Slartibartfast

Cool, this is a video 'jabroni' made in which he overlayed GPS data: http://vimeo.com/21644460 It would be really cool to see it on yours

Bloody Hell! That was terrifying!!! Do you have the GPS trace available? It would be really cool to overlay the video footage with graphics from the GPS data. What do you say jabroni, are you up to dusting off your php skills again?

You always need sideways traction. It's the side traction that gives you the purchase to build speed. Imagine a water skier holding onto a rope attached to a boat traveling at a constant speed. The skier has the option of pointing there skis directly inline with the boat and traveling at boat speed or they can carve across the line with there skis perpendicular and travel across behind the boat. If they're able to keep a hold of the rope and dig the edge of the board/skis in they will be able to achieve speeds far in excess of the speed of the boat and effectively slingshot them selves off to the side (think 'inclined plane'). The other thing to remember is the difference between true wind and apparent (or relative) wind*. As you build speed the difference between the true and relative wind widens and with practice you'll be able to go significantly faster than the wind, with the current land sailing speed record achieving an astonishing 5x wind-speed! This means no matter what direction you are going the relative wind is always from in front of you. Not straight in front but if you were able to get to 3x wind speed, even on a broad reach (the widest possible angle) this wind will be coming to you from only 20-deg of straight ahead. This necessarily means the kite will be off to one side at the edge of its window and will be pulling you sideways. In any event, if you have less traction it means you will not be able to hold as much tension (i.e. force from the kite) and will need to 'bear off' down wind. As you bear off the power from the kite drops off dramatically so you want as much traction as possible to allow you to "bear up" and keep maximum tension in the lines. It is after all this line tension that ultimately provides the force that propels the buggy. The good thing about being on a clay pan is you always have the option to dump power by bearing off and regain it by "bearing up" again. This effectively means you get to tune your perfect "point of sail" with out restriction. There is however no doubt that the more traction you have the more 'tension' you'll be able to hold and consequently the faster you will be able to go. * I prefer the term 'relative wind' to the more correct 'apparent wind' as the word "apparent" makes it sound like an apparition.

Looks pretty sweet! Looks like 43km of enticing coastline there to me John. What are your thoughts for attacking it? Couple of interesting looking creek/river crossings in that stretch but they appear nicely silted up so shouldn't pose any problems. And a couple of interesting shadows there too that make a kiters heart sing:

That is really good! When I looked into it a few years ago it certainly wasn't the case and I actually went to all the effort (and expense) of getting my intermediate amateur radio licence. Glad to see there being a little more realistic about it now.

Where did you get this from? I really would like to see it. (I spent quite a time looking and kind of found the opposite )

Unfortunately I'm pretty broke these days but if I had a few spare Douglass I'd be pretty damn tempted. Here's a new thread showing the Quanum Nova in action though: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2175167 And here's a review of the CX-20 (which the Nova is quite clearly based on): http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2142324 It seems promising.

Looks like Hobby King have just come out with there own Phantom knock-off for USD $350: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... _Fly_.html Then there's the 2 axis spabilisation gimbel for USD $100: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... source=EDM Looks like pretty good value if it works as promised.

I really don't mean any offence but it kind of does look more like a stainless buggy that has a carbon rather then fabric seat: Don't get me wrong, I'm sure carbon fibre has it's advantages over cloth but it doesn't appear to have lost much steel. Indeed it is still tipping the scales at a similar point to the 'All Steel' buggies. And... As andy666 pointed out (with 'tek screw' comments aside) the mounts that actually hold the CF to the frame don't seem in the least structural. What's the reason the structural components aren't made of carbon fibre? If your objective is to loose weight it's these parts that need to be replaced, not the cloth seat and reinforcing struts. All the best with your project though, Slarti

Wow, Gobi desert. What's going on there?

Wow, that is seriously out of trim I knew a lot had to be taken out (or added depending on how you look at it) but 1.5m. That is ridiculous!!! If you haven't come across it already 'Coastal Wind Sports' have a few very good tutorials: http://www.coastalwindsports.com/TutorialMenu.Html There one on "Better Buggy Basics" tutorial is particularly good: http://www.coastalwindsports.com/BetterBuggyBasics.html And if you're wanting to improve your bugging I'd strongly recommend making the trek to Kingston S.E. in January. Not only will you be able to immerse yourself in the bugging culture for several days but there are usually a couple of tandem buggy set ups around which work as a fantastic training aid. With a tandem buggy you can pilot the buggy from the front and have an expert coach just behind offering incite on how best to fly. Like sailing there are a lot of nuances to bugging and you really can gain a lot from expert tuition. I've known a number new kiters who gained a lot from such sessions, myself included Also the guys at Kingston really are a first rate crew and are always more than happy to help out a new fellow kiter. Best of luck with it all, Slarti.

I'm going to echo the sentiments above about starting with a beginner/intermediate fixed bridal. In my opinion the problem with jumping straight on to race kites is not so much the 'pop' or power but more the difficulty in keeping the damn thing flying. My go to small kite is a 2m Crossfire (which would only be classified as an intermediate kite) and I've found it to be a really difficult kite to introduce people to fly with. To experienced kiters it seems like an neat and easy kite to fly, possibly a little zippy for an out and out beginner but you would expect most new flyers to pick it up relatively quickly, but this is not the case. The problem is that the kite just doesn't fly properly unless it has a reasonable amount of forward movement. If you can keep it moving it's a beautifully responsive kite but if it stalls there's actually a bit of a knack to getting it going again. It becomes second nature to an experienced foil flyer but for beginners it's utterly frustrating to fly and out right infuriating to watch For this reason I usually try and get new kiters out on the 4m beamer even if it's a bit windy as handing them the crossfire just seems cruel. Even though you are an experienced stunt kiter I would still recommend a beginner/intermediate kite that can be easily controlled in a stall. It really makes a big difference when you are learning, and when you first hop in the bug you'll be back to learning all over again. Is this the kind of kite you're talking about: This was the first power kite I got when I started in the sport and needless to say it is nothing like a 'proper' kite. A lot of people bash the 'eBay' kites but I personally found it useful. If it is the same kite I found it basically constantly flew in a stall. I had to shorten the lead lines a lot in order to get the kite to fly forwards properly, and even then 'properly' is a bit of a stretch. I did however learn the basics of 4-line control and in many ways it was a lot easier to learn on this kite than a 'proper' kite precisely because of the way it flys in a stall.

Yeah, I think you are. It's just a photo of someone holding a mirror in front of them . As long as the mirror isn't pointed directly at the camera the image reflected is just what ever happens to be behind the camera at the time. So as long as the scenery behind the camera is relatively similar to the scenery in front you should be able to just tilt the mirror such that the horizons line up and Robert is your father's brother Here's a diagram showing what I would imagine the layout to be from above: You see there's no need for the trees and grass shown in the mirror to be exactly the same trees and grass that is behind the mirror. The mirror might as well reflect any old grass as long as it look similar. The hard part would be getting the lighting to look consistent. That is of course assuming it hasn't been photo shopped, which I would like to think it hasn't been.

I'd go there beforehand and practice and fly much closer to the lines that you would on the day and see what happens. Worst that's likely to happen would be your quad dropping like a stone. If that happens just dust it off, repair the broken bits and never fly there again. All in all I think it's unlikely to be a problem but I'd give a practice run first just to be safe. I know it's a nitro heli rather than electric but the video does say this: Here's an RC Groups thread about it and, as usual, you can pick your favourite opinion The general consensus though seems to be that 2.4GHz should be fine.

Yeah, I don't think it actually is sped up. In that part right at the beginning where the quad does those two and a half really tight circles in the middle of the field the quad has such a steep angle of bank that it would have to be travelling really fast in order to stay in the sky. So yeah, it probably hasn't been sped up. I just don't know if I should be more impressed with the flying or the camera work

Personally I'd prefer the bag to just be a simple stuff bag (like a sleeping-bag bag or what Panch use). Of course a quality backpack is only nicer, but how many of then do you really need? And how much do they increase the cost of a new kite by? Surely there must be $50 worth of bag in there at least. Do you remember the "Aztec" bag that actually came with built in speakers for you to plug your Sony Walkman into - in case you really wanted to listen to your tunes while kitting but for some reason hated wearing headphones (I guess) Personally I'd prefer to save the money and just have each kite in it's own stuff bag and load them all into a giant gear bag. If I wanted to take say three kites with me then I'd load the three I wanted, still in there stuff bags, into a regular backpack. As much care and effort manufactures seem to put into there bags there never going to be as good as a well designed backpack and if ergonomics is what your after I'd recommend a trip to you local camping supply store rather than the kite shop Edit: Of course it's different for large de-powers. I had a 13m PL Venom (great kite) that clearly wouldn't fit in a backpack. It basically came with it's own hiking rucksack which was fair, but for your average fixed-bridal a stuff bag is all that's really necisary. I'd be interested to know what consumers would chews if you could buy say a 5m HQ Toxic with a stuff bag for $450 or for $510 (the current listing price on Briskites) get it with the backpack. I think I would save the coin myself but I suspect most, given they'er laying out half a grand would still opt for the backpack, even if it adds 10%. Hmm, actually now that I think about it I think the Toxic comes in a stuff back anyhow... but the point still stands.

I think it really holds potential. I'm not quite sure that the end goal of the project is but I think there's a possibility it could be a real contender for the world speed sailing record. For the last several years the record contention has been between kite surfers and multi million dollar yachts. Current a highly specific purpose built yacht (if you can even call it that) known as Sail Rocket holds the record. I think the boats have finally pushed the envelope beyond human capability and if the kiters are to get another look in it will need to be in an apparatus possibility not too dis-similar to this. I also don't think it looks too expensive if you compare it to other sail craft of the same ilk. In fact compared to some it looks positively cheep! Of course this is assuming there chancing the speed record.

I'm coming a little late to the party I see but I was of the understanding that seat harnesses were best for buggies because you spend so much time trying to hold down a side load. Waste harnesses, as I understand, have a tendency to pull your torso sideways. I've never flown a waist harness myself but when I first started getting into kitting I tried using a PL back-strap in the buggy. The back-strap was fine on the land but in the buggy, it was horrendous!!!! Waist harnesses I was told are best for kite surfing and land boarding for two reasons. One is that you turn to face the kite more and can lean back against the pull in a way you can't in a buggy. The other is that it's a lot more important to have your centre of gravity below the attachment point when standing. Seat harnesses, while there fantastic at providing a secure anchor for your kite have a tendency to flip you around when you get lofted in a way that waist harnesses don't. Of course I'm just armchair quarterbacking/navel gazing here, but in theory it makes sense.

Fair enough. Is this the Murrarie you men? If so I take it you mean the Recreational Ground? Where abouts is "Skirmish point"? And I take it Margrate Beach is out ):

Delete: (double post)

Thanks guys. So where would be the preferred bugging locations? I've been poring over Google Maps but it's hard to identify the 'choice' spots. Do you guys normally either head south to the Gold Coast or north to the Sunshine? The stretch from Woody Point through Margate, Redcliffe and onto Scarborough looks like it has potential from the aerials. The Margrate beach looks promising from the air but the on the ground shots are conflicting. Some look fantastic: But others, not so much: I guess it might be a case of picking winds and tides Shorncliffe has a train and looks good for kite surfing but appears to be next to useless for buggying, though if Woody Point is buggyable it's but a short hop over the bridge (which kind of looks like fun:)). From the photos it appears their upgrading the bridge. Google Navigator still takes it even with "Avoid Tolls" set, so I take it that bridge is a toll free crossing, which is nice. I certainly can't see anything suspicious in the photos. Although too far out to live Bribie Island looks like a spectacular stretch of beach: 30km of uninterrupted white sands. Looks like a bigger better version of my beloved Goolwa Beach. Do you guys head out this way for weekends? Heading south is not so inspiring... The islands look sensational but appear fairly in accessible and the mainland beaches look cruddy, till you hit the Gold Coast, then it's on for young and me ! Are there any inland sights worth considering?

There amazing those things! I'm pretty keen to get one, just after I get a job

Bloody hell! I've done over 500 skydives and I don't think I'm yet to have a landing as nice as the one you had on your first attempt