Rigging and Control 4line LEI

Cool. You should share his kite for awhile.
You are "clear for take-off". Keep us in touch.
Maybe a photo of you next to a camel or sumtin.

[ricki]

I think that there may actually be shops in Kuwait and still others in some of the Gulf States. If you google "Kuwait kiteboard" you'll see some prospects.

If you can do a weekend trip to a good facility over there from some quality instruction I think you will move well along the learning curve. If not, your progress may be slower and risks greater but nothing new there. Not all instruction is the same in terms of quality. You would do well to ask them some questions, some ideas appear at:

http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=656

Next, I would recommend spending some time looking over the guidelines that appear at the link below. Virtually all of these guidelines have been derived from past accident analysis. Just as it can hard (impossible) to summarize safe flight procedures on an index card for powered aircraft, the same might be said about kiteboarding. Details.

http://fksa.org/forumdisplay.php?f=29

While your at it, look over some of the case studies. It is always good to try to learn from the mistakes of others rather than volunteering for first person experience. There are still more case studies in other parts of the site.

You might do well to hook up with a "flat" kite around 12 m. If you are targeting winds that are 10 to 15 mph you may want to go a bit larger. For appropriate winds you should find your learning progress will be faster. You don't want to go out overpowered particularly while you are learning.

Keep us posted Patrick.

Rick offered great advice. I think in 10 to 15 you will be walking back a bit on a 12, but probably better safe than sorry. Don't go out in sandstorms.

[jimb]

Purple Hayes, you may want to check out totalvid.com, they have several instructional videos you can download and either "rent" for a week for $4-5 or join for unlimited downloads for $10 per month. I think it's well worth it either way. Good luck!

[Purple Hayes]

Thanks guys.

There is a shop in Kuwait City (about 45 miles from me) but I've been told that they sell gear only (and at 1.5-2 times the regular price). I don't have much faith in "all things Kuwaiti", so I may have to plan a trip to Doha or Dubai.

.....Just as it can be hard (impossible) to summarize safe flight procedures on an index card for powered aircraft, the same might be said about kiteboarding. Details..... It is always good to try to learn from the mistakes of others rather than volunteering for first person experience....

I agree, I've made a safe living in airplanes by adhering to that philosophy. I fully understand why you guys would be apprehensive about offering pointers. As you say, if the tables we're turned, I wouldn't want to encourage someone to go fly an airplane after only having read a book about it.

I'm going to look into a trip to Dubai or Doha.

Thanks again....

[ricki]

sounds good Patrick. there should be some good operations somewhere in the Gulf.

just had a thought about kiting in sand storms, electrostatic shock. we sometimes have shocks over water. it can be more intense in snow. I imagine sand/dust might generate some strong discharges. do you have issues with that off airframes in dust storms?

[Purple Hayes]

Originally Posted by RickI

sounds good Patrick. there should be some good operations somewhere in the Gulf.

just had a thought about kiting in sand storms, electrostatic shock. we sometimes have shocks over water. it can be more intense in snow. I imagine sand/dust might generate some strong discharges. do you have issues with that off airframes in dust storms?

That's pretty interesting! I've worked around helicopters a lot, so I have some pretty good (and painful) experience with static discharge and "flying things."

Actually, the static (with regard to aircraft) isn't really an issue during sandstorms.

I'm originally from south FL. By that distinction, as I'm sure you can appreciate, I've flown through quite a few thunderstorms. Flying through heavy rain (even w/o lightning) is much worse! In heavy rain, the static being "wicked" off of the airframe makes the radios completely unusable at times.

We do experience static shocks around here a lot but I'm pretty sure that it has more to do with the dry air (the jolts don't appear to be any more intense when there are heavy visible particles in the air). I think it's more akin to what you experience up north during the winter.

[Ron]

Hi Patrick,

There are others in Kuwait that Kitesurf and/or Groundboard/Buggy. We have an informal group that mostly communicates via SMS messages or just turns up when the wind blows. Your certainly welcome.

Some folks here taught themsleves to kite, others have gone off to Egypt or Europe to learn. I'd be glad to assist you with the basics if your serious about learning.

Here is a link to a forum that will give you a lot of the information you'll need to know about kiting in Kuwait such as safety, riding spots, where to get gear, etc...

http://kuwaitkite.10.forumer.com/index.php

I'm in Salmiya. Mobile 788.4934

[Ron]

Rick,

This has nothing to do with airframes, but kiting in the sandstorms here in Kuwait is a blast. In the summer, the best winds in Kuwait (The Al-Baraweh Shamals) are often accompanied by sandstorms.

One of my most memorable sessions was in a sandstorm that limited visbility so much that the local fisherman dropped anchor on their Dhows (traditional arab boats) because visibility was limited to about 50 meters. It can be a bit unerving to be out to sea on a kite with that kind of limited visbility.

Fortunetely, there isn't much traffic on the water during sandstorms. The potential for problems is actually much higher in Kuwait, on certain beaches, when the weather is clear, as there are more pleasure craft on the water and people on the beach. In the sandstorms, there are usually only one or two kook kiters out

[Purple Hayes]

That's good news!

Thanks Ron.

That's funny that you mention the visibility, I thought (before listening to Rick's points) that would be my only reservation. I had this image of launching off of Salmiya losing sight of land pretty quickly, tacking back after a little while (but a few degrees off of my original line) and landing miles from where I started.

I think you really have to experience the dust, first hand, to appreciate it. One of my strongest memories of it was when I first got here; it was 3am and I looked out my window and saw what I thought was FOG (I didn't think sand storms occured at night and there wasn't much wind blowing). I could see halos around the street lights and the visibility was down to around 50m. That's the funny thing about the dust, it doesn't always require a strong wind to bring the visibility down. (there are a lot of factors such as convective lifting that stir the stuff up) When I stepped outside though, I could literally taste it!

Originally Posted by Ron

Hi Patrick,

There are others in Kuwait that Kitesurf and/or Groundboard/Buggy. We have an informal group that mostly communicates via SMS messages or just turns up when the wind blows. Your certainly welcome.

Some folks here taught themsleves to kite, others have gone off to Egypt or Europe to learn. I'd be glad to assist you with the basics if your serious about learning.

Here is a link to a forum that will give you a lot of the information you'll need to know about kiting in Kuwait such as safety, riding spots, where to get gear, etc...

http://kuwaitkite.10.forumer.com/index.php

I'm in Salmiya. Mobile 788.4934