Weather

Your first weather step is about location. You are looking for fields or parks where there is an area with few trees and other obstructions. Ideally there are no buildings or hills nearby to create wind turbulence. Some locations will tend to have better wind than others. Check out several locations over time and become acutely aware of the wind.

Your second step is becoming aware of wind predictions so you can plan when you will practice flying. Ideally you want to fly when the wind is 5-10 mph. Don't forget to sign up (on the home page) to get emails with free wind predictions in your area. You can also check out weather predictions yourself such as http://weather.msn.com.

Your third step is learning how to tell the wind speed and direction yourself. To tell the direction, become aware of the wind hitting your face. When it equally hits both sides of your face you will be facing the direction the wind is coming from. If you imagine placing a kite where you are standing and walk straight into the wind for 60 feet or more and turn around you will be in a launch position relative to where your kite would be. You always launch your kite into the wind.

The following Beaufort Wind scale is a way to estimate the speed. This scale can also be found at http://www.zetnet.co.uk/sigs/weather/Met_Codes/beaufort.htm