An interesting TED presentation by Nic O’Neill. Nic is the former president of the American Kitefliers Association (AKA), and shares her passion for kites of many different kinds. Whether flying on the beach doing loop-de-loops or snowkiting with skis, Nic shares the freedom and magic of kites.
When I was a young stunt kite flyer I would regularly pull out my wind metre (I have owned and lost many) and check the wind.
In the early days, I'd tweak my kite often trying to get it locked in for the wind conditions. Anyone who has flown on the prairies knows the wind is fickle and if you don't like it - no worries it will change 27 times per half hour!
While it's good to have a sense of what the wind is doing speed wise if you're gonna tweak it continually you won't get much air time. For me, I work to be aware of the wind (I'll tell ya my secret here in a minute) but I learn to adjust my flying rather than over tweaking my bridle and or frames. I will fly in the parts of the wind window that feels right and where the kite flies well.
Yes, we need to be aware of wind changes, and the dramatic changes you'll feel pretty fast but this simple trick helps me stay aware of wind direction, and changes in speed by watching flags. Whether I am flying or not I have the habit of watching flags on flag poles. I have learned by the behavior; angles and even the sound of a flag and this helps me evaluate wind conditions.
I'm aware that these are guess-timates at best and some may disagree with my estimations. The point is to develop your own wind sense relative to a nearby flag and flag pole and what your kite is telling you.
No flag or flag pole? I have wind feathers with streamer tails that work well too. There have been times where I have used a 1.4 inch, 4-foot piece of dowel with an eight-foot piece of surveyors tape tied to the end. I shoved it in the ground in a place where I could see it and it wasn't in the way. It worked well.
Typically, most consumer kites top out at 40 kph. When you fly them in higher than recommended wind they tend to be faster, harder to control and you risk damaging the sail, the frame or breaking the line. Good news though! There are kites that are built, designed and rated for higher winds - so not to worry. There's a kite for that!
At Great Canadian Kite Company, not only do we pride ourselves in providing a variety of quality kites for many different interests, ages and abilities, we also want to do our best to make sure your kite flying experience is great, and that means we do our best to provide a selection of kite flying tips and advice in our Kite Blog section. Browse our online Canadian kite shop to buy your kites online. We ship throughout Canada.
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Have you seen our stunt Kite flying manual?
Flying stunt kites is an exciting way to enjoy the fresh air, get some exercise and relax. Many people like to learn the latest tricks, while others like to fly their kite listening to music on their iPod. Stunt kites are a wonderful way to spend your leisure time with friends and family. The following is our illustrated start up guide for flying two line stunt kites. This material was collected from a variety of sources and presented here for your information and interest.
These basic tips will help you get in the air faster and enjoy more success as you take to the skies with your new kite. Also have a look in our resource section for some great online kite fly tutorials to help take you to the next levels!
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