Sport, Trick and Freestyle Kite Flying Forum

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Armand Tamsarian
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Absolute beginner with a cheap kite!

Mon May 11, 2009 12:28 am

Hi

Not sure if this is the right forum for me as it seems pretty expert-level on here but anyway...

I recently decided to try flying a dual line kite to try and impress my 4 yr old son!

I have absolutely no experience and so have bought a very cheap, and possibly nasty, kite (HQ Quickstep II- £20) on the assumption that I have every chance of smashing it into pieces on my first go. If all goes well I will upgrade to a less embarrassing model.

Anyway as I am clueless and most of you appear to know what you're doing I have one question....

If you could offer me one piece of advice what would it be?

I am looking for pearls of kite-wisdom here.

Cheers chaps!
 
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Infinitive
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Mon May 11, 2009 12:42 am

I know it is a bit beyond your request but I'll offer two.

1: Make sure your lines are the same length.

2: Keep your hands close together, in front of you, not over your head or out by your sides.

3: Fly on a big flat area with the maximum amount of flat ground behind you, when I say big I mean MASSIVE. Not a pokey little park with trees all around you - trees are the enemy of kites, not because you can get them caught in them, but because they make the wind unpredictable and irritating, especially for beginnners.

That was three, I lied. 8) Welcome hope you enjoy the kite.
-------------------------------------- Al --------------------------------------
 
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Jason
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Mon May 11, 2009 12:53 am

What Al said^^^^^^^^

Plus... Let all the lines out. Don't start with 10 feet and then try and let it out "as you go" that doesn't work. And make sure you're standing with the wind coming from behind you facing downwind. Seems obvious but you'd be surprised.

Good luck.
Jason.
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Armand Tamsarian
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Mon May 11, 2009 12:54 am

I'm writing these down...keep 'em coming!

Thanks mate.
 
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sluggo
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Mon May 11, 2009 1:46 am

For basic flight, the useful arm motions are toward kite, away from kite. Moving them up and down, left and right, are not helpful.

Pulling back both lines is "go faster", not "go up"! Maybe the biggest (at least costliest?) beginner mistake is "oh no, it's headed straight for the ground, better yank on the lines." If you're headed for a crash, throw your arms forward and / or run forward to reduce the speed.

When pulling with your right hand and/or pushing with the left, think "clockwise", not "right", (and vice versa for the other hands) otherwise it's easy to get confused when the kite's not heading generally upward.
 
garym
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Mon May 11, 2009 5:13 am

The best thing to do is to find someone nearby who knows how to fly and get them to help you out.
If that is'nt possible try watching this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSJoLwsy ... annel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mvxW6AV ... annel_page

heck, here's all of them

(you'll have to pick out the old guy with the hat on for dual-line kites)

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=exp ... query=kite
 
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Mark E Mark
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Mon May 11, 2009 9:31 am

Don't fly near the trees as they wreck the wind.

Don't fly on stupidly windy days or bother if there is no wind at all.

Don't let anybody help launch the kite by jumping into the air and throwing it up.

Make sure the wind is actually blowing from behind you - towards the kite.

Don't hold your arms as far apart as they will go - or above your head.

I see all of the above on a regular basis - I never mention it to the 'daddy' involved any more as my experience is that, whilst polite (in a distantly interested sort of way), dads are not open to receiving 'pearls of wisdom' (or even very basic advice) in front of their children ;).
 
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TobyR
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Mon May 11, 2009 10:12 am

Mark E Mark wrote:
Don't fly on stupidly windy days

Definitely! This was going to be mine too.

Do not believe that windier = better for flying a (stunt) kite.

Strong wind is the enemy of trick fliers, and is not conducive to learning the basics either: everything happens very fast so you have little time to react, and if you hit the ground it will be hard so more chance of breakage! Although it can be fun flying in strong wind, try to stick to about 6-12 mph for starters and wait until you have more experience before ramping it up!

And another useful one: to land the kite, fly as far as you can to the left or right where it will slow down as it starts to stall, and try to gradually bring the kite closer to the ground but keeping it pointing to the side you flew to - you'll see when you give it a go!

Welcome!
Toby
 
Keithgrif
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Mon May 11, 2009 1:38 pm

Longer lines = more thinking time before the kite hits the ground; though I see from Bristol Kitestore website that this comes ready with straps and 25m lines so you should be sorted for that.

Unfortunately for beginners, cheaper kites are also smaller, and small kites are faster and more twitchy. Suffice to say, if you learn to cope with the one you have then a 'better' one will actually be easier to fly. If you find it too fast, put a short tube tail on it, it'll provide drag and let you get the hang of it.
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DWayne
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Mon May 11, 2009 4:10 pm

As a relative beginner myself I'd say, if you're headed toward the ground, don't be afraid to let go of the lines. If there's no resistance on the lines the kite can't maintain its speed. Better to be chasing your kite across the field than to be collecting bits of broken carbon and shredded nylon.
I've never had to chase one of my kites very far, and I'm sure letting go has saved me from damaging more than one kite.


Denny
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Mon May 11, 2009 4:46 pm

Just fly it, carve it around the sky and enjoy it.
Rob
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ObijuanKenobe
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Mon May 11, 2009 5:37 pm

DWayne wrote:
As a relative beginner myself I'd say, if you're headed toward the ground, don't be afraid to let go of the lines. If there's no resistance on the lines the kite can't maintain its speed. Better to be chasing your kite across the field than to be collecting bits of broken carbon and shredded nylon.
I've never had to chase one of my kites very far, and I'm sure letting go has saved me from damaging more than one kite.


Denny


You can always just run toward the kite...then you don't need to chase.

obi
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DWayne
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Mon May 11, 2009 7:06 pm

ObijuanKenobe wrote:

You can always just run toward the kite...then you don't need to chase.

obi


If you have enough time to run, all's good.... not always the case though.



Denny
Rehab is for Quitters
 
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Flying Fish
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Mon May 11, 2009 8:18 pm

In addition to all the advice the others already gave you, when you want to play around with flying circles, etc, practice them first high up in the air. If something doesn't quite go as planned, you still have same space left between kite and ground and so more time to correct.

Most of all, have fun!!

Lex
 
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Vee
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Mon May 11, 2009 8:34 pm

The most useful thing I can say is,

when you break it, you can fix it. It will need a new stick, or a bit of gaffer tape. Also it means you're learning.

Don't be frightened of breaking it, we all do it, especially to our well loved & expensive kites, just search on repairs for examples :oops:
Love Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Needs to fly more, now that I can.