Damaging day at Capstone

Well it was quite breezy, and proved too much for safe KAP. After I arrived I spent some time rigging a small HQ rokkaku to cope with the conditions. Eventually I got it flying stable and at a nice angle, so decided to try to get my rig aloft. With the kite just about at tree top level, and about 100 ft of line out, I didn't expect to have many problems. How wrong can we be?

So with the rig fixed to the line I started to gently pay out line. With the rig now at about 50 feet, everything looked good, so I fired off a shot.


Then the wind picked up. The kite started to traverse the sky dramatically, and the rig was being thrown about the sky from side to side.


Then the worst possible thing happened, the kite went into a big loop and the rig hit the ground at force. The kite continued on its way and dragged the rig along the ground before lifting it back into the sky. So at this point, I decided enough was enough and tied the line off to a nearby post and walked the rig down. The battery pack was dangling and the legs were bent, but I couldn't immediately see any other damage. A quick check showed that all functions still seemed to be working, but enough already, lets bring it down and pack away.

Closer inspection at home shows that the whole of one side of the rig has been buckled, however it is not a write off. A couple of hours in the workshop will put it right I think.

Dieppe in Panorama

Well, back in September, Bill, Matt and I visited Dieppe. I've recently taken an interest in creating virtual panoramas, so this is my first effort based on three photos of the Dieppe skyline taken from the castle. Enjoy!

Glorious Camber

We decided to spend a day down in Camber today, and what a glorious day it was too. There was zero wind in Maidstone, but Metcheck and Windguru both said there would be a steady 10mph in the afternoon. Will and I got down there about 12:30 and sure enough there was a good breeze blowing almost straight down the beach. So I decided to take out the camera and flowform and try and get some photos. Not far from our usual flying spot was a whale that had been washed ashore during the week. It was being closely guarded by the coastguard and was surrounded by ghoulish onlookers. Not to be outdone, I managed to get my photos from a slightly higher angle!



Then I wandered down the beach to get some photos of the houses and the glorious reflected sunlight off the sea.





Returning to Will's flying spot, Matt and Bill had arrived and assisted in getting the kite and rig back safely on the ground. Time for lunch and to look over the images. A full memory card was then swapped and off for another go in the opposite direction down the beach, where the flats and dunes could be examined from the air.





Another full memory card and a few spots of rain meant it was time to bring everything back to earth and start packing away. I think this must count as amongst my best ever days kapping. It was certainly one of the most enjoyable. The kite performed perfectly, there was a good steady breeze, no turbulence and clear conditions. Th eonly down point was I never quite managed to get the whale framed properly, and I discovered that I had my camera set on super fine resolution, which reduced the number of images I could save.

Oops!

Well Sunday was at Mote Park in Maidstone. So I turned up at the field and took rig and kite onto field. Got the FF30 nicely into the sky and secured. Took out my rig and everything was fine. Took out the tx, and OOPS. The power was on and the meter was showing a compelte discharge state. No spare battery - IDIOT!!!!!