That was exactly what happened yesterday. I was out driving and then suddenly I found myself at this spot that would be nice for flying. So I pulled the car over to the side of the road, grabbed the ‘Quad-kite-to-go-bag’ and walked down to the beach.
There was a slight draft but hopefully, it was going to be flyable. I went for the Zaephay and a 10m (30ft) lineset. Got it all set up and then the wind died completely. Dead calm.
But the Zaephay actually can fly in those conditions you might say. Yes, it does, but that requires a smooth surface for me to run around on. That smooth surface wasn’t available on the beach. Too many rocks to stumble over for safe flying so I rather sat down taking in the scenery. Not a bad thing to do on a beach on a brilliant summers day!
And then, just when I was about to pack it all up, the wind picked up a little and made flying possible. I quickly unwinded the lines and got going.
Just check it out!
One Response
> That way I always have them at hand should I have the time and the place and occasion to fly.
A missed kite session literally never comes back. You can have another one under other conditions, but not the missed one.
You must be very pleased with the Zaephay (I *never* remember how to spell it though) because it seems to fly well. Today it looked very happy to have been let out of the bag. 🙂
So it is a 1.5 SUL revlike wing ( https://kites.aerialis.com/zaephay-the-specifications/ ) with a P90 LE and 5.5mm pulltruded (?) carbon fibre tubes for downspars. No LE “mosquito net”. All parts chosen not to add extra weight.
In this post ( https://kites.aerialis.com/the-zaephay/ ) you were “using a SkyShark P90 for the middle LE rod and tapered SkyShark 2PT on each side. The down spreaders are also Skyshark P90.” What was the difference in feeling when using the this and the above frame?
My comment to this latter blog entry was quite pro soft LE, because of my experiences up to that time. With a P90 flexible LE it was easier to get the Rev B-series Std in the air in no/low wind. With the Rev Indoor that I started to use after this comment was made, there is a stiffer LE feeling when piloting (is it from the tubes, the no wind condition or the “bridle” * ?) which I believe that I understand how to use now. It is more of a brake heavy piloting of a not so deformed/flexed kite with a constant hunt for optimum handle angle/max pressure **. Therefore I ask if you ever tried a somewhat stiffer LE in the Zaephay?
* The Rev Indoor actually doesn’t have a bridle – only four pigtails at the nocks of the downspars.
** Perhaps not as active “hunt” as is sounds like. One makes sure that the kite is travelling forwards at least slightly and add brake until you feel the right pressure/max pressure. This is the mode of operation 90% of the time. With time it feels normal. In a way powering up the moving kite with the brakes.