I’m riding a north ranger which is a dog up wind but great low end, it is noticeable fatter than a lot of other brands. There are obviously a lot of other factors in brands etc. But new to the world of kites/paras and don’t really understand them yet.
does aspect ratio impact parawing capability? Is it a major factor when you’re buying a parawing? Is this something that I should try to comprehend as a new parawing submissive?
AR obviously has a huge part to play in foils and is probably the first thing I look at when demoing or trying new wings after the initial look of them.
share your thoughts as it’d be great for first timers to have a thread to delve into, I sure wish there was one when I started
In kiteboarding higher aspect kites sit further forward in the wind window (less drag), typically go upwind the best, have the most float while jumping, but turn the slowest.
Low aspect kites sit farther back in the wind window (more drag), drift better on slack lines, have more lowend grunt, don’t go upwind as well, but turn faster.
High aspect kites “pull” you upwind and low aspect kites “drag” you downwind.
For flat water and jumping I grab a high aspect kite and in waves I grab a lower aspect kite.
How do they determine aspect ratio? And what measurement is considered high?
And what do you mean by drift better on slack lines? Sorry for the dumb questions but I know I’m not the only one out here with no idea and few crew to turn to
In parawinging, aspect ratio is used to give more of a general feel of the flying experience. Nobody use real numbers of A.R. as of now, other design characteristics are equally or more important to define the performance of a parawing. Canopy shape and material, line length, bridal design, leading edge thickness…
I don’t think it should be a major factor when buying a parawing.
Disclaimer : I have 0 experience in design, I’m just an overly hyped regular Joe
If you understand the wind window - in VERY simplistic terms, low aspect is going to want to fly in the power zone - or it is going to have a smaller wind window. Higher aspect is going to want to fly to the edges of the window - or it is going to have a larger wind window. As a result, lower aspect is going to give you downwind pull/grunt and higher aspect is going to give more loft and pull at the edges of the window (translating to better upwind). This is definitely over-simplistic because you can get any parawing to sit in the power zone with more backline pressure, but it is true as it pertains to where the wing will naturally want to fly.
Look at the brands that have multiple parawings (BRM, Ozone, 777). Their lower aspect parawings are more downwind oriented, meaning they will pull you up onto foil easily, but might sacrifice upwind performance. The higher aspects wings are superior for upwind.
With AR being such a metric of focus for foils, it is interesting that I don’t know AR numbers for any parawings (other than generic higher or lower aspect models).
So what are some strategies for getting “best of both worlds” (low end power and upwind performance)…we’ve been seeing added aft camber for increased low end on otherwise glidey foils…analogies for PW’s?
Or strategies to add low end to double skins like the Paia?
It’s kind of wrong to say the higher aspect parawings don’t have low end (hence my comment that it was overly simplistic). You just need to pump them off the back lines deep in the wind window then move them to the edge of the window through the takeoff. Better to say the low end is more technical on the higher aspect wings.
I think the low aspect wings are more specialized and the high aspect wings are more all around but I haven’t tried enough of the options out there to have a definitive opinion.
Low aspect might be a little easier to stow but it depends on so many factors.
So many generalities in here and designs are moving quickly, so YMMV.
