Kite killers

I have been flying hooked in for the last 3 months ever since I had my Ozone Access SB harness for Christmas. I took the KK's off my 5m Flow and put them on my 3m Core a while back, as that was my scary kite!

Today as I was loading the buggy and kites into the car, ready for tomorrow, I couldn't remember the last time I had to use them. In some ways they have become a hindrance and get in the way.

So I have ditched them, taken them off and they are now in the bottom of the kite bag!

So if you see a middle aged bloke running across the salt lake tomorrow, chasing a red, white and black kite...

That will be me!

New Kite Curse!

I am having a Blade III 8.5m for my birthday, it has been sat in my wardrobe for the last couple of weeks and I have had strict instructions not to fly it (by my gorgeous wife). I am going to be lucky enough to get it on Sunday (even though my birthday is not until Monday) because I am working on my Birthday!

But what happens when you get a large new kite and you want low winds...

New Kite curse + Blade III 8.5m = howling winds!

Looks like it is going to be more of a 3m Core kinda day - and the arvo more like a plastic shopping bag kinda day!

If anybody needs any ideas for presents, I have got a list?

Video - Peter Lynn Speed Buggy

Brian Holgates 2nd World Record attempt -

"They were calling for rain in the morning but it didn’t show up till around 4. The winds were light and multi directional at first. Then it started to pick up. It eventually became sustained at around 25-30 gusting to 40mph.

So I went out an started my runs. My first couple runs were a little slow. Hit around 56mph. Came back to camp and made some adjustments, then went back out. The winds were starting to luff out with an occasional good gust. I was on what wound up being my last run and hit a gust. I was only able to get to 76mph before I sheared my left axle bolt. I slid for about 100 feet before stopping. No harm done though. The buggy is heavy enough it didn’t roll. Didn’t break the record but I now have my camera angles dialed in."

Borrowed from www.popeyethewelder.com

Panic!

After using the fantastic GPSlogbooks on Friday morning to track my course, I suddenly had a panic on Monday morning that it will have used up a large percentage plus more of my mobile internet data usage and I would be looking at a big lump on my bill!

But no need to worry - I've still go hours and hours of browsing left! That was after 2 hours plus of tracking - good eh?

Video - Not kite related...

...but amazing anyway!

How to crack the 60?

I have been thinking what it will take for me to crack 60kph after my failure on Friday and seeing as it my birthday in a week how about...

Some of these...

Or maybe some of these...

This may help...

Definitely some of these!

No buggying...

So we went on a family bike ride!

Thank-you

My Blog has had over 500 hits from all over the world - thank-you for looking in and seeing whats happening in this small corner of Western Australia.

Stats for the last week

I would love to hear you comments and also find out who is buggying in Russia, the Czech Republic and China!

Racing Slicks?

Over the last few weeks I have been noticing my rear tyres have been deflating between sessions, pump them up before I go out and they are OK, leave them alone for a few days or a week and they are flat. So today thought I would have a look and see if I could find the problem...

Off it comes...

Topping it up...

First tiny bubbles...

More...

ready to go back on...

Slicks?

So it looks like it probably has about 12-15 places (micro-punctures?) where it is leaking air. I think I have just killed them by sliding on the rough surface of the lake. I don't think they are going to be fixable, I think it's a new set I need! I think for the time being I am just going to have to manage until I can source some locally...

New PB!

I have had the day of work today so headed down to the Lake Walyungup as we had some decent easterly's forecast. I was down there and flying by 8.30 and it was a 3m kinda day - in fact at times the 3m Core was a bit over-powered.

I think I have now got a good feeling for this kite and am getting my confidence in flying it harder. There were a couple of times when my backside left the seat as I pushed the kite higher in the window to slow down, but otherwise I gave it a good hammering!

I had a good hour using the full length of the lake and gradually pushing harder and faster. Had a blast heading over a small (30cm) hump and bouncing around. At 9.30 stopped for morning tea - Masters Mocha Chill, a banana, no brownies but I did have a couple of hot cross buns. At this point Bones turned up with his new and very shiny buggy!

Then it was time to push on and it was quick and getting quicker - 55, 56, 58, 59.4 and then did it I cracked my personal best - 59.9kph (that is a whole 0.1kph faster)! That 60kph is elusive! Definitely no Brian Holgate!

But still it's the fastest I have been and got a whoop of joy when I saw it. Had some more runs at it to try and push it that little bit faster, but couldn't go any quicker. I did manage to get on two wheels while sliding it though!

The wind kept howling, and I could feel myself getting tired and my reflexes getting a bit slower, things were beginning to get a bit scary, so at that point called it quits and headed home..

I did use GPSLogbooks today and you can see my course here - kite buggying at lake Walyungup and the cool thing was I got a message from Gav from extreme kites to say that he was watching it live! A fantastic 3 hours in the buggy.

Tracking - GPS Logbooks

I have been recommended another tracking app, described as a Black Box in an iPhone. GPS logbooks was originally designed for pilots to record flights live, which can then be viewed in realtime and full 3D using the Google earth plug-in in on your desktop.

Flights can also be edited and shared with the world on www.gpslogbooks.com

It records altitude, heading and speed – you can also add comments and descriptions and more features are due to be added in the future.

It’s not only for pilots, it’s recommended for anybody who gets out there and wants to log their adventure – parachute jump, bungee jump, roller coaster ride, ski run, marathon, bike race, family drive, mountain climb and of course kite buggying!

I have tried it once, but somehow had managed to turn the GPS off on my iPhone! So it spent the whole session searching for satellites – but next time I’m out I will have another go. The results on the website look great with the tracks overlaid on Google earth.

Wind Forecasts

Estimating the wind speed is a valuable tool for kiting, primarily to ensure your safety and in doing so ensure that you are using the right tool (kite) for the job. This is based on what kites you own, your weight and level of experience.

The websites (and I usually check all three as their forecasts can vary) I use for forecasting the wind and making that decision whether I load up the car are... 

Willy Weather

BOM Marine Wind Forecast

ABC Weather

It is also essential to know your kites wind range, your limitations – in and out of the buggy and if in doubt get out!

This is a good guide to estimating the wind speed on the ground

I always look at the trees to see how much they are moving, when I started to fly kites again somebody once said "welcome to tree watchers anonymous!" and that is so true!

Toxic Dreams

I would love to get my hands on some of these...

The new ultimate buggy kite from HQ, the Toxic - stable, fast and pulls like a train! Everything I have heard about these kites is good. The 8m in black looks incredible, the 2m has a huge wind range, I need a full quiver of Toxics! - I had better start saving, now where did I put my piggy bank...

What's Rain?

I know the east coast of Australia is suffering with lots of rain and flooding, but over here on the west - especially South of Perth we haven't seen rain since the beginning of February (Feb 3rd to be exact!), when we we were hit by the tail end of cyclone Iggy. That's 6 weeks!

Sunny conditions have been forecast for the next 7 days, but we should get some reasonable wind thanks to cyclone Lua, that hit the North West over the weekend (thankfully no injuries and only minor damage reported).

My kids are asking "What's rain?".

135.34kph

On March 6th 2012 American Brian Holgate became the fastest man on three wheels by cracking the world kite buggy speed record on Ivanpah dry Lake, Nevada.

In a purpose built, streamline, Peter Lynn Speed Buggy and flying a Peter Lynn Vapor 2.7m he reached 135.34kph or 84.1mph!

Peter Lynn Speed Buggy