Power kite
A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user.
They come in three main forms: foils, leading edge inflatables and supported leading edge. There are also rigid-framed kites and soft single skin kites. There are several different control systems used with these kites which have two to five lines and a bar or handles. Most foil kites are made for use on land as they are "opened celled" so air flows in and out easily, this can be used as a safety feature to depower the kite. There are a few exceptions for this with new foils that use closed cell technology; they float on the water while you relaunch.
Power kites are generally used in conjunction with a vehicle or board, such as in:
- kitesurfing on a kiteboard
- kite buggying on a purpose-built 3-wheeled cart
- kite landboarding on an all-terrain/mountain/land board
- kite skating on all-terrain roller skates
- snowkiting on skis or snowboards
- kite jumping, using a power kite for jumping above the ground
- man lifting, where a harnessed kite flier is moored to the ground or one or more people to provide tension and lift
- kiteboating, on a boat
Research is also under way in the use of kites to generate electric power to be fed into a power grid.[1][2][3][4] Kites can be used to reach high altitude winds such as a jet stream, which are always present, even if ground level winds available to wind turbines are absent.
Kites of related design are used for sailing, including speed sailing. Jacob's Ladder, a kite-powered boat, set the C-Class world sailing speed record with a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h) in 1982, a record that stood for six years.[5] A kiteboard was the first sailing craft to exceed a speed of 50 knots (93 km/h) in October 2008.[5]
Power kites range in size from 1.5 to 50 m2 (16 to 540 sq ft). All kites are made for specific purposes: some for water, land, power or manoeuvrability.
[edit] See also
- Kite types
- Kite applications
- Kite mooring
- SkySails - industrial-scale power kites for pulling ships
[edit] References
- ^ Jha, Alok (2008-08-03). "Giant kites to tap power of the high wind". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/03/renewableenergy.energy.
- ^ Martinelli, Nicole (2009-12-28). "Generating Power From Kites". Wired.com. Condé Nast Digital. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/10/71908.
- ^ "Competitors for kite generated wind power". Next Big Future. 2008-08-04. http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/08/competitors-for-kite-generated-wind.html. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
- ^ "Kite Power". Optimisation in Engineering Center (OPTEC) Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. 2010-01-19. http://www.kuleuven.be/optec/research/projects/kitepower. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
- ^ a b "500 Metre Records". WSSRC Records. World Sailing Speed Records Committee. http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=18. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
[edit] External links
- Kiteboarding Links - Guide All about Kite Surfing.
- Power-kite.ch- Traction Kiting an Snowkiting in Switzerland
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