Been kiting in some very light winds the last few days,so has got me wondering if zero wind kites will ever be avaliable

Will a kite ever be developed that flys in very little or zero wind,just by moving it you generate power and speed

Seems like kites are getting more a more refined each year,will a zero wind kite be avaliable one day

Will they get good enough to boost in very little or no wind

Seriously? Do you know how a wing works? To generate lift to keep it flying?

No, a zero wind kite will never exist (unless it has some sort of man made power source)

Haydn24 said..

Seriously? Do you know how a wing works? To generate lift to keep it flying?

No, a zero wind kite will never exist (unless it has some sort of man made power source)

The kite would be powered by swinging it back and forth and looping by using your own arms and your weight

It would require good technic

Maybe the heavier you were and the more agressively you moved it,the faster you would move and the higher you could jump

I think its possible

Its always windy, just depends how high your kite goes, slipstream runs at 200 MpH and its only about 2km up. Just go grab some ultra thin strong 2km low drag lines and punch through the slip stream. Just take into account everything that could go wrong before you try it....

So many facepalms in this thread

Seems to me all the best light winds kites are big kites 17m +,the idea being having a large wing catches more wind

But the problem is swinging and looping a big kite is difficult,they are slow

I can fly my 7m kite in no wind, Ive done it !

Need someone to launch the kite,or throw the kite

then I just swing the kite back and forth,looping it and agressively moving it generating speed and power to keep it flying

its not that hard

If you filled the leading edge and struts with helium that might help too

Just need to make a supa powerful smallish kite

Probably need to reinvent the board too,maybe a remake of one of those foil boards

Just imagine cruising around the ocean on a oily smooth windless day,looping and throwing the kite back and forth,going where ever you wanted

Going upwind would not be a problem as there is no wind

Be a good workout too

they have invented one. it's not cheap though:

Trapped said..

Didnt I read somewhere on here something about filling kites with helium or hydrogen?
If the kite had a zero weight then maybe it would be possible.
Thoughts anyone?

That's been discussed before, helium atoms are really small and will bleed through the bladder fabric in no time.

You can tic tack a skateboard to get it moving from dead still, so it might be possible to be powered by a kite by steering it, that has different technology to what we're used to. Not sure how, but it could happen. The sport is only 15 odd years old. I don't think we've topped out on the technology yet. Attitude's like gokid's change the world.

gokid said..

Been kiting in some very light winds the last few days,so has got me wondering if zero wind kites will ever be avaliable

Will a kite ever be developed that flys in very little or zero wind,just by moving it you generate power and speed

Seems like kites are getting more a more refined each year,will a zero wind kite be avaliable one day

Will they get good enough to boost in very little or no wind

Why on earth would one bother.?
People must have a lot of time

discussion over

but how would you go UP wind??

There is a whole sport called indoor kiting. It's not the manliest thing you've ever seen.

I'm thinking a large remote controlled plane with high lift wings and running on Lithium Polymer batteries would be the go.

3 Lines. One Centre line connected to the middle of the plane. Steering lines connected to the wind tips.

Just imagine sine-waving the electric plane while powering around a perfect 3-4ft glassy lineup!

Ha ha. We would soon be the most disliked water user. It wouldn't take long for us to be more hated than SUP's or goatboats.

Haydn24 said...
So many facepalms in this thread

This sport has evolved from people wondering 'what if, even if people laugh at me...'.
Give the innovators some oxygen, c'mooooooooonnnn.

^^ helium party balloons (latex or foil) go flat fairly quickly. I read somewhere that 'they' had looked at helium as a alternative fuel for fuel cells in cars or something but they couldn't build a cost effective tank that didn't bleed helium at an unacceptable rate.