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What happens if you inflate your kite with helium? If you have been kiteboarding for any length of time, chances are that you have asked yourself this question or have seen this offbeat topic raised on forums. Yet has anyone actually tried it?
Maybe helium inflation could be the answer to improving the relaunch of your kite. Or maybe you wouldn’t even have to relaunch anymore, since the kite would just drift up to neutral automatically when you let go of the bar, right? And that brings up the important question, what if you had to pull the quick-release on your safety leash? Would your $1,700 kite float up into the clouds?
Over the years, reputable designers have hypothesized the benefits helium inflation could bring to our sport. They pondered thoughts such as “Imagine the stability” and “How would you self-land?” Designers would no longer have to worry about preventing kites from overflying and falling out of the sky (also known as “Hindenburging” after the famous hydrogen-filled airship that plummeted from the sky in a blazing fury).
So to answer the oldest unanswered question in kiteboarding, I waited for a calm, sunny day when the wind was blowing a steady 5 knots, and called in the best photographer in town to capture this small piece of history.
As I inserted the helium nozzle into the kite and began inflating, I could hardly contain my excitement. My kite began to take shape and eventually it was at full pressure. The moment of truth was here. I held the bridles, released the kite and instantly my 10-year-old question was answered: Helium doesn’t do a damn thing! Turns out the beefy build of a kite far outweighs the ultrathin rubber of a toy balloon, which is the only thing I’ve ever seen float away after helium inflation.
The good news is, the same week I performed this experiment, I also flew nearly every 2010 kite released at the AWSI (Association of Wind & Water Sports Industries) demo in Hood River. Although kites don’t fly themselves yet, they consistently keep getting better year after year.
Photo: Richard Hallman
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I found that for every square meter of volume you fill with helium, it will lift 3lbs. If only a kite had a square meter of volume and weighed less that 3 pounds, this experiment would have worked.
Volume would be measured in cubic meters. There is no such thing as a square meter of volume.
….you ment cubic meter
….you meant meant
What does the air inflated kite weigh hanging from a scale attached to a shop ceiling vs a helium inflated kite weigh attached to the same scale?
calculate the difference and it might be interesting?
I think the real question here is how the kite handled with helium. In spite of the fact that the kite was unable to float on it's own the performance must have changed if even a little. Next time you should try ridable wind trials looking specifically at relaunch, self landing, as well as the handling during a routine session.
Uncomplete experiment and the main question remains unanswered.
you know the kite tends to die when you move it alot while going downwind. Maybe the kite will tend to fall less. yehahhh