Exult

I see what you mean. The only difference I could see was that the stalls could sink rapidly (at least relative to the size of the kite). Is it possible to hold a stall with this? I must confess that a small bit of me buys full size kites out of the feeling that I get "more" but that does not always correspond to how much fun I have with a certain kite. On the other hand full size is full size... I don't know. Fun to see this little kite (Eolo sport 37?) in action (and that it was not a Micron or 4D that was small for a change).

You have managed to turtle the kite (at least in one video). Flaring the kite is (does not need to be) not much different. My attempt at a flare (/pancake) description: 1. The set up: When the kite heads downwards, walk forward at the same time as you pull your arms backwards. Your speed forwards (typically slow jogging pace) should be enough so that the kite doesn't speed up (too much). Continue until your arms are slightly behind your back. 2. The flip: With your arms behind the back while you still are in forward motion, make a quick pull with your arms/wrists and immediately fling your arms forward. You can be calm in your movements (unless you have the kite in the centre of the wind window in hard wind of course). To get the timing/rhythm of the flip-movement think that you are going to throw your arms forward, but you only start the single move (consider it to be a single movement) by the slight pull. There should be zero pause between the pull and the forwards arm fling. Think that your hands bounces on an (invisible and very bouncy) surface behind your back into the forwards arm fling. Maintain at least walking speed forward during the trick (for "normal" wind speeds at least). To make it into a belly landing - you guessed it is a matter of timing.

Keep the kites in their sleeves - the HQ kite bag is essentially a long soft tube. Mine is a bit worn after one years usage. There is a small hole (like 3mm) close to top side of the long handle, because this is where most load ends up because I often carry the bag vertically on on shoulder using the longest handle. See also: Good kite bag topic (where also the HQ kite bag is discussed): http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/5470-your-favorite-kite-bag/ that I wish that found before posting in: http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/7151-recommendations-on-first-kite-bag/ writing the post (where the HQ kite bag is discussed contra a ski bag): http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/7151-recommendations-on-first-kite-bag/?do=findComment&comment=58288

I'm thinking of the above "Prism 4D Superlight" video. In the beginning it says 0-2mph. I can find no zero wind sequences in this video. The kite is always on the same side of the camera (hm... am I looking for "evidence" in the same way as e.g. a lunar landing denier: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4536 (debunking!))". During zero wind you need to work to keep the 4D in the air, the kite will/can be in all directions around you and you typically land and start several times. True is that this kite requires very little wind to fly "in a normal" way (and can function well enough with short lines so that you can fly in very small fields). I was out on a new field during the weekend a week ago with my 4D. The forecast said 1m/s (2.2mph), but by releasing seeds from dandelions (a tiny tiny bit humid though) I estimated the top speed to 0.3m/s (0.7mph). Sometimes the seeds just fell plain downwards (zero wind), which is rare outdoors. Since there were quite much people in this small park I hesitated to start at all, based on the limited success I had when the kite was new (about 1year+) with zero wind flying then. Would my say 10 times I've used it (during mostly non-zero wind conditions) have paid off? I'd say that I was able to leave the park without feeling humiliated, but the in air tricks were not more than axles (more thoughts related to this session (and others) will be found in my next flight log dump in "Exults Chunky Log..." (Yes, this is shameless promotion!)). However for me low wind and gentle inputs are a good exercise to become a more complete dual line kiter. Talking of exercise this session meant more healthy physical exercise compared to more normal wind kiting. For my contribution to the mandatory kite drawing drooling I refer to the image in the end of: http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/7260-karma-prism-4d-w-color-choice-8-12-16/?do=findComment&comment=58831 . ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ The above was all I originally intended to write in this post, but if you are slow enough to do the actual posting the reality catches up. Yesterday there was an unexpected low wind session since the forecast told me something different. In the bottom of my kite bag was the "hidden" 4D that I had missed removing when removing the Shadow when preparing for the session. To this point I've almost only used it as an emergency kite and has not used it much when the conditions were good/normal. I used the (long some would say) original about 17m lines that came with the kite. Much to my surprise yesterday it was possible to transfer fade launches and lazies (several, but with recovery by help from the ground) from other kites. It was also possible to to (in my own opinion) nice and reasonably flat axles. These axels were most easily accessible after a downwards turn at the edge of the wind window allowing the kite to sink back lowering it's nose. Having that as a start position the following axel looked goood. After a few sessions, the HQ Shadow (that I got in the beginning of the summer) started to feel like a "real" kite, while I thought the 4D was more only a low wind thing that was probably good for increasing these aspects of your abilities. Now, especially after yesterdays session, I now see the 4D as a "proper" kite as well.

"Foggy side slides and cracking the axle" (as written in the video) - what a catchy phrase. When I see your first video I go deep in details (probably the "wrong ones") as the slo mo of your videos allow it, seeing the downwards turn of the start of the side slide in the first video (e.g. at 01:05). As the view is from the side I can see that the nose is far back during the turn, but then suddenly goes forward during the stall part. Sorry this has not so much to do with your learning, but is it so that the nose of a kite always goes from the pilot when turning? When doing a turn to a turtle transition is one already half into a turtle just by turning? This makes me wish for two (or three) cameras perpendicular to each other filming the kite in slo mo during a turn (or other trick - just to learn how the kite really moves. Congrats about the axle - it can only go upwards/onwards after this. About them being level on the exit - I'm also still aiming for exits that are as horisontal as possible, but kind of suspects it is much a property of the kite how it behaves here.

I guess that the things I mostly happen to start practicing more on are those things that kind of worked out to some extent (or at least some part thereof) initially. It can also start out as something you wanted to be able to do or as an observation from some other trick that failed. The ground is constantly there as an invitation for "moves" and variations and is therefore a part of flying. I don't intentionally aim for the ground tricks as the main thing when going to the field (wait, that could be an idea for a themed training session - and would possibly work well with very short lines causing the places you could practice in to increase as well). I don't think of ground work as something dominating over in air only tricks though. Most of the time I fly on lawns and other not so abrasive ground. It is also so that it is common that it is enough humidity in the ground so that I need to remove some clay-like soil from the wing tip nocks - i.e. the ground is and ("historically") have been somewhat soft - i.e. an invitation for ground work. The ground also offers a source for variations of tricks e.g.: a spin stall in the air or a spin stall from a low ground passage to a landing. Also consider a coin toss, landing some times on the other wing tip on the ground (as it should) or sometimes ending in the air to immediately take off/go forward (when I learn to half axles properly I plan to repeat them for many cycles starting from ground). You can also do a snappy turtle several metres from the ground or do the snappy turtle (+exit) as a part of a landing. Another reason for that I started out early with ground contact tricks, apart from the good-natured ground conditions, is that I early got a demonstration of ground work that impressed me much. At that time (end of nineties), you could then here by accident meet other dual liners. An unknown benefactor that I saw about two times, demonstrated something like a cart wheel and then quickly two following coin tosses. At this time I have had my first serious dual line (Jam Session) out just a few times (could just have been the second time) - needless to say I was much impressed. Dealing with interested beginners should not be taken lightly! I wouldn't say that the ground is such a big fearsome thing to become exhilarated of as when starting out with kiting. Today I'd say I accept it is there, it limits the wind window and it can be a part of trick/moves. Throw slack in the lines and you have the falling (harmless) leave instead of a powered kite. Eventually you learn timing so that the ground can be a part of moves. Once giving slack to kill speed sits in your spine (e.g. by instantly flinging your arms forward if necessary), there is no need to break a kite by crashing/crushing unless e.g., you don't fly on rocks with heavy kites (for kites without protective nock covers/caps), you don't tip-stab hard with sensitive/heavy kites in harder wind or try out what happens if you do the Lazy Suzan rotation in hard wind aggressively just above the ground... I.e. you chose the risk level. Well there is one situation that defeats low risk level flying and that is a misconception of this situation: you think that you are in in a turtle one spanwidth up from the hard ground, but for some (experimental?) reason you somehow entered a fade without realising it. You now pull (hard?) to exit the "turtle" (after all this "should" be safe) and instead the powered kite bangs into the ground (which happened to be frozen and locally without snow a winter day by the end of the previous millennium when the suddenly sliding centre-T fitting caused a hole in the sail large enough for me to crawl through). However with time those misapprehensions don't happen. Actually there is one more destructive misunderstanding and that I can't recommend: Misjudging of distance in fields with obstacles - Tearing large holes in the sail is not fun when hitting a corner of a sign with the upper/outer side of your sail. I sense that you feel a bit foreign to ground contact (I might be wrong) and I make the assumption that you would like to change that. Perhaps it is time for some (Peter Sellers/Stanley Kubrik style) "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ground" intensive "crash course" (sorry couldn't resist). You already seem to know how to stall, so already there you can stop the speed of the kite in one way. Other ways of familiarizing yourself with the ground and lower the speed could be could be: Belly landing (flare the kite just above the ground and land) and then to a cart wheel and then take off. Alternatively you could belly launch (if not too windy), i.e. start from an angled belly position (nose away,) make it jump up in the air and turn upwards) - repeat time after time after time and make it into a good looking cycle. Start practicing in lighter winds and/or edges of wind window. Wing tip stands and later also coin tosses Do spin stalls close to ground (turn upwards initially) and then land. Observe it is not the end of the world of if you happen to drag a wing tip along the ground. Did I say that you should practice this? - I think that I'm going to improve on the first two items as well. Finally I found that inspirational/educational trick video I intended to include from the start ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY_bEVRKqLQ ). Not until I gave up looking for that video it appeared again. The video contains descriptions of four ground tricks (out of total seven tricks). Some day I'll try that ground roll (at 08:43 in the video). Is it a trick or a quick mini sequence? It doesn't matter - the ground roll looks fun IMO. Also it is not the most common meaning of "turtle" that is used in this video.

Thank you, much glad that you liked it. I considered to make it a second blog with the dumps as separate blog entries, but if I would end up not maintaining that, I would have a petrified never changing blog remaining. If anyone would find any part of the structure (or as a whole) worth using I'd only see it as a positive thing. For ideal situation I think it is better to limit the current main things you practice to a few, but conditions vary and it is good to be prepared. On the other hand, one day, when the sun is shining or something, I'll try to figure out a longer sequence of many "moves". You really seem to be focused on technique and active learning, but perhaps you were speaking in a broader way about the many aspects of kiting in general?

Thank you for your suggestions. Well spotted about the open prusik knot in the photo. The fact that the prusik is not locked is more of a timing issue - I believe I just opened it before I got the "brilliant" idea that I should get a photo of it. However the position of the pigtail relative top the factory setting is true. I do lock this prusik by pulling so that it looks the same as the other non-sliding prusik on the other side. These knots have worked for me before, so I've never studied them in detail - suppose I should do so. I think that I'll go for the cleaning (in case it got greasy from landing in some litter) and if that doesn't work out, I'll try your candle suggestion... Wait isn't the candle trick used also when sewing buttons (to prevent them from falling off)? My other thought when applying stuff to increase the friction has been some not too sticky resin, possibly from a piece of fatwood, but this might be overdoing it and risking that the lines no longer would slide well over each other (if the resin would escape from it's intended position). When looking up/verifying the name of this knot (useful in a discussion like this) a saw multi turn prusik http://gamma.nic.fi/~sos/raaseri/prusik.gif - this one should give some more friction. This description of the "four basic/main" knots from the same site was also good http://gamma.nic.fi/~sos/knots.htm (although I'm sure you are well familiar with them).

Flight logs from 20th of August to 3rd of September Conclusions can be found last in this comment/log dump ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Sat Aug 20 12:58:56 CEST 2016 GB forecasted 2 (5) Tramontana on 25m 38 kg lines Try to further improve the two point landing. I didn't like the sideways movement the kite did when turning the kite from nose down to nose up. I want to be able to land at the spot where the nose is initially pointing when the kite is approaching the ground. Reduce snags by taping/gluing the Dacron (?) corners close to the wing tips. What glue to use here on the sail? Also, perhaps a line between the outer stand-off sail connection to end of batten to get rid of some more snags. Two different kinds of Tramontana line snags. Shadow on 20m 40 kg lines I should really get me a pair of 25kg lines for light winds to use with this kite. Difficult to get out of the turtle after a lazy suzan in low wind - in more wind and with a sloppy exit it will snappily exit the turtle after the lazy. Tramontana and Shadow Fade launches OK for both kites, but was helped by enough wind (must be clearer when making the initial log notes in the future - what did really I mean by this sentence?). I'd like to get closer to the pendulum feeling again, i.e. to have some tension in the lines the instant the kite flips from a flare to a fade. Experiment with various degrees of preparing the flip by pulling and then make the wrist movement for the central part of the transition. Shadow When doing almost complete (depth was limiting) jaws, I needed to be quite careful when taking off, since it showed a tendency to flip forward towards me during take off, because the low wind did not press the kite's nose back much when taking off from water. The wet kite gave me the opportunity to try a bit heavier Shadow for a few minutes before it dried. Jaws in light wind requires light pull at take off. In the other image you can see some sand remaining on the wet Shadow - just fly for a while and it will fall off. For some reason one of the pigtails slides several cm from the factory setting after a while (even with a dry kite). I guess I should try cleaning with some detergent or propanol or in worst case apply something sticky? Todays disappointment: I've rehearsed the rhythm of a half axle a few times (in my head mostly), but I didn't even attempt any one for real. I found it a bit less inviting in the light wind - making mistakes in light wind and you lose height if not immediately and properly dealt with. I just made the one without the pop on the top wing in the latter part of the trick, that if repeated rixels (a half axle like movement that ends in a a turtle) after a few cycles. A bit odd was the tent that was raised in a corner of the field (I'd never seen a tent here before), almost hidden along with a canoe. After a while a paddling German guy (woke up?/)appeared. He was paddling from Uppsala to Stockholm (impressing!) and had been all the way out to Finnhamn (in the archipelago). He paddled alone and have had no problems anywhere - everyone had been much kind. He told me that he had a dual line that required much more wind than that was available today, but declined the offer to use mine (even though I told him that I was flying a German kite). I was after a while asked if I could look after his stuff when he went shopping for an hour or so. Tramontana When the wind picked up I put a tail on the Tramontana. Can't say I learned anything from that (well apart from general handling and as always flying with intent) but had a good time (and as usual spectators interest increased). One of the few things I really practiced with the tail on was making as tight figure eights as possible or flying in a straight line and then do a as small as possible loop and then continue straight forward in the original direction. Tramontana with (a non-connected) tail and Shadow at end of the session. Later, a non-kiting activity, a traditional crayfish party - should take place during August to September. Key ingredients: Crayfish (cooked with dill), various herb seasoned spirit (non-sweet mostly), funny(?) hats and bad singing. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Fri 26 Aug 20:30:00 CEST 2016 (in fact retro logged 31st of August) Maestro 3 on 20m 40 kg lines GB, Quite windy Short after work in a quite windy evening. Doing the turtles today required quite much "snap" in the hand movement. Should try more to run downstreams the next time. Doing the unturtle part of a Lazy Suzan was easy today. They rotated quickly and I took it out of the Lazy Susan quite early. Should this be considered sloppy or quick and efficient? How slowly could I have done them? I was a bit disappointed with myself that I hardly didn't try any half axels (again!). Just did one totally failed and then no more because the movement felt so distant and unavailable. Before the next time I should at home try repeat the movement I have done on a few isolated times when I've done something resembling a proper half axle. I should try to practice a simulated start movement as discussed in a Guru4tru post (I tried to locate it again by looking at promising named posts among all his posts for over 42 pages - but failed (as also more targeted searches did)) in reality so my hands actually moves, so I have it available when I need it. On the other hand you learn when you fly - rehearsing something you did a long time ago to avoid to forget whatever you learnt might also be a way forward (by transferring the trick to the current kite and having a larger set of tricks simultaneously available) even though it wasn't the thing you intended to learn/rehearse. For some reason the Sleeping Beauties just worked today - they usually do, but I was a bit concerned after the failures on Gotland. What was the crucial difference? After an hour my family showed up to join me for a short while. I'm not spoilt by this kind of surprises at all. They had been on a short trip in the archipelago on a small ferry boat during the latter part of the afternoon/evening, but as soon that they got off they drove here without my knowing it. First I only saw a girl and a dog running towards me. The girl was my youngest daughter and the dog my mother in law's German Shepherd. The beach was very close to being empty, and the dogs main focus in these situations is playing in the water (that is really an understatement - I've not seen any dog (including other German Shepherds) more obsessed by water). She (the daughter) wanted the lines for a while. She was doing quite OK in the wind, but had a minor lawn dart in the end. Doesn't matter, I was so proud anyhow. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Thu Sep 1 17:30 2016 (retro logged 2nd Sept.) GF Forcasted 4-5m/s Infinity on 25m 38kg lines Salsa 3 (?? ?? lines) After work flying with a "student". This was his second time. Wind was a bit low - on this field the forecast should typically be 5m/s for most kites for relaxed trick flying. Half of the time I spent giving advice and being a "kite caddy". The lawn-darts were frequent and the average flight time about 5s. The piece of advice that seemed to have best effect on his flying was to only go up one metre the first time, then 1.5m the second time, 2m the third time... Each time attempting to return to ground in a stall. After this he actually broke the 5s barrier several times. In a KL chat I got the suggestion that he should learn the cart wheel to minimise the walking (this may seem so obvious, but I just didn't think about it), so I gave him a "homework" the following day. This session was a bit short so I didn't have so much time for my flying. Noticed that the fade launches were quite OK, while I had difficulties with Lazy Susans. Is it so that the fade is a more of a light wind trick (at least with some kites the fade can be maintained in higher wind as well though) while the Lazy Susan is more easily done in higher wind? ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ Sat Sep 3 13:30:34 CEST 2016 GB forecased 2-3m/s Illusion on 20m 40kg lines Tramontana on 25m 38kg lines Should have made a proper kite bag inventory first (was too eager to get going so I just grabbed the kite bag) - wind was initially so low so that the HQ Shadow would have been good to bring, but increased during the morning. Practiced figure flying (squares) with both kites. The low wind and both kites made figure flying a natural choice. My weakest turn turned out to be a downwards right 90 deg turn from horisontal flight - practice! Did aggressive 180 deg push turns upwards at the end of the window to turn the kite rapidly into the window. The turns had an element of horisontal flight to snappily initiated turtle, but was more of a turn really. The video in the blog entry http://kitelife.com/forum/blogs/entry/194-lunchtime-slides-stalls-and-a-bunch-of-half-axle-practice/ brought this to my attention. I find doing the fractured axel to fade more difficult with my Illusion compared to my Infinity and Maestro. This comparison is not so straight forward since the Illusion is used when the wind is lower. However I think the Illusion is difficult in one sense, but it also displays what happens (kind of rising axle) when the timing is not perfect. If I learn to distinguish between the FA to to fade transition and the "rising axle", I hope to learn a clean fade initiation as well as a new ("rising axle") trick. This will probably take a long time. If it sounds strange how a fractured axle flare to fade can accidentally result in a continued axle, the background is that I do the flare to fade transition by pulling only on one side of the kite seen from the ground (kind of same side, but after a half rotation ) mostly. i.e one hand for stating the axle and the other hand for making the flare to fade transition. My wife showed up with the dog this time as well - two times in little more than a week! The dog ran like a projectile into the water. I got somewhat distracted. Suddenly the strangest thing - I felt much in control, became aware of that I used small wrist movements (felt goood) and the fractured axles to fades just worked with the Illusion. And this first when distracting factors entered the scene. I'll make both a mental and written (here) note about this wrist-centered feeling. Happy wet dog of liquid horror - don't be ANYWHERE near when this one shakes the water out of the fur! I realised that it was a long time ago that I really have been thinking about my basic landings. I've become "chicken" during this time. It was possible to turn the kite from nose down to nose up later than I've become used to. Also began to investigate if I could reduce the margin further using more of a push turn. Can one do an almost completed belly landing that then somehow turns in a 2-point landing? The rain came - moved the kite bag under a tree and continued. Flying in rain is not so bad, you move constantly and is therefore warm and the water kind of evaporates continuously if the rain is not heavy. When it was time to go home I just disconnected the lower spreaders from the spine and the top spreader on one side of the wet kites to allow them to dry at home. Holding the lines was the way to get both the Tramontana and the Illusion on the same photo. A bit surprised that the Tramontana isn't much larger than the Illusion, considering it's presence in the sky. Conclusions from the period 20th of August to 3rd of September Kites/gear used during the period I used the Maestro 3, Tramontana, Shadow, Infinity, Illusion (and Salsa 3) on 20m and 25m lines. Lazy Susans/turtles Lazy Susans/turtles seem to like slightly higher wind than fades. Getting out of a turtle after a Lazy is not always easy. Returning to normal flight was easier in a bit higher wind and when exiting the Lazy a bit earlier than after a fully completed turn. Fades When using the Illusion, think of the difference in timing/"snappiness in pull"/release between a FA to fade and the "rising axle". Try to get to the wrist centered control feeling again. When thinking back of the period in retro perspective, I haven't been doing much in air flare to fade transitions without the FA for any kite. On the other hand the similar fade launches have been more frequent. They have however gone from "the pendulum feeling" (explained in a comment to http://kitelife.com/forum/blogs/entry/171-a-letter-to-invento-hq-and-some-other-oldrecent-stuff/ ) to the I'd say efficient drum hit as JB expressed it in http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/3976-fade-help/?do=findComment&comment=25782 . However I want to get back to the feeling of knowing how far the kite is from you, so that you can follow it through the transition. Half axle I've not been doing much except for complaining that it is my "nemisis move", but that might be OK - it is hardly so that I'm out of ideas of things to practice or "moves" that I need to develop more feeling for. Why not make the aggressive 180 deg turn as a half axle substitute for now being and make them look as good as possible? Figure flying Make the top right downwards 90 deg turn as good as the others. Do the mini-eight and the mini-circle as good as possible. Perhaps adding the upside down triangle figure? Do some general sky writing - practice on any weakness found. Landings Try to land on the spot that the nose is initially pointing to during the approach. Is it possible to make the kite flare to get really close to the ground before doing the turn before the landing? Thinking of landings, it was a long time ago I did the horisontal flight to snappy turtle to landing move. Would it work well with the kites I use today? Sleeping beauty Do it with maximum possible degree of relaxation or minimum of input. It looks kind of funny when I fail to give slack in the other hand than the hand initiating the initial (inwards) half rotation. Figure out what happens when missing out the slack. Can this be used to make a trick that is new (for me at least)? The above things would actually be enough for me to practice/get used to for the rest of the year, but I'll most likely find new things to observe/practice. Learning has not been a straight path for me - detours are frequent. Perhaps writing a note to keep in the pocket when going to the field with key words from the periods conclusions would help me in sticking to practice the things that I've begun? The automated time stamps of the individual flight events were sometimes edited afterwards and some times just remaining from the day after or so when the text was first entered. Should I use the time stamp feature as a way to force me to enter the logs during the same day or just enter the date afterwards manually? I think I'll not edit the date/time to match the actual flying event - there will be a few days uncertainty in time/date from now on I think.

Hello, the second dump of flight logs can be found in a comment towards the end - keep on scrolling downwards! Structure: Blog entry - Header for a longer period (e.g. autumn/winter 2016) Blog comment - Dump of several flight log entries along with a conclusion section Flight log entry - A part of the of the blog comment dump corresponding to a days activity Dumps of my flight logs are made here in the form of comments to this blog entry (or header). The (at least initial idea) is to keep the log entries short for two reasons: 1. Not to drown the reader in text (though admittingly this has been so far a failure), but to have a rather high focus on the flight observations/reasoning. 2. Keep it short so that it gets done (as my father used to say: "The best is the enemy of the good"). The comments/"log dumps" will already have been edited for increased readability. If I find that something is recurrent, a trend can be distinguished or it for some other reason of clarity and efficiency I take the liberty of editing this header. If it turns out that this log worked out, I even might include some conclusions here as well. A promising forecast vs. field for the two main kiting sites: GB 3m/s GF 5m/s And yes, your comments are welcome among my "log dump comments". More or less any comment related to what the log is about could work. What came across your mind while reading? Hints would be an extra bonus, but not is not required.

Efficient!

Thank you all for providing input on the details of the slide stall and also for starting the topic (though my initial idea was more to help than learn). The topic turned out to be more interesting than I originally thought. So, spin stall it downwards/inwards and be a little more intense in the 1/2 downwards turn to fling the kite side-wards in the stall. It is not only limited to the edge of the wind window? The 1/2 downwards turn might also be varied? Could it somehow be "flung against the wind"/"outwards towards the edge of the wind window"? It doesn't look like you do any pause between the downwards turn and the stall - it seems to be a single (complex) move rather than being split into two distinct parts. And the speed of the side slide was high from the start. Did also notice that the side slide was entered from above. i.e. only a 1/4 initial turn. (Btw., before joining KL I had already found some of your kiting videos on Youtube when searching for dual kite videos. Can't say that I remember this one but the one with the large blue one (Skyburner XL) I did.) So, when you reach the centre of the wind window. How do you make to pass it and continue beyond to the other side against the wind. I can do it a bit, mostly by keeping the wing tip that is closest to the other end of the wind window a bit closer to me. Would a slight tilt of the kite with the nose slightly towards the other "edge of wind window"/outwards work better? To a certain degree it works, but I'm not perfectly clear of how I do it. Does anyone know the preferred way (or how to separate the two if needed)?

During Sunday evening I had a short session (in quickly dying winds) with my Tramontana (and two other kites). Tramontana is the kite that I have tested (which is almost the same as the kites I own) that most easily performs slides and stalls. This kite makes them look good. This kite belongs to the category that just "falls through" the 3/4 turn into a stall. Sorry I can't describe it better - or perhaps I can: Consider the 3/4 turn to be a downwards short spin stall. With the little time that was available today I tried to follow the suggested way of splitting the 3/4 turn into 1/2 turn + (snap?) stall to make the slide sliding quicker sideways right after the turn. ...hmmm... I still think that the "fall over"/"spin stall" method looked better, but then I didn't try for a very long time. And you know how it is, teaching old dogs to sit . I was also a bit uncertain about the order of magnitude of the duration of the time when the nose is pointing inwards. Should the end of the 1/2 turn and the 1/4-turn/stall part have no delay, a fraction of a second delay or one/several seconds delay? For this splitted slide start, how should one think of the stall (start) part - how should it be performed?

Much interesting, I'll carefully consider the start of the slides at the next opportunity! To this point it seems I've been doing it in the second way you mentioned:

I don't get it. First, aren't you supposed to, from horisontal flight, do a 3/4 of a turn at the side of the wind window to make the nose point upwards - not a 1/2 turn? Second, if you hold a stall (which you can do) at the edge of the wind window, it is difficult to avoid that the kite moves along with the wind towards the centre of the wind window. I'm a bit surprised at a part of the description of the trick in the video: "use a downward turn at the edge to generate sideways momentum" - I just let the kite complete the 3/4 turns by falling over into a stall - then it is "just" a question of maintaining the stall. I don't think they mean however, that it is the remaining momentum after the turn that drives the kite sideways all the way (perhaps the first second or so). I think that the key phrase for initiating the slide is: "anticipate the release of the downwards turn so that the kite comes out horisontal" - here you rather handle angular momentum than momentum. I'd say that it is kite dependent how easy the 3/4 falling over turn into a stall is performed. My Infinity and Maestro3 (and I believe 4D - should verify) won't do the 3/4 small radius turn at the edge of the wind window, while my, for this purpose tested, older kites will. For some reason Infinity and Maestro got large turning radii (plural of radius) at the edge of the wind window. How a Nexus or an E2/E3 behaves, I have unfortunately no idea of.

I have been contemplating on snap stalls without really coming to the "definite answer". I have been thinking that it is so that the flow gets ruined on the other side than the one that one is pulling, due to induced slack in the sail? I think you can do snap stalls both the slower wave through the sail way and also by doing the left-hand right-hand pull (or right left) very rapidly with almost no time in between. On my personal video wishing list I'd like to see the sail during both these versions in slo-mo. A long time ago (makes me a bit uncertain about the timing in input) when flying in rain I shook the water out of the sail with a sail cracking like slow snap stall. Is this was the slow(/quick) snap stall does, shakes the wind flow pattern (and if present - water) out of the sail? I have "kite student" that is my first one in many years, not counting my youngest daughter. He has only flown twice. His flights has a tendency to last for about 5s before the lawn-dart or other un-controlled landings happen. By end of the second session (a little more than a week ago) we tried out to make a small flight of only one metre, then a second flight of 1.5m, then 2m... After this exercise, the duration of his flights increased and he seemed to be more relaxed. Lets see if the effects of this are lasting. I think that these mini flights and launching the kite with one large smooth sweeping movement both serve the purpose to make the student relax/take it easy/avoid panic and, as you said Happyspoon, serve as stall training. I called it "kite-jumps", but I think that "Stall Launches" describes it better. I think that the crash compilation serves as an illustration of the distinction between: the kite tumbles (gently) down to the ground and the kite hits the ground powered by wind/line tension (though the lines themselves are difficult record since they are so narrow). Some "good" crashes are at 0:08, 0:44(!), 1:34(?) and 1:47(!) in the video, others are more like tumbling leaves. Not to break the kite, I'd say that getting the reflexes to slack the lines immediately when something goes out of control within 2m from the ground as early as possible in the training is important. I must also say that the detail that the camera catches is impressing. Happyspoon you have very nice and structured beginners tutorial in your comment above.

For being active during just a summer you have progressed far. In hindsight, while the memory of your process is still fresh, may I ask what were the greatest challenges and the best pieces of advice that you got? What would be your own suggestions be to get someone else to reach the point that you are at today?

If you mean doing a slack line trick I'd say to start with an axle or a Lazy Susan. If a Lazy Susan is a beginner friendly trick I'd say is kite dependent, while an axle, well I haven't seen a trick kite that is difficult to axle once you can perform it on one kite. Personally I was quite late with the Lazy Susan, but it might have been different if I have had access to other kites from the beginning. Before learning either trick there are things that you should learn first. Before doing the axle you should be able to stall the kite and before the Lazy Susan you should be able to turtle the kite. There are also other things than slack line tricks that you can do that looks good. More or less any sequence of "moves" that is well performed looks good. I also recommend you to have a look at Happyspoons blog (at least for entries to today's date, 8th of September 2016) where much condensed starting out advice can be found, but do check out other posts as well.. Be patient - it takes time before you can claim a trick, so enjoy the process.

Well organised and efficient list of yours! I kind of got distracted from your flying when I saw how well resolved the video was, how the sail deformed in slow mo and the reflection of the sun from the LSs. Therefore I had to re-watch it. Are there even things to add to your list? Possibly, in the spirit of "Kite Flying with Intent", a detailed (short term?) flight plan. On the other hand the list of yours should keep you occupied for a long time. Another thing that might come to use later (even a long time later) when you have learned something reasonably well, look for imperfections (you are already doing this), but then also vary the trick/turn/landing/take-off and then look for anything that can be improved. Examples: Your successful snap stalls (in the video at least) are done so that the nose of the kite for a moment points to your right. When the landings work well enough for you - try the other direction. Last Saturday when flying squares I made a variation from the usual square. Usually, not to twist the lines, I make the top right corner turn an outwards 3/4 turn, while the three remaining turns are 90 deg turns inward. When I instead made the top right inwards it wasn't very good compared to the other turns. During the same Saturday I also realised the my basic landings with time started to have unnecessarily large margin and when landing with my Tramontana the final landing site was not directly under the vertical dive. > I'm thinking I should do this standing up and move a little forward when the kite is supposed to have slack, and backward when I'm supposed to be coming out of the trick. Funny, when out in the garden trying to add the good parts from the previous tennis session to the "repertoire" I've quite recently added a just a few steps of running (before hitting the non.existent ball) to better simulate the real situation (I only play once a week and typically only 5-10 minutes of simulation at home in the garden while trying to hide from the neighbor's view).

That must surely have been a long time ago. Found a review of the kite: http://fracturedaxel.co.uk/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=164 Does anyone happen to have any idea how close New Jam is to Jam Session (which happens to be the kite that I've learn't most from and had most time with)?

"When one woman was asked how long she had been going to symphony concerts, she paused to calculate and replied, 'Forty-seven years - and I find I mind it less and less." --Louise Andrews Kent Considering your kiting history as I discern from http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/7257-emoji107/?do=findComment&comment=58752 , the step to a 4D is not a small step. After I bought this kite model last summer it took me about 3/4 of year to start kind of liking this kite (OK, the time with this particular kite did by no means dominate over others). Frame mass has been much important to suit my flying style, which this kite got very little of. However I find this kite a good trainer for going in the direction of smaller inputs. I can understand your sense of responsibility having won the 4D in a Karma drawing - the kite should come to use. What I try to say is - patience. If you have decided to do duals (trick/precision?) as well, perhaps getting a larger kite with a heavier frame would be a good start (as you suggested?), but not necessarily the end. My least used kite is a HQ City session bought a long time ago (also with a light frame - used two times perhaps): http://www.kitepower.com/reviews/citysessionreview.html . Today (well not literally), 17 years later, I'm going to see how I'll find it.

I have no problems doing a single Lazy with my Infinity and Maestro 3 in the matching wind for those kites. However trying to do it (in lighter wind) with my Illusion is a different matter. My addition to your Lazy suggestion is to try it out for different kites and winds. Actually, this applies for any trick. Learning it on one kite and transfer it to another. This may sound like bragging, but I have no fear. I almost always choose how hard ground contact I wish (and sometimes I wish for too much). But on the other side, running forward adds another step to an already complex movement and therefore makes things more difficult. I know that it does (from my head i.e.), My latest counter action is to train the hands to do an attempt on training the move in advance using only my hands (much like I do for tennis if I've found something that was successful - well actually I use my tennis racket then, but no tennis ball). Relax RobB, you have another slow snail on the other side of the Atlantic. Required time sounds similar to mine. Yes, yes, yes RobB - you are extracting my thoughts with gigantic tweezers! And Happyspoon ... feel no pressure...

A long time ago when I started out one person was very very helpful and patient. He shared much kite knowledge through the phone (lived in another city) - time after time and was never in a hurry doing so. Kite knowledge is "meant" to be brought forward to others. Occasionally being heavy on the lines feels right and might be what one would like to express(ugh, that sounded deep)/try out. Some times sense the difference between heavy and light flight (if kite, ground, lines and wind allow). But I agree, less is more is art that I strive for. When I happen to succeed with the small input way, it can give a marvelous sense of control. It is a bit like the gas pedal on a car - you don't move your foot very much, but the effect is large.

You already seem to have started. Perhaps there is no need to refine the process further?: Photo document the session well. Photos on active siblings and ice-cream/pizza could be extra efficient. Wait for a calm non-kiting situation when the children are reasonably receptive/focused. "Happen" to show the kiting photos after some other photos. Tell your envy engineered story of the kiting session highlights. By no means suggest that they should join the next time (don't over do it). If it worked, do your best to live up to the contents of point #4.