PyroChris

Sennen should be OK at low tide too? great in a westerly, reasonably long, would be too crowded in season, but might be ok now? Used to surf there once upon a time, but then I was living just south of St Just. Fab!! :>:>:>

Anyone else here looking forward to the newly previewed 5.5 and 7 metre Bullets? Should be a fab lower lift alternative to the blade III on those lighter wind days! Bring em on!! :D PS Flew for the first time this year in Richmond Park on Sunday afternoon, almost calm to begin with, but came up into the smoothest inland 7-8kt breeze ive seen for ages!

Given that we all love things flying fast through the air, and especially as a Richmond park flyer, where I have occasionally taken my eyes off the kite to admire the fine sight of Concorde arcing across the late afternoon sky this summer, here is just a quick note to say Farewell, and that I for one will miss the sight and sound of this amazing plane, one of the achievements Britain and France can be truly proud of. http://users.ipfw.edu/modesitk/images/conc2.jpg http://www.concordecollectables.com/acatalog/cp_035_500.jpg Chris

Yup I have one for Richmond Park flyers, with the instruments located in Chessington, about 4 miles away. http://weather.thehartleys.org and also working on a more realtime (updated every 15 seconds) version at http://weather.thehartleys.org/realtime.htm Cheers, Chris

Hi all, Some of you already use my weather station website for getting recent met information in Chessington, especially if you fly at Richmond Park, which is just up the road. I am now working on a new addition to this site which has real time data, rather than up to 30 minutes delayed... this is very much a work in progress, but please feel free to have a look and comment upon... http://weather.thehartleys.org/realtime.htm The old pages with history graphs continue to exist at http://weather.thehartleys.org Cheers, Chris.

[extensively edited] this seems remarkably cheap for such a popular kite. [end of edit]

Hmmm, not sure about that... the Bullets tend to be pretty well behaved at the zenith... slight generalisation me thinks. Not flown it in a gale though... yet

I recently picked up the Skywatch Meteos wind meter... this too is omni-directional... (cups on the top), and is a very tidy unit that fits in hand, and pocket easily... Displays wind speed, max speed, average speed, beafort (bar graph thing), temperature and wind chill... all in a variety of units. (knots, meters/sec, mph, km/h, deg C, def F). Skyview have it on special offer at the moment (no Im not a skyview employee... but they did also supply my weather station hardware... ) http://www.skyview.co.uk/skybrowse?q=p;p=25 Cheers, Chris.

Yes, this kite does stall quite well at the edge of the window, but thats generally a good thing, as being a 2-liner, thats the only sure way you have of landing it gently!! Powering it into the ground mid-window is quite likely to blow out a cell or two if done repeatedly and hard enough... Great kite though... although I do prefer the 8 if I am looking for more responsiveness... the 10 can seem a bit sluggish sometimes, and the 6 just seems so small!! Chris.

Cross channel Kite Surfing Attempt.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3095770.stm Chris.

LOL, Yep I got caught in a squall last saturday aswell, though not a windy one, just a very wet one... that windy one was around lunch time yes?? Was shopping in Kingston when that came over! The problem we all have around here is the complete absence of nice smooth, steady, onshore coastal winds!! Even on a good day there are gusts that seem to come out of nowhere.. like you, it makes me very cautious of digging out the bigger kites unless its looking VERY settled. Regarding midweek day time flying, cant really do it that often as I work in the big smoke... can be very depressing sometimes when I check the weather at home and see its IDEAL for flying and I am 4 hours from getting there!! And regarding today, winds 7mph gusting to 19mph at home now... NICE!! May see you there at the weekend though... Chris

Rauf, The weather station Im using is the Oregan Scientific WMR 918 wireless weather station, with the wind instruments mounted on a TV aerial pole 10 ft above my chimney. The weather software is VWS from Ambient Software (http://www.ambientweather.com), and was acquired seperately... Cheers, Chris.

I have flown the 6 and 10 stacked too... I did have an 8 between them though. :D Just as an aside, I think the 8 is the best of the 3 for flying individually, fast, responsive, bit of pull in a gale. ideal

Yup, the rugby fields by roehampton gate is where I fly in Richmond Park. The rugby posts are up now... but there is still a good amount of space to fly / board / buggy... Appreciate the positive feedback on the weather site... looking at options for improving it and making it even more "real time". Chris.

Good Question Simon! Not sure really, they always seem to be the same figure though!! They are two different statistics as far as the VWS software I use is concerned, and I can see how they should possibly be different. Max wind speed generally being lower, given that it should be the maximum average wind speed. I will check tonight and make sure I havent screwed up somewhere in the web page stuff, but given that the maximum figures are the same in the graphical displays too, I guess it may be the way VWS is. For anyone that is interested, the hardware for this system is an Oregan Wireless Weather Station (WR 918), with the wind sensors attached to a tv arial post 10' above my chimney, and the software is Virtual Weather Station (VWS) from Ambient Software. Chris.

Yup Im a bit of a ricmond flyer too... have been static until now... but hoping to get a board this weekend, and possibly a s/hand viper 6.5 next week, so watch out :D

This link gets posted pretty periodically, but here it is again: http://www.xcweather.co.uk/ very useful wind speed site... I also have my own met page relevent for people flying in richmond park, and sw london in general. http://weather.thehartleys.org Cheers, Chris.

No, never needed to sand it down (not that I could, being in a park rather than on a beach).... either staked, or just holding the handles right low down by the brake lines, it seems fine parked. Only exception to this is when you get a very nasty 90 degree inland wind change of direction, and it can sometimes tumble down wind a bit. I have flowin in Richmond park and had the wind go almost right around the compass in the course of an afternoon before!!!

ya got me too... land it the right way up with no brakes?? how?!?! (And my bullet lands fine the right way up... albeit with a touch of brakes about it! :D ).

Hi all, just a quick note to advise those of you who occasionally checked the site http://www.bridalpictures.co.uk/vws/wx.htm for weather, this site is no longer being updated. Instead, please use the URL http://weather.thehartleys.org Still no wind though!!!! Chris.

Yep, I do it "ala Ozone" too, except that I wind the lines onto a winder rather than around the handles... I find it quicker to wind them this way, and certainly much quicker to unwind... simply support the handles with one hand, and using the other hand put a finger through the central finger hole (oo-err!! ) let the winder hang free and simply walk slowly up wind... the lines should effectively "fall" off the winder as it oscillates back and forth. And a final tip, if the exit from your flying area is downwind from the kite, dont forget to pick up the stake when you start winding the lines in... saves you another walk up and down the field!

Blade2, is all the stuff in your kitebag for sale (priced somewhat optimistically?!) or is it some other statement you are trying to make by having the price of every item in your sig?!?! A warning to wayward dog owners maybe?? :D though to be honest I doubt they read this?)

I would agree with what others have said, go for a sensibly sized 4 line kite, and you are much less likely to outgrow it too quickly... and even then it will be a useful addition to your kite bag. Saying that, I have the full suite of 6-8-10 stackers and got them out for the first time in a while this Sunday... had forgotten just how much good fun they are. Nothing like the pull of the big 4 liners, but the 6 and 8 are seriously responsive, and very very good fun in a decent breeze. Maybe get a four liner, and see if you can pick up a 6 or 8 stacker second hand at some later point, just so you dont miss out on what is still a good fun kite. One other thing in the favour of four line kites, they are a whole lot easier to launch than the stackers, especially if your on your own. (I had a good chuckle in Richmond Park this sunday at the newbie who was launching his bullet by getting his girlfriend to throw it up into the air!! then my wife took pity on them and gave them some advice :-)).

Just a little bit disturbed by the few people here recommending jumping straight to the 4.9M with no consideration of an intermediate stage. Sure, for the last month a 4.9 is probably the kite to have had, but just because YOU are happy with it, bear in mind two things... firstly, this is someone who has never flown a 4 line kite before, this is no disrespect to them, but its a fact. Brake lines will be a novelty, and its not impossible for confusion/panic to set in should a big gust come up. Secondly, we are getting to the end of August, the weather is on the turn, and there will plenty of serious fun to be had with a 3 or 4 meter Blade, especially when coming to it straight from a Super 10, and the last thing any of us wants is headline news about someone getting themselves into serious grief after being caught out over powered with a kite they just bought. Personally I would recommend either a Blade 3 or 4, or a Bullet 3.5. The Bullet 3.5 is probably a better value intermediate kite, although is well documented not to generate the same awsome lift of the Blade, it wont hurt the wallet so much either, and hopefully leave something towards a Blade in the near future, (or a buggy or board!). Sorry for a bit of a rant... but safety has to come first.

It was nothing really technical... just a case of one line being slightly longer than the other, and both brake lines being a little on the taught side (main lines had stretched somewhat). but being quite new to the four line kites, it wasnt immediately obvious until someone else pointed it out to me. I have certainly found it easier to land since, and can even bring it down without going for a wholesale kite collapsing pull on the brakes!! - most of the time, anyway!