Our House, Ottawa, Ontario - KAP 2009-18
May 23, 2009.
I put off trying to KAP our house for 18 months. You can deduce why in a couple of these images. Large trees in near proximity. Launching the kite was challenging due to dead air at ground level and air turbulence higher up ... but relatively easy compared to bringing it down. With launching, as soon as a good wind is caught you can let out line quickly. Bringing it down is a slower process and unlike launching adds a lot of tension to the line promoting erratic behaviour when gusty. Turbulence caused the kite to drift 45 degrees left-to-right making it difficult to haul in with the trees 45 degrees apart.
The lesson is: it is not necessarily a question of whether you can or cannot launch a kite, it is whether you can or cannot get it back down.
Read MoreI put off trying to KAP our house for 18 months. You can deduce why in a couple of these images. Large trees in near proximity. Launching the kite was challenging due to dead air at ground level and air turbulence higher up ... but relatively easy compared to bringing it down. With launching, as soon as a good wind is caught you can let out line quickly. Bringing it down is a slower process and unlike launching adds a lot of tension to the line promoting erratic behaviour when gusty. Turbulence caused the kite to drift 45 degrees left-to-right making it difficult to haul in with the trees 45 degrees apart.
The lesson is: it is not necessarily a question of whether you can or cannot launch a kite, it is whether you can or cannot get it back down.