hmmm. interesting.
but
let us also consider the advantages and disadvantages of being a purple cumquat...
similarly if a kite is made from rock, sitting on the ground and shaped like a bulldozer, does the coefficient of lift still apply?
finally,
Is 'knots' trying to start a discussion?.. Discuss.
Ahh, but a kite operates at a much lower Reynolds number than a jet aircraft. Which means that there are significant portions of laminar flow over the top of the kite and laminar separation can occur instead of turbulent separation. This is a much different phenomenon.
Not to mention that a jet aircraft also encounters issues with changes in density, compressibility and the speed of sound. So, one can conclude that a kite has similar principles as that of a jet aircraft.
But perhaps knots is referring to a bird's wing flapping or a hummingbird. Again, these are two somewhat different physical processes to that of simple wing or kite.
Yes, the coefficient of lift applies, but the coefficient of drag also applies.
The kite is similar to a air foil ( wing).
When you increase the angle of attack into the on stream air flow , it will spoil the air flow over the concave component of the kite.Thus reducing lift , thrust and increase parasite drag(kite will not fly it will stall)
Their are kites on the market that will have these characteristics and there has been evidence supporting this over the last six months in this forum.
Wind shear will have the same effect on a kite particularly in gusting conditions.
Awareness is all this is about.
Having witness kites stall and then power up in a uncontrolled line of flight.
Ahh the plot thickens.
Your hypothesis is that "kites can stall under any wind speed". So we are all familiar with a Hindenburg in low winds. But I think you are trying to point out that a kite will also stall in high winds?
To make any kite stall you need to increase the angle of attack past a certain point. This can be achieved by powering the kite up via trim strap and pulling the bar down quickly. Knots, I think if you try this on the beach in about 30 knots with a 10m kite you should have some interesting results... 
My bet is that the kite stalling isn't one of them. <insert video featuring Top Hat here>
I reckon it'd be stalled alright. The thing would be, that's just the kite no longer acting like a wing and having air pass from LE to TE. Instead it would be catching every bit of that 30 knots as a flat sail.
That's my point. You can make it hindenburg in light winds by pulling the bar down quickly. But if you try it in strong winds, you'll be 15ft in the air before the kite stalls. Hence, its possible to stall the kite in strong winds, but in practice hard to do so cos the forces involved will be too great. Lift will increase linearly with angle of attack, but it increases by the square of wind velocity.
For those who doubt my knowledge or experience.I have 12m Naish.
Have witness kite's stall and drop out of the sky under various wind conditions.
What you have witnessed is poor flying skills. Would hazard a guess that most were caused by having the bar over sheeted and board going towards the kite.
you can actually use this to do a good stall turn if you have gone towards the kite too much and let it drift too far - the reason i fly kites like fuels is if the go too far around they will stall back and wait for ya, this behavior is far more desirable than a Hindenburg unless you are training for triathlon swimming
You can feel and observe these conditions coming on and take appropriate action -down looping is fun as well as the stall turn and all you have to do is follow your kite thru the turn.
luv
istt
When I was younger and in my prime I used to ....
be a hanglider test pilot - it 'were' great fun & stalling was ....
Reynolds Nos -- tick
Drag ratio -- tick
Induced drag -- tick (changes due to pilot actions)
Parasitic drag -- tick (fixed due to shape)
Speed many variables here....
Without being able to mathematically prove it (test pilots give feed back!!) Bottom line flatter kite profile and higher aspect ratio more likely to stall with higher angle of attack. This means loss of lift, loss of control, and usually a drop till recovery or impact. The bonus of a kite is that it is anchored to U. U spend most of the time on a solid surface so when it stalls the direction the drag is acting is critical and dependant on the wind strength. Strong wind strong stall and big jump sum it up.
However the qu I want answered (
) once U have stalled and kite hits the water on a modern C kite do you still have to swim towards it to setup for re-launch aka old C kites (I hated having to do that)??
Ta
No. You didn't actually have to do that on old C kites etheir if you knew the technique, but yes new C kites are alot easier to launch du to tip shape and panel layouts, some (especially in small sizes) can be relaunched by pulling in only one back line.
For those who doubt my knowledge or experience.I have 12m Naish.
For those who doubt my knowledge or experience.I have 12m Naish.
For those who doubt my knowledge or experience.I have 12m Naish.
For those who doubt my knowledge or experience.I have 12m Naish.
Thankfully (most) kites fly much better than the spelling we have seen from knots of late.
For those who doubt my knowledge or experience.I have 12m Naish.
Technical stuff about flight... Great...
Noting that lift is proportional to velocity squared, at the upper end of the wind speed scale you will be getting ripped off the beach/water long before you can stall the kite due to excessive alpha !!! Unless you are a massive anchor ! A plane would not have that problem as it is not 'Tethered' and is free to stall at any speed.
In my opinion (whatever that's worth), bad (or rather inexperienced) piloting would be the cause of stalling in 98% of cases.
Having lived where there was not much wind for several years, I think I can pretty much keep anything up (pun intended) in minimal conditions...
What we all still see is people getting 'Tricked' by changing conditions. Please note that wind is not the nice, laminar flow of theory books and wind tunnels !!!
The answer is generally to FLY the thing and not let it sit... And feel what it is doing... (Use the Force !!!)
Or maybe not !!! Up to you...
BAP
Dear Knots
I'm a paraglider pilot and a kite surfer.
While the shape of paraglider and your kite look similar the concepts are very different.
On a paraglider wing you are able to increase the angle of attack till the stall point but in your kite its limited and the maximum angle of attack is limited in 70-80% (brake).
If your kite stalls in different situations that means some one has replaced some of the lines and didn't pay enough attention to the length of replaced lines.
I have a 12m Naish cult and in +17 knots you can unhook (Maximum angle of attack) and ride it for hours and it will not stall.
P.S. I have seen kites which stall if you unhook.
