Your notes are welcome:
Editor@UpperWindpower.com
Last edited:
10/24/2012 11:22 PM -0600
launches international contest:
CKC
Sponsors of contest and of prizes are invited. Contact
AWEIA.
CKC@aweia.org
This CKC is for advanced seasoned aero/kite people, not for the
timid beginner; there is high opportunity for satisfaction, but also
for discouraging experience. If one can tolerate much
approximate success before reaching golden moments then the
CKC might be for a gem. If designing, building, and well flying a
kite is already in your background and want a creative challenge,
then CKC contest might be for you. CKC concerns human powering a
kite without running outside a small ground start circle; but CKC is
strongly about craft design, so that a narrow window of mechanical
opportunity might be entered. Two strong seasoned kite engineers
have cautioned against presenting CKC contest to school children, as
too much non-flying is very likely; good flying will be allusive
until sweet designs and operation tactics are perfected. Few people
have succeeded in standing in a confined circle in calm while
launching and flying a kite for more than a few seconds; CKC is
aiming for durations of minutes and even hours.
Horvath allows thermals in his "no wind" scenarios, but CKC
contest disallows thermals in the trials for prizes. The CKC contest
is yet in a design-contest period; open discussion on all
points is invited.
Many kiters have already experienced some no-wind kiting in the
following senses:
- Frequently
- Of course, those doing indoor kiting are doing some
no-wind kiting. Even so, most indoor kiting showcases obtaining
duration by walking, running, or dancing of the pilot in
combination with relatively short tether lines. And some of the
pilots get familiar with indoor drafts, indoor kite wakes, and
vortices caused caused by body and kite commotions.
- Kiters who have a high flying kite might winch in kited wing
through a wind gradient where a strata of the air is calm. While
the kite is in that calm, the pilot has the choice to gather the
tether or run the tether to attain some kiting continuation.
Indeed, near the ground there might be near full calm after a
windy flying session; in that near-ground calm one might reel in
the kite all the way to hand by creating airspeed over the kite's
wing by virtue of the reeling in or walking or running. The
common experience in entering the lower calm is an expectation
that very soon the flying session will end, unless one runs and
runs and runs. One might be tempted to get into lighter-than-air
gases to keep the kytoon up. The CKC contest aims expose options
for sustaining flight in calms.
Climbing-Kite-in-Calm Contest
CalmKite™ , Calm Kite™, ClimbingKite™, KlimbingKite™, Klimbing
Kite™ , KalmKite™ , Kalm Kite™ , HPKite™, Human-powered Kite™,
H. P. Kite™ File
started January 25, 2011
Initial announcement:
M2977
Climbing Kites in Calm. Calm Kiting Climb contest:
(CKC)
Toward Calm AWECS Management
|
Task summary: Get it high in full calm
from small operating circle!
Consider being restricted to ground operations within a
circle of , say, 5 m. Have all operations that are
ground-touching be done only within that circle. Assume no wind
and no thermals, like quiet calm indoor air. Without pilot or robot
leaving the circle and starting with kite's lifting body and tether
in the circle for start also: fly the kite to a record altitude; see
draft rules below. NOTICE: Following the start, the lifting body and
tether may certainly go beyond the circle, but without touching the
ground or getting auxiliary outside-circle assists; the human pilot
or robot may not leave the circle. Send in results and
specifications for publication in Upper Windpower.
Some gains upon wide sharing of successful
designs and tactics:
- Those who choose to fly kites in calms and do not want to run
much will have choices.
- Those who do not have legs for running and choose to fly kites
in calms will have choices.
- The found tactics will affect the operation of some AWECS upon
calms or inadequate winds.
- Aeronautics will be advanced in some corners.
- Some kiting tasks normally needing wind may be accomplished in
calms.
- Some participants will gain an increased appreciation of
updrafts and downdrafts and various windfield vortex structures.
Absolute calm is probably not realistic. Measuring degrees of
calm near absolute calm may advance during the CKC contest run.
- Calm-confirmation instrumentation might advance. It will
be asked and observed: "Just how calm was it for a
certain trial?"
- Indoor kiting will be modified by the widened set of designs
and operation tactics revealed during the CKC contest.
- Kite quivers will increasingly hold kites that can fly in
calms.
- Some new practical applications will open to those equipped
with no-wind kites and calm-kiting skills.
Predictive challenges-so far-expressed:
- Jan. 25, 2011: "We will definitely win
that contest with the new hardware I'm designing ;-)" ~~Reinhart
Paelinck
- Jan. 25, 2011: "Reinhart, I think I have something going
that will get higher than your hardware for the contest here!"
~~JoeF Jan. 27, 2011: "But
lo! I am organizationally disallowed from winning prize
money in CKC contest, but I will enter my specifications and
observed results for tech share purpose. It will be exciting to
see your reports; I hope you will get it higher than I do, as that
will be quite high!
- v?
DRAFT:
Rules include (suggestions
for rules are invited):
- Operate in full calm. Have no benefit of thermals. This
atmospheric condition may have to be sought carefully to avoid
wind or thermal-lift assistance. Some special conditions and some
mornings before sunrise come to mind. Large indoor arenas come to
mind, but the ceiling may limit attainments. Neutral observers
would be great to sign off on the success.
- Firmly: The tether and wing starts in the circle, but then
those parts may go beyond the circle while the pilot (human or
robot) remain in the start circle.
This is not a
"go-straight-up" contest. However, going straight up is allowed.
- Discussion in draft
period is needed on these matters: Have no powered
motor on the kite's lifting body or its tether, except such is
allowed at the mooring point within the restricted circle.
Elastics and springs may be on the wing, but such may not be
loaded with potential energy until the wing is already in the
flying mode. We want to avoid such things as solar-powered
motoring. It is wanted that tether tugs be allowed to give both
signal and energy to the wing, but without using electricity sent
from ground for motored flight (else could result simply a
wire-controlled electrically-powered aircraft, which is not the
intent of the CKC contest). But what about letting tugs and jerks
of tether given energy so that a wing-based generator reacts to
give electricity for storage at the wing for use in controls that
might direct the gliding path or angle of attack of the wing
during the trial? The wing is flown fully unpowered except by the
power of tether tugs and jerks (no pun intended for the human
operators!); could the contest permit inventors/designers to have
devices to convert tug and jerk energies to electricity for use in
controls or even direct propulsion? How would that be so different
from just using a conductive tether and sending electricity up to
the wing for control and propulsion? Big difference: contest does
not permit electrically conductive tethers; such would be a
different game with a different safety environment. If a robot
is used to tug, jerk, or rotate, then something is powering the
robot. Food is powering the human pilot.
- Is sending chemicals up the tether allowed? No chemicals or
gases are permitted to be sent up inside or outside the tether
to the wing for control or propulsion. Example: A hollow tether
is not to be a conduit for pressurized air for controlling or
propelling the wing. This is similar to not sending electricity
or light up the tether to control or power the wing.
- Accumulators? No electrochemical
batteries or capacitors will be on the wing or tether.
- What if a capacitor is charged after the start of the trial
by way of effects from tether tugging, jerking, twist, movement
of mooring base within the operations circle, or the flight of
wing by mining the relative wind from the wing's motion in the
calm? Someone might want to have tether tug or jerk energy
operate a generator in the wing while saving generated energy
for smart controls of the wing or for propulsion; this may be
great fun or useful in some AWECS, however, the CKC will stay
with a focus that does not have accumulators aloft. Someone
might want to have energy mined aloft post-start to energized a
radio receiver with intent of operator on ground to control
flight or for powering a smart robot in the wing; will such be
allowed? Discuss, please. First notions are to keep such
neat machinations outside of the CKC contest. Maybe there
could be categories with prizes in each category.
- Then what about loading elastics or springs for accumulating
energy for strategic use to effect flight? A system might aim to
have a post-start accumulation of energy in the form of a spring
or elastic; the energy might be used during relaxed main tether
and during glide segments. Will such device be allowed for
winning prizes? Such strategy can be discussed in this draft
period.
- It is to be noted that tugging, jerking, or twisting of the
tether may be used to control the flight path of the wing. But
notice that the aim of CKC is to increase get the wing to
increasing altitude which is equivalent to increasing the
potential energy of the wing relative to the center of the
earth. And we notice that some strategies will put some of that
potential energy to play during the trial, like in using some of
that potential energy or altitude to effect a glide of the wing
during which glide some additional tether may be let out
(without letting the tether touch the ground!)
-
- Power the climb after initial toss only by tether controls.
- CKC first event will disallow use of shock-tube tethers.
- Why have that the tether "not touch the ground" outside the
operation start circle at any time during the trial? What
difference would that be than if some touching were allowed?
Please discuss this matter during this rule drafting time period.
Letting the wing or tether touch the ground after trial start
might make the contest nearly trivial, as full glide-outs would
easily permit tether let-outs followed by fresh reeling in for
flight up. Also, if accumulators are permitted and touching of
ground, then the accumulated energy might be used to roll or walk
the wing on the ground away from mooring for increasing tether
length. Such games may well be fun directions for other games and
competitions or for specific new categories of action. Discuss?
- The operation has the
lifting body ever off the ground during the trial.
- The tether may not
touch the ground during the trial.
- No beam or rod or stick or arm may go outside the operating
ground circle.
- Beams or rod or stick or arm may reach skyward as much as the
start circle's diameter, in suggested 5 m circle, the skyward
reach would be 5 m.
- Robot may jerk, rotate, dance, or whatever. Same for human
pilot.
- Have no blowers on the ground or air.
- Combustion is outside the aims of the CKC focus.
- The wing part of the kite system is always to be connected to
the system's tether set and also always to be connected to the
system's ground mooring point (human pilot or robot in the ground
circle.
- The ground circle is to be a fixed ground circle or a
fixed-anchor water-surface platform. That is, the CKC contest
avoids moving operation circle; we do not want the circle to be on
the deck of a moving truck or boat or train, etc.; that is a
different game with valuable things to explore for AWECS, but such
moving moorings is not the CKC game. The pilot (human or robot)
may move about within the circle, but not outside the fixed
circle. The circle is to remain geographically fixed during the
trial.
- Tether may be a torque
tube or torque cable for driving a rotary lifting body.
- The tether may not conduct electricity or light-for-powering
during the climbing activity.
- Light may be tether transferred, but not for control or
propulsive purposes. Perhaps someone will have a tether that
transmits light to illuminate the position of the wing and the
tether for aviation safety, visual identification, entertainment,
etc. However, the CKC contest avoids controlling the wing or
propelling the wing by using light (thus solar-energy, power
beaming, or tether-carried light for control or propulsion are
beyond the CKC game. Exception: A demonstration that uses a robot
may power the robot by use of any power system desired; e.g. a
robot might be solar-energy powered while the robot may only
affect the kite system by way of tugs, jerks, rotations, twists,
or input of light (only for said non-control and non-propulsive
reasons, if wanted).
- Have no initial stored energy in the lifting body or tether.
Notice that any successful tossing or flying of the wing to higher
heights does give the lifted mass additional potential energy;
also, the wing body moved by tugs obtains kinetic energy relative
to the calm air; a relative wind is created as the wing body moves
through the air by falling or is moved through the air by tether
tugging.
- The kite system
employed may not employ lighter-than-air gases and may not depend
on solar-heated air as lifter.
- Do not employ light or solar radiation or lasers or microwave
beams to power any motor in the system. That is, sending light in
an optical tether pipe is another game. Also, power beaming
energy to receptors on the wing or tether is also a different
game. These different games are interesting, but the CKC contest
is aiming to have a rule set that distinguishes itself from some
of those games.
- The lifting body may
be tethered by multiple lines going to the start circle.
- The human pilot or ground robot may operate the tether. An
initial toss by hand or robot may launch the lifting body with
some tether. Following the initial toss, the human pilot or robot
may operate the tether to affect the behavior of the lifting body
of the kite system. The robot toss may not exceed the force that
a human pilot could exert (this is to avoid robot cannons of
unlimited shooting power, etc. )
- Publish specifications for success. Tell the net altitude
above level of start circle reached. Tell the length of tether.
Tell the time it took from start to peak altitude. Specify kite
and tether materials and design. As possible couple with an
engineer or physicist for a technical analysis of the flight
pattern and cause of success reached. Aim to describe the
theoretical limits of altitude AGL achievable by the specified
system. Express how such a system might be used to launch AWECS or
to maintain AWECS aloft in calms or wind direction reversals.
- Show video on YouTube.
- The CKC will be without radio control (RC)
devices from ground to wing or tether. RC
- Disallowed from winning prize money: JoeF or members
of his family.
- All things start in
the circle; then the flying body and tether may go beyond the
circle, but not the operator. After start, the tether or lifting
flying body or wing is not to touch the ground during the effort;
the tether or wing is not to get beyond-circle assists.
- Gravity may be
employed to effect gliding of the involved wing while the tether
remains fully attached to the wing.
-
Tether dynamics: twist, torque, tugs, jerks, rate and
strength of tubs and jerks. Operator may twist the tether in
order to send some torque to the kite for controls or propulsion.
Operator may tug and jerk at any frequency chosen at any time
during the trial. Operator my relax tether tension very fully or
increase tension of tether very much at any time during the trial.
- Decision of the CKC
judge set is final. The CKC Judge Set consists of 3 or 5 or 7
persons. Majority vote on a decision confirms. Judges have not
yet been confirmed.
- Questions are
invited. Tactics and devices that are not clearly mentioned in
the rules could be discussed at any time.
- [ ] Coming:
some notes by
Wayne German (<=AWE forum only) and discussion by JoeF.
Notes
- Establish world records for a particular specification for
defined constraints.
- We are looking for prizes to award. Offers are invited.
Substantial prizes bring logo-link presence in the contest file
realm.
- Direct competitions in some localities?
- Predictive challenge expressions are welcome.
- This contest has a focus beyond kite dance or general
zero-wind kiting. The focus is on extreme altitude gain under the
constraints.
- Judge committee members? Volunteers are invited.
- Constrained-circle-calm-climbing-kite contest
- v
|
- Consider the theoretical limits of applying the matters
found in the following study of one method:
"Kurt Geebelen and Joris Gilis did their master thesis on this
topic :
http://www.kuleuven.be/optec/files/Geebelen2010.pdf
Pages: 125.
As far as I know, that is the only really interesting document
about that (so far ;-);
the Leuven team is working hard ! Greetings from Leuven"
~Reinhart
- What are known world records for such an activity at this
time?
-
- What are the several tactics? We will accumulate community
notes in this folder.
- Toss, oscillating tug with allowance for rotary gliding
cycles
- Kurt Geebelen and Joris Gilis method
- Rotary pull with angle of attack controls
- Faust method: Tug up followed by glide back along same line;
craft specially designed to perform for the method.
- Be sure to study Horvath; however, notice that the
high-start tactic and thermal use is beyond the CKC contest
focus, though fun tactics otherwise. See links below for the
Swiss kite lab.
- A claim is made, but just how high may a kite be lifted
following the above rules:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/biokite_soars_where_no_kite_has__9160
- Kiting in no wind: what are the extreme possible
achievements? Windless kiting. Of course, one may run, run, run,
run, ... But what else? Varieties of indoor kiting events
occur, but rules differ some from the above rule set.
-
Alan Flying Zero Wind Kite .Thomas K Horvath, Hybrid 200
-
Ede & Horvath Hybrid 200
-
Kite soaring in Switzerland
-
Zero 1.1 von Thomas Horvath
-
Long Beach 2008 Windless Kite Festival
-
Indoor kite tricks
-
Indoor-Kiting: Training in Dortmund, Germany
- wiki:
Indoor kite
-
America's Got Talent - Connor Doran - Indoor Kite Flying
-
Art of the Air, Indoor Kite Flying Performace by GuildWorks
(sic)
- Stacked triple quadline:
WindFire Flame Quadline Kite - Indoor kite flying Plasma
stack of flames.
-
Indoor Kiteflying Demo
-
WOW Air and Space Museum Indoor Kite Fly
-
http://www.horvath.ch/en/zerowind-kites.html
-
http://www.indoorkiteflying.com/page7.html
- For a note on equatorial calms:
The Intertropical Convergence Zone Upper Wind
Resource
- Horvath : Synergetic kite:
Consider carefully the active kites
of Horvath and his experiences. Be aware of
thermal use or not in his descriptions.
http://www.horvath.ch/en/kites_air_balance_2007.html
[Ed: Without thermals and
with the operations-circle constraint of CKC, then how high could
one get with the Horvath kites and tactics?]
Categories at the Swiss kite lab:
- "zerowind kites" zero-wind kites
-
http://www.horvath.ch/en/kite_service.html#flightcard
-
http://www.horvath.ch/en/drachen_kites_pdfs/flightcard-horvath-ch.pdf
-
http://www.channels.com/episodes/10906637#/ajax/feeds/show/209865/the-swiss-kite-lab
Several Horvath indoor flight videos.
-
http://www.blip.tv/file/849523?utm_source=player_embedded#
- The Horvath design and tactic directions are very helpful.
Yet look to other design solutions also.
- Other kite designs are possible for the CKC solution space.
- The CKC contest involves human-powering (or robot-powering)
specialized kites; the energy goes through the tether and results
in movements of the kite; some of the movement will be up for an
increase of potential energy of the wing; some of that potential
energy will be used in glides, either in fly-aways, spins,
circles, or returns. For the CKC, avoid thermals, but at other
times enjoy the lift of thermals.
- swiss kite lab™
-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitepatents/message/422
Consider the branch glider kites for the CKC contest.
-
Amazing indoor kite flying with airplane glider
|
Hi
Shane,
Jan. 26, 2011 edited. Jan. 27.
Calm .... No wind. Quiet. No leaves moving. No dust being blown
about. The sunrise has not heated the ground and things yet in
pre-sunrise, and so bubbles of air are not being heated and moved
upward as thermals. Not a time to fly kites, unless one wanted to
either run very much or do the moderate-length-line kiting that is
being developed in "indoor kiting" some of which with music and
dance can be a beautiful art; see some of those videos.
But beyond that, there is a window of opportunity that is
the subject of the contest being designed and will be developed.
There may be at least two, if not more, tactics that may permit
achieving high altitude in zero-wind without running or
lighter-than-air gas use, that is, by staying within a small circle
and manipulating the tether for specially designed kites within a
rule set. And do such calm kiting without any motor or stored fuel
on the upper kite craft or its tether. Notice: After start, the wing
and tether projections to ground may certainly leave the start
circle.
Achievements of extreme altitude gain under such rules are not
known here yet, if someone has gone through the window of
opportunity to extreme. The contest aims to develop and expose the
opportunity. CKC under AWEIA hopes to attract prize money. A full
description of the involved physics and techniques that may become
known would advance kiting and AWE. Success should affect the AWE
movement also, as we want kite energy devices to stay up when calm
occasionally occurs or launch in calm to get up to effective start
winds.
Thanks for the tickle,
Joe |
CLARIFICATION about the vertical projection on the ground of
wing and tether outside the start circle and
not requiring straight-up flight.
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 10:20 AM, dave santos wrote:
Joe,
Keep in mind that this is a very tricky challenge and most who try
must fail for lack of skills and knowledge. It would stump most
aerospace students.
A principle in school activities is for all students to get
satisfaction, even if some are better. The basic kite is the prime
example of an ideal school project.
One of your hard rules is going straight up, it may be that circling
up is the right way, far easier.
[[Ed: See rule set that
now clarifies that "straight
up" is not
required; that is,
during climb, the vertical projection onto ground by the tether and
wing may certainly be outside the start and operating circle.]]
Even so, this is not for beginners. One design mistake and forget
it.
Still, this is a major aviation problem. Maybe a contest would help
solve it, nevermind the struggles of running contests,
~d
Thanks, DaveS,
That is why we are in draft rule stage. The upper notice now
reads:
Consider being restricted to ground operations with a circle of ,
say, 5 m. Have all operations that are ground-touching be
done only within that circle. Assume no wind and no thermals, like
quiet calm indoor air. Without pilot or robot leaving the circle and
starting with kite's lifting body and tether in the circle for
start also: fly the kite to a record altitude; see draft rules
below. NOTICE: Following the start, the lifting body
and tether may certainly go beyond the circle;
the human pilot or robot may not leave the circle.
So, DaveS, this CKC is
more lax
than "straight up" effort. The projection of the tether and lifting
body certainly may go beyond the constraining start circle, but not
the mooring human operator or robot. Any kite can succeed to get
some altitude just by the start toss.
All
things start in the circle; then the flying body and tether may go
beyond the circle, but not the operator. After start, the tether or
wing craft is not to touch the ground during the
effort.
~JoeF |
- "no wind" "zero wind"
- Some practitioners say "no wind" when there
is no horizontal wind while they sneak in use of vertical
updrafts or thermals or vertical downdrafts. So, their "no wind"
still has wind. Mining the energy of updrafts and downdrafts is
using wind.
- Full calm with no appreciable movement of
air in any direction (oblique, up, down, around, horizontal)
is very rare; so there are degrees of calm.
- "no-wind kiting" is understood by Horvath as
allowing thermals. But the AWEIA
calm kiting climbing (CKC) contest intends for "no-wind
kiting" to mean that there is not occurring updraft or downdraft
winds in addition to no horizontal or oblique winds.
- Discussion is open
on this or any entry in the AWE Glossary
|
Organizing notes:
-
Jan. 26, 2011:
Special KiteEnergy AWE list was sent: Toward Calm AWECS Management
AWE, special Team,
Contest partial-prize sponsor opportunity:
http://energykitesystems.net/ClimbingKite/index.html
International .
-
Forum post:
Initial announcement:
M2977
-
Sent opportunity note to 3Tier. Todd Stone.
-
Jan. 27, 2011: AWEIA adopts the Climbing Kite in Calm
Contest:
AWEIA has adopted the CKC.
Should be fun and extensive. Could reach schools everywhere. Deep
opportunity for new toys, products, adventures.
And management of AWECS in calm and in launching.
Seek prize sponsors. Logo-linked presence available
upon substantial prize sponsoring. Toy size may prove principles and
designs. Challenging. Safer, as long running is not allowed; stay
in a prescribed circle. Learn to measure attained altitude and report
to AWEIA at its CKC committee. Every city in the world could try
their hand at calm kiting.
-
Jan. 27, 2011: "But
lo! I am organizationally disallowed from winning prize money,
but I will enter my specifications and observed results for tech share
purpose.
-
Disallowed from winning prize of CKC Calm
Kiting Contest: JoeF or any members of his family are disallowed
from winning CKC prize money. Are there others to be disallowed from
winning the prize money?
-
DS helped to clarify the rules. Result: Firmly:
the tether and wing starts in the circle, but then those parts may go
beyond the circle while the pilot (human or robot) remain in the start
circle. This is not a
"go-straight-up" contest.
-
Who might be effective prize sponsors? And contest
sponsors?
-
Application fee to AWEIA to cover administration
costs for handling the reports during the judging process? Could these
costs be covered by sponsors?
Flash ideas for saving:
- Kite coils top of tether versus full-tether coiling at mooring
...????
- Tether vibrations: frequencies
and tones. Detection of changes to inform robot to initiate
certain measures of tugs or jerks or rotations or twists.
- "Years of media impostures count for nothing if real champions
emerge seemingly out of nowhere." ds
- The question about the possibility of human-powering an
unmanned tethered device for a straight-up climb is on the table.
Could tether pulses on a non-fueled device cause more climb than
fall? Discussion is open for this matter.
CKC@aweia.org For instance, set a large low-mass wide disk
that also has a spiral drive of a propeller above the disk into
the air and begin pulses on a tether that goes to the disk center
in a special way; design so the tether-tug pulses occur when the
special disk is with its mesh closed; mine the force of the pulse,
so part of the energy drives gear that rotates the propeller with
a slight delay in release; upon that slight delay the tether pulse
will conclude which triggers propeller pitch change for vertical
lift with air forced down through a then-opened mesh disk. The
disk will easily close at drop and easily open when receiving
propeller-thrusted air; will physics and design allow such a
device to climb straight up? Discussion is open.
- Out-of-hole operation
Person is down in an earth cavity, some deep hole. In easier
instance, let the hole be quite long in one direction, but still
deep, perhaps a
trench. Assume that the air is still and calm in the
trench. Assume the bottom of the trench is hazardous and
precludes running or even setting out a high-start tether. But
the pilot has just enough space to toss a CalmKite™ or any
no-wind kite into a glide in the lower regions of the trench; and
then the pilot does some calm kiting operations to effect a
climbing of the wing eventually to the top of the trench and into
the upper-ground ambient winds for a robust flying. People see the
kite and go to the trench to save the life of the pilot. Or the
pilot lets the wing catch on shrubs above and then climbs out of
the trench by using the the stuck tether as a saving-grace climb
line.
A similar scenario is being in a high-walled prison yard
wanting to escape the yard; the high walls are blocking the wind;
there is relative calm; and prison escape artist does not want to
be seen running across the yard with a kite. So, the no-wind
kiting expert prisoner stands still and tosses out a the kite wing
into a short glide and begins operating the tether just right to
effect tether lengthening and finally winching to have the wing
high enough to clear the prison walls and catch on something for a
climb-out escape; or to catch the upper ambient winds for a robust
flight where climbing out of the prison yard could be effected by
walking up the walls or other tether-climb or sling means.
-
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Calm kiting avoiding thermic or gust lift is a human-powered
aircraft sector that is being opened by AWEIA in a calm-kiting
contest in draft formation. The power to the aircraft is provided
by the human pilot who must stay in a restricted circle of ground
operation. In the indoor kiting format, the pilot moves within the
confines of a circle or rectangle or the full room floor itself. In
outdoor calm kiting the pilot may move about the ground as he or she
pleases to keep the wing flying; the AWEIA contest restricts the
pilot to be within a circle. Differently, zerowind kiting under
the Horvath emphasis does allow thermic and gust lift for the
kiting, in which case the aircraft stops being human-powered. The
pure calm-kiting powers the wing through strategic pulls and tugs on
the tether while the wing glides and kites in alternations. Just
how pure is the human-powering of the calm-kite system relative to
thermic assist is a declaratory defining matter. When a calm kite
is flown human powered to maximum altitude, then records for that
craft and pilot may be recorded for posterity and enjoyment by
others when published. When calm kiting places the wing overhead and
the tether is gathered super fast, it is envisioned that momentarily
the human pilot just might be lifted for a very short glide; in such
case the system would be in free-flight; this has not been noted as
achieved yet. Conventional kiting with human operating as active
or passive mooring pilot is considered as powered by wind. Fun
discussion by anyone in the world is invited on these matters.
~ JpF 1Mar2011 |
Dec. 27, 2011
Henry,
I must assume that you visited already all the links on the
announcement page. If not yet, such is recommended.
A recent video relating the Climbing Kite Contest is an indoor zerowind
pilot operating from staying seated in a chair while operating jerks on
the kite line to input energy to the wing and the wing's flight pattern.
The core physics involves taking advantage of high airspeed over the
wing during an accelerated pull of the tether, followed by relaxation of
the line so the wing stops the kiting principle and enters the gliding
principle; actually the kiting principle is never full lost as tether
mass still hangs during the glide. The glide occurs after rapid climb
from the pull; the glide is to be away from the center, so that in the
next pull there will be more line out for a longer climb cycle. The
cycles are repeated with a net climb of the wing.
Notice that some abbreviation of terms are to managed. Have "kite" as
the combination of wing with tether with resistive cause for tension on
tether; thus three parts make up kite: w, t, r. wing set, tether set,
resistive set. Arm jerks or robot jerks are part of the r set to be
operated with timing that lets specially designed wing to
kite-deflection climb during pull; the designed wing is to be controlled
in one manner or another to enter a turn and glide during tether
relaxation, or have a reversing configuration to avoid turn, but just
180 degree reverse of flight: up in jerk, glide oppositely in
relaxation. The window of opportunity resides in get high L/D in
the glide and good climb in the kiting phase.
Horvath uses thermals, but he also has shown some true skill in
achieving energy input for lengthening tether during cycles of powering
and relaxing to glide.
Best of Lift to you and yours,
Calm kiting, CKC, Climbing Kite Contest, |