I have an idea. If a kite weighs approximately 4kg and 200L of 20 degree air at 6psi above atmospheric pressure at sea level weighs approximately 0.3kg, and I weigh 110kg, do you really think it's worth pursuing this train of thought?

Hi Jumpindave,

We did it in Hawaii back in 2001. Filled all the bladders and LE with Helium. It made no noticeable difference to the kite performance with the exception that the the struts went soft quickly. This due to the gas having a much smaller particle size it found it's way through the bladder material which is actually porous at a microscopic level.


The leading edge also went down slowly over a session but wasn't as noticeable due to the larger volume.

The struts were a lot larger back in the day too so there is definately no gain to try it again on todays kites with struts of half the diameter of yester years kites.

Haven't seen this thread in a year or two, thanks for reviving it!

Good winds,

Hahaha no worries, i was thinking more of other gases that may be used, but thankyou for sharing your experience.
Dave.

I still reckon the helium filled kite pants idea has some legs in it!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Yeah i realised that pat, i just wanted someone to post something interesting so i could keep dreaming.

Why not tie seagulls to the LE and have a chip placed at the end of a long wire protruding from the LE so that they can go on an endless flight to try and get it