Leaderboard

Sunday looks to be a good day for flying in Denver. Get to meet up with some folks and learn some things. Did NOT want to put my quads thru the grinder of learning on my own.2 more days and I think I might actually have a quad in the air . Getting excited!!!

SOLD! Thanks everyone.

I'll be right behind ya Corey. You seem to be bombing right along so that's not a bad place for me to be at all LOL.

When 1st trying to launch a quad one of the guys was really trying to drill that into my head. Understand what he was showing me better now. Winds were real low and it was difficult to grasp. Coming from a dual perspective but think it relates. Talked to Lam Hoac a few times recently and he was telling me pretty much what Wayne has posted.My neutral position has been a fighter like position. Lam said that creates to much tension in the body and leads to bad muscle memory.Has its place at times(push turn e.g.) but makes moves more mechanical and less rhythmic if constantly returning there.Keep hands and feet always moving so flow is not interrupted.I get that cause watching a JB video is almost like watching a tutorial in Tai Chi LOL. Smooth and rhythmic. He also said to not try and break the bad habits all at once. Tweak as you go and the body will remember quicker.Been somewhat hard changing over the last week but now level 5 skill set is just around the axle. OOOPS I meant corner 😆.

I like to compare my setup to a standard transmission - neutral is my goal. To go in either direction - I must "put it in gear". Really helps in gusts, as the kite doesn't just take off, all by itself. Yes the launch can be a bit more effort, but the control gained while airborne is well worth it! As Paul said - everybody has to find their own "comfort zone". A lot of new fliers feel like they need that extra zoom they get with lines in. But the kite is locked into forward drive too much. Loss of control while airborne is the result. Moving the top lines out gets the LE to fall back. Then when launched, it is more "square" to the wind and able to keep all the energy in the sail. We call it "squaring up the kite". Top lines in, the wind just dumps off the sail, because the angle is too much forward. Nice inverted side slides!! My only critique would be to let your arms out. Learn to fly with what other pilots call - "long arms". The kite doesn't respond to where those handles are in relation to your body, as much as how the handles are controlled by your hands. Forward is forward no matter how your hands are. Catch those adjustments moving the hands, but really try to get back to a more central position. Think about it ergonomically - if your hands are in the classic "fighter's position", how much movement backwards does that allow? Hands and arms are already close to the body and movement is limited. Now try arms extended some - see how much more you can move? And in more directions. Many of us fly holding the handles almost sideways! With arms extended, we have upwards, downwards, and sideways movement available. Try this - let the kite pull your arms away from the body. Feel the kite out there. Learn to work with it, not against it. That's your dance partner out there, learn to work with it. PS: a side effect of "long arms" is that your tension levels will decrease! All that scrunching in the neck and shoulders will go away and you will feel relaxed!! TRY IT!!

Add still more "DOWN" to your tuning Corey, the kite is still trying to surge forward whenever you aren't truly focused completely. You want it so you have to make it go forward, the normal setting/action should more neutral, neither forward or reverse flight, but a stationary hover that is easy to maintain, so easy just resting the handle on one finger tip offers a perfect balancing point. Where that balancing point takes effect is why you tune the handles for your personal preference. Some like it high on the handles, above the foam, just like a trumpet player who manipulate the notes of music with just a finger flick. Some like to squeeze the foam into the hand, using more wrist than thumb. There's no correct solution, whatever works for you must be correct. Slow its down more and hover stationary!