need help to help

[kiteroulette]

I am looking for some institutions, which have the force to change. In Germany exists an aeronautic federal office. Do you have something like this in the USA as well?
With best regards

[ricki]

I am looking for some institutions, which have the force to change. In Germany exists an aeronautic federal office. Do you have something like this in the USA as well?
With best regards

What entities are you seeking to change and in what fashion? We have the FAA which thankfully stays away from kiteboarding (most of the time). The only time they have been involved to my knowledge has been to ban it, not a good thing.

Generally you DON'T want govenment interacting with sports in the USA unless it is absolutely necessary. It is usually best in this country to pursue reform through public and private, non-governmental channels. This can be quite different in Europe which is worth remembering, e.g. Federally supported/regulated kiteboarding instruction in Germany and France. You will likely NEVER see such a thing in the USA where the private sector usually polices such things, if at all.

[kiteroulette]

I was visiting your homepage and was impressed about all the kiteaccidents. I had an accident as well and can be lucky, that I am still alive. I have to say, that my accident could have been avoided in case of warning before kiting(see the manuals).
I think some accidents your are talking about could have been avoided as well. I will let you know what happened to me:

I would like to talk about 2linekite experiences: In my case I used a Cabrinha C 111 (schoolkite for beginners), 8.5 which was hard to control:
The sideshore wind was moderate. I started the kite lefthand. But the kite just went into the wind and felt down. Later on the wind was getting a little bit stronger (termic). I got the kite above (11 o’clock) and was able to do a body drag. As I wanted to get back, I tried to get the kite over the offcenter (zenith) into the other wind window. But the kite stopped in the zenith. So I had to go forward to get back to the beach. I thought that the kite was too big, the wind was not strong enough or the bar was too short. When the wind was getting a little bit stronger it was possible for me to steer the kite from the left windwindow right up into the zenith. The current broke down, so the kite fell and was pushed by the wind into the powerzone. The kite was given to me from a watersportstation in italy. The president of the italian kitesport said: “That the flightbehavior occure out of my ability, or the wind was too strong and gusty and I should have start in the water. “ The wind was moderate. The real problem was the flightbehaviour not me (the problem is stated now from an ingeering office now).
One of the biggest salesmen in Germany told me, that all the 2linekites were assembled in the same way (same patent), so every 2linekite which have the same shape like the cabirnha could have that kind of malicious flightbehaviour.
The 2linekites were sold since 2000 (or earlier) til today. A Naish-Kiter had one of the above mentioned experiences, but the dealer couldn’t even tell him, why the kite fly like that. (I visited a canadian forum on a naishdealer-homepage.) I asked the italian distributor in summer 2002 and he wrote: “He feels sorry about what happened, but he had never seen that problem before, so he is not able to help. I should try to find the problem in me and not in the product.”
Finally I found out, that long time ago a lot of accidents happende like I had. People say, that occures out of the gusty wind.
We found out, that the range of tips could be attached in a different way, so the kite has a malicious flightbehaviour. There are three attachments on each kitetips. Who ever attached the kite in a “wrong” way, the manufacturer, the school or somebody else (I really don’t know) didn’t know about that problem.
The most significant point is, that my accident happened in a kiteboarding school. After the stationleader came back from checking the kite and said: “The kite doesn’t fly.” My world brake down. I couldn’t imagine, that an almost new kite had a flightbehaviour like that. Right after the accident I thought, it was my own mistake. But I couldn’t find the problem, ‘cause I checked the steeringlines, the bar and the bridles before and after the accident. Everything was fine.
I would like to know if more accidents happened 'cause of a wrong attachment. The manufacturer and the designer are informed since 2 years, but til today they didn’t change the manuals, so the rider still won't check the range of the kitetips. 2linekites are made for beginners. Beginners should get warn before they go in for kiting. Are you able to tell me, who is responsible for the manuals? I found out, that R&D (Research & Development) is involved. But til today I couldn’t find any helpful informations about R&D. They didn’t changed the manual, so I think it would be very important to talk about that problem, so none will get hurt like me. Has anybody any ideas?