *** I hope my retyping effort was worth of it. Smooth Winds Simo Salanne = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1993 20:04:50 GMT From: andrew@tug.com (Andrew Beattie) Message-ID: Organization: Negligible. Subject: Re: Tethered power kiting (Simo Salanne) writes: > >*** Begin quotation *** >[Guy gets seriously hurt flying 2 Flexifoils] Yes, Simo, it was worth the effort of re-typing. The most dangerous things I've done are: 2 Flexifoils. Paradoxically, 2 is more dangerous than 4 or more, because they are more violent (a bigger stack is more powerful, but also slower and more gentle). Many flexifoils in *too* much wind, launching through the power zone. It's OK, launching from the edge, but in 25 mph, a downwind launch is too violent. Also, a large Peel in strong *gusty* wind is quite nasty, until you develop the *delicacy* of touch to stop it pulling, collapsing and then violently recovering in a repeated sequence. Finally, don't *EVER* attach yourself to the line, or a buggy or a boat, or the ground, or anything, unless you have a dead-man release system. Bracing against solid objects is just plain stupid: If you slip, the first thing you hit is a solid object :-) I know someone who broke a leg, with *one* flexifoil, because the anchored line was compressing it, and he couldn't move with the kite. Andrew -- andrew@tug.com = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1993 18:17:49 GMT From: sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-ID: <1993Mar29.181749.7910@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University Subject: Re: Tethered power kiting In article <1993Mar25.220810.19827@nic.funet.fi>, salanne@convex.csc.FI (Simo Salanne) writes: >I am not involved in power kiting, personally. >In rec.kites there was some discussion about >"tethered flying" a couple of months ago. > >The following story is a quotation from STACKNews, >March 1993. > >*** Begin quotation *** > > A year's experience in power kiting provides > a basic understanding of the forces and dangers > involved in the sport, but it's easy to become > complacent and forget that safety comes first. > Recently I read an article in a kiting magazine > describing how a power kiter anchored himself > to secure stakes to become airborne 'in a more > safe and sustained fashion'. This is absolute > rubbish, how can a flyer be safe when fighting > against the force of a severe wind? -- good stuff deleted -- >*** End quotation *** > >I hope my retyping effort was worth of it. Yes Simo, it was worth retyping. Power kiting, whether tethered or not, can be very dangerous. Dean Jordan sufferred a broken hip and other body parts when he lost control of a stack of kites that had lifted him into the air. However, there are ways to minimize the danger to a level where I think it is reasonable to do these things. Note however, I would never allow kite lifting to be done at an event that I was in charge of. -- Marty Sasaki Harvard University Sasaki Kite Fabrications sasaki@noc.harvard.edu Network Operations Division 26 Green Street 617-496-4320 10 Ware Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Cambridge, MA 02138-4002 phone/fax: 617-522-8546 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =