Reverse Flight

[Chris Michaud]

ok so when i fly backwards with my rev i experience some rather odd flying patterns, its usually 1 not wanting to fly backwards, or 2 not flying straight, or even 3 just flipping a wing.......its frustrating.......so i was wondering what might be doing this, is it my knot settings on my handles? i use on the top the second to last knot, and on the bottom the last one, am i doing this right? :confused!:

[MrDenny]

#1 answer is practice.

That out of the way, try flying to edge of the wind and fly backwards back to the center. I have found that to be the easy part of the window to fly backwards in. As you get better and better at it go a bit further and further past the center as you come across the wind. Check your line length and make sure they are equal. You say you already have the knots so if it feels wrong change it. I like to look at the lines as I give a full forward and see a slight bowing (slackness) in the bottom lines but that’s just me. When I see the videos of the truly good flyers backing into the top windward side of the window I realize I need to go practice.

I look forward to seeing other replies as to setting your lines up.

[Spence Watson]

Those settings should be fine. Are you using the pre-knotted B-Series handles? I fly on the last know on both top and bottom.

The wind flipping is due to over-controlling, when you pull too much on the bottom lines.

Reverse is touchy, and turning in reverse is sort of the opposite of turning while moving forwards, so it is not out of the ordinary to have trouble going streight.

The kite not wanting to go in reverse, could be when there is light wind, and the kite is barely being over-controlled. The wing doesn't flip, but wind is unevenly hitting the sail....... if that makes any sense. This happens easily when flying indoors.

[Stephen Hoath]

ok so when i fly backwards with my rev i experience some rather odd flying patterns, its usually 1 not wanting to fly backwards, or 2 not flying straight, or even 3 just flipping a wing.......its frustrating.......so i was wondering what might be doing this, is it my knot settings on my handles? i use on the top the second to last knot, and on the bottom the last one, am i doing this right? :confused!:

The reversing into the center of the window is an excellent tip. In addition, try walking slowly in the direction of the reverse flight.

[Penny Lingenfelter]

Lots of good tips!

Try lowering your hands on the handle and see if you can't get a better feel of the kite through a neutral point of balance. The walking in the directon is great advice. Find your point of balance and move your whole body, rather then just the handles. Just another way to practice.

BB

Penny

[Chris Michaud]

hey guys thx for your help, i only wish there was a better way, cause honestly i feel like such a newb out there, trying to make my kite fly in reverse, failing, then starting over. oh well practice, practice, practice, honestly i dont mind!

[djinnz free]

to find the middle point...

here's a trick to find it "fast"

first go up the window

180° to going down

before hit the ground pull full brake

maintain that position

180° against

then go up the windows

when your able to maintain hovering in reverse position... play up & down feel the middle point...

than try to pull full brake in the middle of the window... the fun begin!

[windofchange]

The easiest way to learn reverse is to start with the kite upside down. Just carefully apply some brake line tension until the kite starts to back up. One common mistake is that once the kite starts to back up, the pilot continues to add more brake line tension. This causes too much brake and the kite can flip over or start to wack-out and rotate side to side. Once the kite starts to reverse, hold your hand position and let the kite fly!!!!!

Take the kite up about 5-10 feet, stop and then slowly lower the kite back down to the ground by letting the brake tension off a little. Once again, when the kite starts to lower (gravity takes over) hold your hand position so that the kite slowly drops. If you continue to let the brake lines out then the kite will drive into the ground instead of lightly settle.

Smoother winds makes this a lot easier to learn. Gusty winds can be troublesome because you have to constantly re-adjust the amount of tension you have on your lines.

Another trick is to MOVE YOUR FEET!

Walking backwards slowly will also help reverse your kite up off the ground very smoothly without having to "yank" the lines. If it goes to fast and you are going to flip one of the wings over, walk forward to take the wind off the kite. Slowly walking forward and backwards will also help you hold the kite in a hovering position.

Once you get the "feel" of the kite in the reverse hover, other flying will become much easier and your control will increase a ton.

Hope this helps!

[John Barresi]

Reverse flight, eh?

Here it is... Start the reverse input very gently, simply shifting favor in tension to the back lines, without really applying the reverse in full.

Once you feel the kite engage into "reverse engine" or tension, then carefully increase the input to your back lines.

The key here is "ramping up" to your reverse flight speed, not jumping right into it.

Once you've mastered this, you can snap in from forward to reverse quite quickly... But control is the key, understanding how much tension it needs.

[Chris Michaud]

ok that makes more sense. see my situation, with the lovely wind here in the tricities, its oh so gusty, and difficult to deal with. so basically the reason im having such a difficult time with reverse has nothign to do with me! its all the gusty wind, thats when all my problems happen! thx for the help guys!

[outsync]

ok that makes more sense. see my situation, with the lovely wind here in the tricities, its oh so gusty, and difficult to deal with. so basically the reason im having such a difficult time with reverse has nothign to do with me! its all the gusty wind, thats when all my problems happen! thx for the help guys!

You might wanne try a vented kite, you gonne need to put in UL of SUL frames when the wind is to low. I seems to be less influnenced by gusts then a std kite. I helps me a lot to learn new things.

Good Winds,

Outsync

[skline]

I am struggling with flying a circle in reverse, specifically going up the back side of the circle. It's like the little engine that couldn't going up that back side. Once I get past halfway I can usually make it, but getting there is the issue.

[mystainedskin]

Get those feets a moving It sounds as if you are reach Ing a dead point of wind right in the hard part of the circle. Also, draw a circle towards the body and away with the outer wing tip hand. Along with the footwork. ..this should help

[skline]

Thanks, I will give that a try.

[John Barresi]

Also, try grabbing some video of your attempt - upload to YouTube, post the link here (body and kite both), and we can diagnose that way.

[makatakam]

Moving yourself backwards slowly and steadily helps a lot.

Try it, you should see a dramatic improvement.

[John Barresi]

Also, try flying a large octagon in reverse, essentially cutting the circle into eight "faces" or lines.... This may help organize the learning process, gradually rounding out each corner of the octagon.

[Jay Farlow]

Just carefully apply some brake line tension until the kite starts to back up. One common mistake is that once the kite starts to back up, the pilot continues to add more brake line tension.

I resemble that remark! That's why I found the next two sentences particularly helpful:

This causes too much brake and the kite can flip over or start to wack-out and rotate side to side. Once the kite starts to reverse, hold your hand position and let the kite fly!!!!!

[skline]

I worked on the circle in reverse yesterday and it is getting better. The key for me appears to be the timing of switching to the upper hand back on that backside climb.Thanks to everyone for their responses.

[tkrinor]

I worked on the circle in reverse yesterday and it is getting better. The key for me appears to be the timing of switching to the upper hand back on that backside climb.Thanks to everyone for their responses.

thanks for the post, I have not thought about doing a reverse circle..next weekend I will be giving it a try.

[Dean750]

Hope no one looking for tips missed John's tip of practicing reverse flight. IMO, flying a strait (or kinda strait when starting out) line is way easier than reversing arcs.

Something else to try is owning your hover LE facing left or right. See how perfectly still you can hold the hover. Remember, the top hand is slightly closer to your body to maintain altitude. Once you get the hang of it your hands should hardly move to hold the position

Now for my personal handle position "anytime" the kite is vertical is the top wing hand is palm down flat and the bottom wing hand is strait up and down. My top hand is locked into a position that holds the top wing neutral so the only adjustments are to the bottom wing to keep the LE strait up and down. With this hand position at least to me, the feelable tension on the lower brake line is maximized and overall the kite feels extremely stable. Personal preference but something to try.

Now from that hover, pull a little more brake till the top wing wants to spin around the bottom wing. Remember that hand position that got that effect. Set back up and initiate the top brake slightly before you pull the bottom brake line and lock your top hand in the position you were to remember. Don't move the top hand to let off or apply brake. Give slightly more or less brake on your bottom wing basically to keep the bottom wing at the same speed as the top wing and keeping the LE as vertical as possible. Those are my basic tips for learning horizontal reverse flight.

Reverse or forward flight when turning arcs or circles. The Great Felix Montram gave me an invaluable tip. Changing hand positions with the attitude of the kite is a must for stable, controlled flight. With that in mind his tip was to match my foot movements with the hand movements but to use the hand motions (bringing the top wing hand in and or pushing the bottom wing hand out) to keep the lead rotating wing powered up when turning up or pushing the lead wing hand out if turning down to better control the lead rotating wing. Always a useful tool but especially when flying in reverse.

I hope what I've typed is helpful. Let me know if clarification is needed or if there's anything else I could help with. :-)

[skline]

Thanks Dean, I will keep those things in mind next time out.

[dragonfish]

And don't forget, reverse circles are Not Easy. They're going to take a lot of time and practice. Heck, I'm still working on them. If you're getting close to frustration, it may be a good idea to do something else fun and come back to them later.

[skline]

Dragonfish you are so right. After I work on it for a while I switch to working on clockwork or something else that is different for a bit.

[skline]

Dragonfish I just noticed that I have a B-Pro standard sail that is the exact same color that yours is, great looking kite.