Nasty Experience with the 4.9 blade 3!!!!!!

[tttonyyy1599968643]

Big Al, when you landed, did you have your legs straight? I'm sure others here are interested in the circumstances so we can avoid a similar injury if possible.

 

Hope it heals quickly for you.

[AndyUK]

Ouch. The femur is supposed to be the strongest bone in the body. Count your blessings it wasn't spinal damage! Good luck with your recovery mate, it must be gutting to not be able to go out flying.

 

tttonyyy

 

 

Not quite the strongest bone in the body, it is in fact the LARGEST bone in the human body

 

Andy

[tttonyyy1599968643]

Not quite the strongest bone in the body, it is in fact the LARGEST bone in the human body

 

Andy

 

Apparently also the strongest, at least according to these sites:

 

http://leg.upmc.com/FemurFracture/Overview.htm

http://www.cib.vt.edu/research/femur_injuries_in_automobile_crashes.htm

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=femur

 

+ many others.

 

Pray elaborate, old chap, before this thread breaks down into innuendo about "bones in the body".

[cassiewoofer]

Nasty , bet that hurt! hope you make full recovery, should at your age.

Yeah i'm with ted and ttttoonnyyy on this one, you must have some time on your hands so can you remember more details, these things don't 'just happen' we need the full detailed description so people can avoid doing the same.

you take care m8

[Bigal]

Im not really sure what details your looking for but i'll tell the story again and try and put more details in. I don't know how windy it was but i felt comfortable flying the blade. It was p for about 20 mins with no incedents but then a gust just picked me up. I don't know how it happened, im still confused by it. However it picking me up came as quite a surprise and i wasn't prepared for it so my legs were fully stretched searching for the ground and then i dropped down very fast. When i landed i heard what sounded like a whip crack and knew for sure something was wrong. It was lucky that the kite didn't power back p and drag me but my pal Ross reacted really fast and came over and this other guy retrieved the kite. Im very thankfull to all that helped. Anyway to avoid it i don't think i could've done much, maybe just relaxed a bit when i was lifted and bent my legs on landing. Just be very careful when flying this kite.

[sgillow]

Im not really sure what details your looking for but i'll tell the story again and try and put more details in. I don't know how windy it was but i felt comfortable flying the blade. It was p for about 20 mins with no incedents but then a gust just picked me up. I don't know how it happened, im still confused by it. However it picking me up came as quite a surprise and i wasn't prepared for it so my legs were fully stretched searching for the ground and then i dropped down very fast. When i landed i heard what sounded like a whip crack and knew for sure something was wrong. It was lucky that the kite didn't power back p and drag me but my pal Ross reacted really fast and came over and this other guy retrieved the kite. Im very thankfull to all that helped. Anyway to avoid it i don't think i could've done much, maybe just relaxed a bit when i was lifted and bent my legs on landing. Just be very careful when flying this kite.

 

Sorry to hear about that Bigal, you have my commisorations! I know how you feel as almost the exact same thing happened to me back in March but the following facts are different:

 

My Kite was Viper 4m

My pin is 46cm

I had 10 nights in hospital

I didnt hear a crack but knew it was broken as my leg flopped about funnily as I fell

Tone, TimL and Tim186 all came to my aid!

 

Photos and details are here:

 

http://simongillow.mysnaps.org.uk/c156373.html

 

http://www.flexifoil.com/community/forums/showthread.php?t=35804&highlight=sgillow

 

I had 6 weeks off work, I was on crutches for about 2 months I think and I still walk with a limp, although I am buggying again and have been for a few months now. My muscles wasted away so much that my broken thigh is still visibly thinner. I have been quite lazy with the physio so I could have got better quikcer had I put more effort in. My top tip is to keep exercising the broken leg NOW, my physios that visited when I was in hospital neglected to give me any exercise to do when I left hospital, make sure yours give you some, it was the muscle wastage that really set me back.

 

Feel free to contact me about anything you have queries on, I looked around for people who had similar injuries that I could ask and found that some people on skydiving forums knew but they were in America and things are different there. I had loads of questions which I now know the answers to which I can probably help you with..... feel free to send me a huge list of questions!

 

Good luck with the recovery,

Simon

[Tone]

i must say, the noise of your femur breaking was rather sickning. it was like someone clapping together two knee pads! and it is the last time i want to see someone with 2 knee joints on the same leg!!!

 

how are you doing now mate? you shoudl come kiting at some point!

 

 

tony

[Lead Weight]

OUCH! Hope you're up and about pretty soon.

[sgillow]

i must say, the noise of your femur breaking was rather sickning. it was like someone clapping together two knee pads! and it is the last time i want to see someone with 2 knee joints on the same leg!!!

 

how are you doing now mate? you shoudl come kiting at some point!

 

 

tony

 

Hiya Tone,

It is a real shame we didnt take a photo of my leg broken, that would have been a nice photo for the sideboard!

 

I am doing fine but I am living in South London now so havent seen you for ages (apart from in the team foilzone video I downloaded!), my local is now Blackheath and I am there most weekends unless I make day trips to the south coast. Hopefully I can meet up with you soon though, I will let you know next time I am heading to the south coast and you can have a lift!

 

Bigal,

 

I just re-read my post above, I didnt mean it to sound so downbeat, I am sure that as you are 8 years younger than me you can shave a month or so off my recovery time. Also if you put in more effort with the physio you can speed it up some more. On some of the forums I read other people were back running after 3 months and I still can't now so thats probably more a reflection on my laziness really...

 

Simon

[akamini]

Blades are fun kites in clean winds but I personally think they are dangerous in gusty winds - far too fast and pokey in gusts with extreme lift. Unfortunately what makes them such fun normally can be dangerous in the wrong conditions, which is why I sold mine.

[tttonyyy1599968643]

Blades are fun kites in clean winds but I personally think they are dangerous in gusty winds - far too fast and pokey in gusts with extreme lift. Unfortunately what makes them such fun normally can be dangerous in the wrong conditions, which is why I sold mine.

 

When I first got into kiting, a mate let me have a go on his Blade II 6.4. That same day it lofted me without warning, and I damaged my ankle on landing. I hadn't learnt to bend my legs then, and reading Big Al's account makes me feel fortunate. I swore I never wanted a Blade.

 

However, after a while I got into boarding (this is all inland, in lumpy wind). I borrowed this Blade just to try it again, and absolutely loved it. I kept on borrowing it, until in the end my mate sold it to me. Now it's my favourite kite.

 

The way to stay safe is to avoid parking it at zenith. Keep it down the sides of the window and the worst it'll do is pull you over. They do still bite, but it is possible to stay in control!

[r2d2]

how can you blame the blade..? it sounds as though you were flying in gusty and probably overpowered conditions for your experience..it does'nt matter what kite you're flying..when you're overpowered or you have underestimated the conditions..an accident is waiting to happen!!! get well soon.

[tttonyyy1599968643]

Well, I can see this thread going the way of finding someone/thing to blame... but most importantly, Big Al has had a nasty experience (that he's probably learnt a lot from!) and I hope he gets better soon.

[Bigal]

r2d2how can you blame the blade..? it sounds as though you were flying in gusty and probably overpowered conditions for your experience..it does'nt matter what kite you're flying..when you're overpowered or you have underestimated the conditions..an accident is waiting to happen!!! get well soon.I never blamed the blade!!!!!! It was as unfortunate accident and there is no-one or nothing to blame.

[r2d2]

i'm sorry, but it does'nt make it any less your fault because the kite you were using was a blade..basically you put up a 5 metre kite without checking the conditions..right or wrong?..i'm not having a go at you..but it's the wrong way to find out about overpower and gusts. you don't need any more people feeling sorry for you..i know how much wind it takes to get lofted or pulled out of control with a 4.9 blade and so should you or anyone else that uses one.

[daZZa-S]

blades are designed to inflate quickly therefore creating explosive power, it's the way they are designed, some people see it as a plus some as a flaw. Conditions can change very quickly and a gust can hit you at anytime. Blades are for experienced flyers therfore an experienced flyer should only fly it. It all depends on the make of kite you get the same thing with a razor. put it this way - if it was a 5 meter sami then it would proberly not of happened.

[Goku]

I would've thought any open edged/high aspect ratio kite is dangerous in the wrong conditions. As someone else has pointed out that they got hurt with a 2.1LD I have been caught out with my Quadrifoil XM before as well.

 

I've even been lifted off the ground when a gust blew and the kite was directly hovering above me.Kewl pictures sgillow and hope that others that are injured get well soon.

 

I guess given the winds today on xcweather nobody will be flying. Definately wouldn't want to be flying in Boulmer where it is 46 to 70!!

[anna1599968635]

well im deff not flyin today or tomorow....may b sunday when these gales have died down !!!!

 

and guys was any 1 blameing the blade.....like big al said....he wasnt blameing the kite or any thing.....

 

but any way this is were i like to get my wind meter out and check or ask others around me whats best....if im unsure ask the more experinced guys out flyin.

[Bigal]

r2d2........just keep your opinions to yourself. Im not looking for sympathy or looking for something to blame. I was happy with the 3m sami and the conditions were fine. It was just a sudden gust that caused the accident, nobodys fault, just unlucky.

[r2d2]

any kite is capable of overpowering the flyer...basically, an inexperienced flyer does'nt realise when it's too much to handle or wot his/her kite is capable of. it's mentioned a lot of times on these forums..somebody buys a kite and automatically thinks he's a nutcase that can fly and jump...takes his kite out in strong wind and then either comes on here to tell everyone about his new found hobbie and how cool he is cos he got airborne launching his new 3m toy in gale force winds..or he breaks a few bones and all the kiting brothers tell him how sorry they are to hear it and get well soon...why exactly did you feel the need to use a bigger kite? why did you want more power?..need to go faster? higher?..why is'nt somebody telling you how foolish you were...instead of being so nice all the time. lucky it was'nt your head that cracked. unless you really know wot you're doing..pushing a kite to it's limits can be dangerous. be honest..were the winds over 20mph..not including the gusts? i know your injury is bad and i really do hope you make a full recovery and get back flying again and i can imagine how it must feel, i dislocated my collar bone last summer.(not quite as bad as yours).....these kind of accidents can be minimized if people care to learn about and check the weather..bbc or met office for example and fly kites within their ability. the more accidents that happen the more restrictions will be placed on doing this sport in public places..then where will we go..? it does'nt have to be that dangerous!!!

[r2d2]

r2d2........just keep your opinions to yourself. Im not looking for sympathy or looking for something to blame. I was happy with the 3m sami and the conditions were fine. It was just a sudden gust that caused the accident, nobodys fault, just unlucky.

this the place for opinions..and if you think you were hit by a freak gust..then maybe you hav'nt learned that much from your experience

[br d]

I sympathise with your plight Bigal, I know Blades can catch you out and I don't think just saying "It's you're fault you are too inexperienced" is particularly fair, anyone, no matter how experienced they are, can come a cropper.

 

Having said that, your netcopping attitude is nonsense. This is an open forum, if you don't agree with r2d2 then debate with him, or ignore him, just telling him to keep his opinions to himself suggests you don't have a lot of faith in your own view. It's different if someone is being abusive, or trolling, but he's only giving his side of things.

 

br d

[tttonyyy1599968643]

It's quite possible it was an unpredictable gust. I've experienced days when it's been a very light breeze for hours (people flying 8.5 and 10.5 blades) and then a sudden massive gust will come through followed by hours of reasonable wind. (That time, the big Blade fliers were very quick to pack up and bring out smaller kites!)

[Ted]

r2d2how can you blame the blade..? it sounds as though you were flying in gusty and probably overpowered conditions for your experience..it does'nt matter what kite you're flying..when you're overpowered or you have underestimated the conditions..an accident is waiting to happen!!! get well soon.I never blamed the blade!!!!!! It was as unfortunate accident and there is no-one or nothing to blame.

 

Bigal - It's sad to hear about your accident and best wishes for a speedy recovery. A couple of thoughts and questions. Fixed power largish kites like 4.9 Blades are not that fun in gusty conditions, but it don't think you can blame the kite.

 

In my first year of kiting (Frenzys) I often got lofted and dropped by gusts, maybe 15 times in the first year. In the second year it didn't happen once. Here's the reason - I started realized that gusts could hurt me badly and took the following preventative action:

 

(1) I stopped flying when http://www.XCWeather.co.uk showed any red arrows near (within 100 miles) my flying site.

 

(2) I abandonned gust prone flying locations and stopped using them in the bad (gusty) wind directions. I started seeking clean sites and directions.

 

(3) I bought a wind meter.

 

Doing all of that reduced my gust-and-drop problem to zero.

 

To powerkite without breaking bones yourself involves developing your judgement to reduce unnecessary risk. Eliminating flying in gusty conditions is top of that list.

 

Here's where I need to improve. I still launch in too strong winds (usually once I've travelled a long way to a flying site). Also, I board a little too close to others. Both of those have led to accidents in the last year (but not injuries). My smallest kite is a 9.5m so I'm hoping that buying a smaller kite will keep me out of trouble.

 

A couple questions for you:

 

Are you aware of the XCweather.co.uk site? When you see red arrows anywhere near that means it's not a great day to fly. Today is a great example, the whole country is covered with gust arrows (and lots of people will hurt themselves). Today is a good day not to fly.

 

Was the site you hurt yourself a gusty inland site or a beach? Were you flying it in a wind direction that generates turbulance?

 

There is a lot for all of us to learn about how to avoid injuries. That includes me.

 

Get well soon!

 

Ted

[Mal1599968600]

I fully agree with all your points however most of them dont help a great deal here.

 

This far north the winds are heavily affected by the gulf stream and are mostly SWish we dont realy get a variety of wind directions they come mostly from a very narrow compas range. Were on an east facing coast.

 

I collect weather data and on 90+ days flying on a local beach (not St A but not far from it) last year we had 3 of those days with an onshore wind. If we waited for gust free or clean wind direction days basicly we would not get any flying done.

 

Wind meters are almost usless the land drops from around 200 meters to sea level in about 6km, turbulence and horizontal stratification in the wind are basicly present all the time.

 

The only alternatives are to hop into a car/ bus /train and make a well over 150 mile trip to a west facing coast, or not fly kites similar to Blades of course.