Bar length and turning speed of kite?

skent · Since 08 Aug 2011 170 Posts North Bend, WA & Lyle, WA Stoked

I know this has been covered before but I can't find it in the forum when I do a search.

Will a smaller bar (than recommended length) cause a kite to turn faster or slower?

dwaynej · Since 09 Sep 2013 207 Posts Stoked **CGKA Member**

Slower. Less pull (due to less bar length) on rear lines for the same amount of angular change.

knotwindy · Since 25 Sep 2011 615 Posts Addicted

yea, a little slower but some bars that are shorter also have shorter lines which will speed up the reaction of the kite a bit, so it depends on the line length as well
and for me it seems to make more of a difference on the bigger kites

ldhr · Since 21 Jul 2009 1489 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

i'm not a rocket scientist, but here's my experience.
the size of the bar has no effect on turning speed.
it does effect the amount of leverage you have on the wingtips.... thus , to turn a kite fast with a shorter bar requires a more aggressive pull on the bar.
short lines will speed up the kite as it has a smaller arc to fly from point A to point B.

BeerKite · Since 29 Mar 2011 471 Posts Obsessed

The analogy I always use is the car steering wheel. You wouldn't want a school bus size steering wheel on your sports car and turning your school bus with a tiny little steering wouldn't be ideal either. Comes down to personal preference really, but I have found that kites over 10m or so seem to feel better with a 50cm and larger bar. 45cm for kites 9m and below seems to be better for me.
That being said, I know some of the wake style guys fly big kites with tiny bars so as not to have the kite move around on them when they throw down.

JeffT · Since 07 Jul 2012 238 Posts Deep Southern Portland Stoked

Jeff down in Corpus posted a good vid on this topic recently:

Link