Fractured Axel

benjai · Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:39 pm

Aeri wrote:
practicing the flapjack : "want me to throw it up?"

Exact same thing happened to me yesterday - well not quite exact, he said "do you need some help". Clearly my flapjacks are not yet good enough or repeatable enough to look deliberate!

seales · Fri Apr 24, 2009 3:44 pm

I was trying a flapjack or two during a lull in the wind and the 'launch offer' happened to me. Certainly puts pressure on relaunching the kite before they pick it up and start painfully unwinding any twists in the lines.

Also a couple of evenings ago, when the wind direction was barely even noticeable, repeated flapjacks (which were turning out ok) provoked the inevitable "It's s'posed to go i the air mate". All other kites on the field hadn't moved for half an hour...

Aeri · Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:56 pm

oh, that reminds me...

another one...

"sir, why does your kite fly and mine doesnt..?" (1 mph wind with a benson innerspace)

Stan Doff · Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:03 pm

Woman walks by at beach:
"That's good when you make it loop-the-loop"

Aeri · Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:35 pm

same situation... (unwinding the lines) "oh, now he can make it fly correctly... how strange.."

Stan Doff · Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:01 am

Trying to practise my three trick repetoire (well two on that day as I was flying the Gem and couldn't get lazy Susan out of bed) in too light winds at the beach a few weeks ago,a young man hails me:

"You want to let out more slack"

Eh?

"It'll be better if you let more line out"

"That's all there is"

and as I go for the flare to fade conversion:

"DON'T PULL WITH BOTH HANDS!"....."I'll show you how to fly it"

"Be my guest"

Gem flops about ineffectually and I tactfully suggest he fly closer to the centre of the wind window,but he just seems confimed in his diagnosis:

"You want to get longer line.With more line you'll get up where there's more wind"
"Seriously,I had a kite and it went out to...see that girl with the blue shorts...that far and when you........."

I forget what he said at this point, but I gather his long-lined kite did spectacular turns (twizzles?)
At this point I should have explained that "I am trying to do slack-line tricks and I would show you but firstly I'm struggling to produce any and even if I did,my lack of repeatability would probably mean you wouldn't appreciate what you had just seen"
but instead went with
"Oh well, I'll just have to manage with what I've got"

and off he went,no doubt righting me off as a hopeless case.

Mikey · Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:04 pm

im sorry its way out of place... but...

marklookssouth ... what is that kite in the back ground of your avatar?

its....mmmmm

misterbleepy · Fri Jul 10, 2009 8:24 pm

Mikey wrote:
marklookssouth ... what is that kite in the back ground of your avatar?

looks like a Talon to me

Mark E Mark · Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:00 am

I suspect that it is a graphic representation of this Talon:

Mikey · Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:12 am

ahh awsome

ty love the design

... oh the temptation to buy one... just to look at

...more on track of what this thread is about...

im flying my kite... i see some kid running around dragging about a single string kite along the groud... i consider telling the kid that they are running with the wind and it would be a whole lot more effective to run against the wind the kids dad pipes up to the child and says that he will try flying it and that the kid is doing it wrong...

he takes the kite... and drags it along the ground running with the wind... only difference.... he is holding the line higher... with his arm in the air...

/facepalm

i mean no offence to the human race... but how hard is it to fly a single string kite? and to work out which way the wind is blowing...

Aeri · Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:28 pm

the problem is... try to explain that to the guy and he'l ventilate all that frustration right in (or on) your face... or worse, kite...

Mark E Mark · Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:27 pm

Curiously, dads showing off to their children never seem to appreciate it when one points out their inadequacy

sftonkin · Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:16 pm

Yeah, had a similar situation when Dad was shouting at Son who was unable to stop nose-planting a toy stunt kite. I politely suggested that the lad may do better if he was permitted to let the lines out to a few times more than the 5 metres he had -- the mouthful of abuse I got!

StuartB · Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:38 pm

Then there is the difficult conversation with someone who is asking for help in flying their (insert name of German discount supermarket that is not Aldi or Netto) stunt kite...

What did they just say?