Kiteboarder Attempts Silver Altitude

Is this a thermal or is it ridge lift? Be patient as it takes time to
load.

http://video.tododo.com/airtime/airt...v9_320x240.wmv

Both have a look for dune runner that will show the lift effect of sand
dunes.

The trees are swirling indicating the rise in the sand dunes is causing air
disturbance the clouds also indicate convection is occurring the fact he is
airborne confirms it.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Is this a thermal or is it ridge lift? Be patient as it takes time to
load.

http://video.tododo.com/airtime/airt...v9_320x240.wmv

The big mistake this guy made was "powering up" his kite (increasing
angle of attack) to jump over some kite lines on the beach. Jumping on
land is a major no-no because if you get lofted, the landing hurts
because it ends with a splat, not a splash. In this case it was not
just a simple lofting, because he got caught in a thermal inflow.

If you watch the video carefully, you can see that he is getting sucked
into the core of the thermal under the dark cloud as he climbs
initially. Then he gets spit out the side, and descends rapidly,
presumably in the downflow around the thermal.

The kite he is flying is probably around 16m^2 or around 170 ft^2.
Assuming the guy weighs around 170 lbs or so, that's a wing loading of
only about 1 lb/ft^2.