Thursday, 09th September, 2010
Understanding the Wind Window
The wind window is the effictive area in which you can fly any kite.
The size of the window dictates how much and what type of power your
kite will genterate. If you fly a kite to one side, and keep flying,
there is a limit to how far you can go before the kite loses power,
stops moveing, or stalls. That edge is one edge of the wind window.
With you as a fixed point at its centre, the wind window resembles the surface
of a quarter of a sphere. The image to the right shows this.
The winds direction is allways changing, espeishaly in light winds. If the winds direction changed then you should adjust your position untill you find the center of the wind once more.
Traditionally, sport and power kites are most efficient when they are flying at the centre of the wind window and horizontally across the sky at roughly head height or slightly above. Here they move fastest and pull hardest. Keep flying horizontally and the kite will gradually slow down and lose power as it reaches the edge of its window. Turn the kite round just before the edge and fly it back across the wind window. As you reach the centre, turn it upwards and fly the kite straight up the wind window. If the wind is strong enough, you’ll notice yourself being pulled by a rush of power, followed by the same slowing down and depowering effect until the kite reaches a ‘parked’ position up above your head.
This is known as the zenith or ‘safety’ position. There’s almost no power in the kite up here and it’s the place to try and steer the kite if you ever feel you’re getting into difficulties.
Flying a large power kite near the centre of the window will generate enormous lateral pull and this is where you’ll find yourself leaning right back, even lying down, to stop yourself being pulled over and dragged along on your front. In fact, you rarely see buggy pilots or kiteboarders fly their big kites near the centre of a window because the lateral pull would be too much to hold. What they do is use a different part of the window to generate the kind of power that is most useful to them.
As with wind speeds, knowing where to fly your kite in the wind window is something that is worth understanding in principle but will become much more of an intuitive thing with experience. Your skill as a flyer will be in learning how to manipulate the kite in the window to deliver the kind and quantity of pull you want.
Generally speaking, lighter wind means a smaller (narrower and lower) wind window in which the kite will be moving relatively slowly. You’ll need to really work it near the edges and even at the centre to achieve real power. In a big wind you’ll find that the kite flies quite differently - it has a bigger wind window, is much faster (not least because smaller kites fly faster) and has strong pull over a much bigger area of the window than it does in a lighter wind.
With you as a fixed point at its centre, the wind window resembles the surface
of a quarter of a sphere. The image to the right shows this.
The winds direction is allways changing, espeishaly in light winds. If the winds direction changed then you should adjust your position untill you find the center of the wind once more.
Where to fly in the wind window
Traditionally, sport and power kites are most efficient when they are flying at the centre of the wind window and horizontally across the sky at roughly head height or slightly above. Here they move fastest and pull hardest. Keep flying horizontally and the kite will gradually slow down and lose power as it reaches the edge of its window. Turn the kite round just before the edge and fly it back across the wind window. As you reach the centre, turn it upwards and fly the kite straight up the wind window. If the wind is strong enough, you’ll notice yourself being pulled by a rush of power, followed by the same slowing down and depowering effect until the kite reaches a ‘parked’ position up above your head.
This is known as the zenith or ‘safety’ position. There’s almost no power in the kite up here and it’s the place to try and steer the kite if you ever feel you’re getting into difficulties.
Flying a large power kite near the centre of the window will generate enormous lateral pull and this is where you’ll find yourself leaning right back, even lying down, to stop yourself being pulled over and dragged along on your front. In fact, you rarely see buggy pilots or kiteboarders fly their big kites near the centre of a window because the lateral pull would be too much to hold. What they do is use a different part of the window to generate the kind of power that is most useful to them.
As with wind speeds, knowing where to fly your kite in the wind window is something that is worth understanding in principle but will become much more of an intuitive thing with experience. Your skill as a flyer will be in learning how to manipulate the kite in the window to deliver the kind and quantity of pull you want.
Generally speaking, lighter wind means a smaller (narrower and lower) wind window in which the kite will be moving relatively slowly. You’ll need to really work it near the edges and even at the centre to achieve real power. In a big wind you’ll find that the kite flies quite differently - it has a bigger wind window, is much faster (not least because smaller kites fly faster) and has strong pull over a much bigger area of the window than it does in a lighter wind.