arallsopp

Cheers all, Good point about the brakes Penny! I was probably heaving the anchors on whilst launching. Not clever Your comments inspired me to go scouting around for a pic, and I came across a US site (http://www.windpowersports.com/kites/pkd/buster.html) which includes an instruction manual pdf. Why my kite didn't have one, I can't imagine. The only bit of paper I had with it said little more than, "if you fly the kite downwind of you, it will work better." If you're still interested, there's a few pics of the buster 3.0 here: http://www.virtualkitestore.com/buster_mini_review.htm Thanks for the tips WindofChange. I reckon the adjustment I've made has probably compensated for holding the handles all wrong, so I reckon I'm probably advised to move it back to the default position and re-learn whilst I'm still early on. The brakes did look awful slack, which was kind of scaring me, so its good to hear they should be this way. I guess if I can still make it come down, they're set about right. Well... I'm gonna heads down and push through the rest of the week, then take her out on the weekend for a bit of a go. First I'll reset her to the default position, then I'll see how long I can hold out before acknowledging the manual's 'more power' setting. Thanks again all. Now to go read up on that whole downwind thing

Howdo, Quick version: I have a quad line kite that's shaped like an eyebrow, and where the lines attach to the kite there are 5 knots on the top two lines. What are they for? Long version: My g/f bought me a 4 line PKD Buster 3.0 for my birthday (good lass). I've not flown a kite since I was 8. We've taken her out about 3 times now, and until yesterday we've had little wind and no joy. Each time we get the kite up, she kinda folds (the kite, not the g/f) or stalls, then just reverses down onto the ground. We figured it was due to no wind. Yesterday (finally) the wind picked up and the kite went tearing upwards, then (as before) just came back down butt first. I was wondering if it was the brake lines but they seemed real loose and I'm guessing they only work under tension. After much dissillusion, I picked up the kite for about the 80th time (she was now at the helm, getting bored of me dive bombing her backwards), and thought, what the hell, I'm gonna push some of those knots through the loopy thing and see what happens. If I've got it right, this should have brought the top forwards, and so made the brakes looser(?). Needless to say, I launch it (and with HER at the helm) off it shoots happy as larry. (5 seconds later, major improvement, it divebombs me. Nose first ) Now I've kinda got the hang of it (a bit) and can keep her up indefinately (or until the g/f gets cold) but was wondering why the kite came with that configuration, as she's supposed to be ready to go out of the bag... Am I just a really bad pilot? Have I just messed up the aerodynamics of my rig? Or have I just made her a lot less powerful and easier to fly or something? Ah... so confused. In my day, the closest we got to kiting was a carrier bag that you held above your head and ran down a hill.