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.