water glider/kite

[controlfreak]

my uncle used to have this hang glider with floats on it that you pull behind a boat and fly into the wild blue yonder.

Anybody ever seen one of these, it is older than me +30 yrs. Looks like a blast, but like anything enjoyable it comes with a price, like it should have come with a casket and tombstone.

 

[paulie0735]

Re: water glider/kite

seen lote of weird and wonderful things being towed behind a boat, but never a handglider.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: water glider/kite

Saw one in the Dominican that was a hang glider wing strapped to an inflatable boat with what looked like a swamp boat motor on it. They were giving rides for $80.00 a go.
Needless to say they did not get any money from me !!!
I have photos somewhere and will post them when I locate them.

 

[RV-Dean]

Re: water glider/kite

I grew up in Lakeland, FL water skiing my whole life. I was a competitive kneeboarder, slalom and jumper. I was also on my city?s show team and years later on the Air Force show team in Hawaii.

I flew a kite for two seasons on my city team. It was not technically a hang glider because if you did not have the pull of the boat it would drop like a rock. Cypress Gardens shows used to use larger real hang gliders that could cut their tow line and glide back to the shore.

It was one of the hardest things I ever learned to do. Harder than barefooting and jumping. The instinct is to put weight on the control bar from the harness but once you do, it becomes hyper sensitive to steering and you start to oscillate and the next thing you know your nose diving upside down to the water.

I could not tell you were we got our kite from but I can tell you that at 38 with a career and family that you will not see me in on again.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: water glider/kite

Parasailing O.K.
Anything else that puts you in the air on the back of a boat is not for me or my family !!! Ski's, Tube, Bananna boat. And thats about it.

 

[RatFish]

Re: water glider/kite

Closest I had to a kite was the Wego Kite Tube. It was unstable and dangerous at best. A couple of people got paralyzed and killed. It was recalled and I gladly complied.

 

[njlarry]

Re: water glider/kite

RatFish, I hope you got some good flights in.
Having parasailed many times in NC it seems
wierd that there aren't more flying options
for boaters. Tried kite boarding but it
takes not just a lot of time to learn but
has a very small envolope for the right
wind conditions for any one size kite.

 

[jgoldman]

Re: water glider/kite

I have a Raven flat water ski kite circa 1974. Had to have a new sail made a couple of years ago but both myself (an old guy now)and my son (21) flew it last year. I'm losing weight so I can go higher more easily next year! Just have to be really careful if any gusts and on the transition from upwind to downwind. It is not a hang glider but is pulled like a regular kite. Forward speed, upward lift. No speed, no glide. Cypress Gardens had one on display for a while (no sail) and I did see a picture of one with, I believe, Banana George in the Waterski Hall of Fame.

 

[Kimper]

Re: water glider/kite

Saw a guy on lake LBJ in Texas doing that this weekend. Looked just liek a hang glider. It attached to back of boat, boat takes off, gets some speed and they let the glider with a guy in it go.. It zooms up about 400 feet and then they let the rope go. He hang glides it down for about 10 minutes and it lands on the water with pontoon like feet.

I really wanted to talk to the folks and ask them all about it but the captain said I shouldn't bother them

 

[pontooner]

Re: water glider/kite

Used to see one on Rough River Lake Resovoir KY in the Mid 1970's. So yes Controlfreak 30+ years ago. It did look like a blast and I don't recall ever hearing that it was dangerous. Of course I'm sure if you had several of those going around it would cause problems.

I know I would have tried it if given the chance.

 

[hibbert6]

New Towable

New Towable

I saw an interesting towable last year in several ads and actually saw one at a lake. It's basically a 10' wide WING. The boat pulls, you track like a tube, but with enough speed, when you hit a wake you FLY! At least, when you land, you're (hopefully)still on top of the "tube" - er, wing.

But I can't find those ads any more. Hmmm....wonder why?

Dave

 

[dcg9381]

Re: New Towable

Re: New Towable

Gliders have been aero-two, winch lanch, and even a few auto-launch, I don't see why you couldn't run a hang glider behind a boat.

The whole kite tube this was a horrible idea - and anything like it is.. If there is no ability to control the "wing" when in descent, you're screwed... Hang gliders, parasails, hang gliders - they all have the ability to produce reasonable descent rates if they become untheathered.