Seriosly, I'am just starting to kite and thought about filling my kite with Helium(He). Would that be sensible or dangerous..has anyone done this.Is it easier to re-launch or would it be harder to bring it down when you are finished because it would always want to rise...?
Peto

Well, you said you’re serious, so here goes…
Is it dangerous? No. Will it work or make a difference? No. I recently watched an episode of Mythbusters where they tried to work out whether or not a bunch of balloons could lift a child. In the end they needed over 3500 balloons to lift a 5 year old child, which is a bunch way bigger than any kite.
You know how a rubber helium balloon deflates after not too long? That’s the Helium leaking out through the walls because Helium molecules are much smaller than Nitrogen, which makes up nearly 80% of the air. Maybe this will happen with kite bladders, and maybe not, but I doubt they are designed for it.
Also think of all the money you will save on not buying helium. You’ll have enough to buy a 2nd kite in no time.

HI Peto,

We actually did this in Hawaii 2 years ago. We filled the LE and Struts with Helium the first time and found that as g-dog says, the Helium leached out through the walls of the struts so quickly that they went soft mid way through a session . We were able to inflate the LE with the Helium and that was OK because the actual volume was enough to keep the bladder inflated for a full session before it went soft.

The effect was barely noticeable. The kite seemed slightly more nimble, but only slightly and wasn't worth the cost or effort.

On the upside though, the kite inflates very quickly from a compressed bottle !

Good winds and Peace