SamiK

Just noticed I posted this in the wrong section. Maybe a mod can switch this in to the meteorology thread.

Yeah, I know higher winds don't necessarily make it unsafe, but I'm thinking more about the wind gradient and the possible risks it imposes. For example you can get wind shear when there's a strong gradient.

If the winds are high at altitude, there's the obvious reason for not going flying if you're not going to penetrate, but when does it actually become unsafe? What kind of limits do you impose on yourself generally on winds aloft? Lets say the wind is 7mph at ground level but doubles at 300 feet. Do you fly and just accept that it's going to be a slow flight or do you stay grounded? Not a lot of info about this out there. Hope to get some general idea what people find acceptable.

Don't remember which side it flips to. Something is off center, but not sure what. Yeah thats true. If I had a video of it, I think I'd figure it out myself. I'll put a camera up sometime and see what I get. I'm a new pilot so my priority is always getting off the ground every chance I get and everything else is just a distraction at this point

Just kiting, not launching. Basically a reverse with out being clipped in and holding the riser in my hands. I do this every time to check the lines and setup the wing. Ever since I started ground handling to this very day I get the flip from time to time and every time I ask myself "Why, what am I doing wrong?" I get my mistake if it just falls to the side, stalls, overshoots etc, but never figured out the "flip". Could it be just a case of sudden wind direction change / gust? I've had this happen so many times I don't think it's likely. As I said, I always have streamers with me so I shouldn't be off more than 10-15 degrees at most to the prevailing wind.

Yes, I always have a fishing pole with streamers on it. Too many down wind launch attemps that I"ve learned it's a must. On calm days its impossible to tell what the wind is doing without streamers. Yes, thats what Im doing with the D's. A's I pull to the opposite side.

Sorry, english isn't my first language. What I mean is the wing is setup into the wind, as you would normally launch as opposed to say 90 degrees which would cause it to roll. When im kiting (not clipped in) I hold A's and D's and controll it that way. Works just fine but with these "flips' it doesn't do much as it so violent. 8

Hey, Kinda embarrassed to ask since I'm already a year old ppg pilot but haven't figured this one out. I like to pre kite every time before setting up my wing and every now and I still get the annoying "wing flip and nose down to the ground" scenario. I'm sure all pilots are familiar with this. I haven't really figure out what I'm doing wrong here. I'm centered to the wing and the wing is towards the wind. No amount of correction ever fixes it. When it starts going, it's gone. Granted, my reactions, or rather reading the wing isn't the best yet. Still need to work on that. But yeah, it's annoying as hell to always start flipping it back and and most importantly smacking the leading edge to the ground isn't good for the wing. So, what causes this almost violent flip of the wing?