Bridleless Flying

[Dan]

Tricky subject to search for as you can't put "no bridle" in the search; all the words have to be 4 characters or longer. I found a few posts discussing bridleless flying, but was hoping to learn more about it. Penny, I know you fly almost exclusively without a bridle. Can you describe differences between flying bridled and unbridled? Is the kite more/less responsive? Does it seem to have more/less lift?

Cheers,

Dan

[Spence Watson]

Brideless flying is meant more for indoors, or very light wind. The no bridal allows for more exagerrated controll. If you were to fly a kite with no bridal in a fair amount of wind, the kite would be quite twichy. Also, if you were to fly a brideled kite indoors, the kite would be more unresponsive than a brideless kite.

[Penny Lingenfelter]

Hey Dan,

Bridless flying is certainly a flyers choice. Where it makes a difference is in competition. It is a little more twitchy, but I managed a 3rd place in National Master Quad, so it's certainly doable. You wouldn't want to take it off of the speed series or Rev II's on purpose. In fact, I'd suggest shorter handles to control those in high winds.

The reason we flew without a bridle was because our town had no wind, light wind and ugly wind. The kite is more responsive. Being connected directly to the kite gives you an advantage especially in the beginning. You'll gain great control. Just like using the sul/ long throw handles will make the kite quicker, twitchier and more responsive, so will no bridle. They both take practice is all.

It is harder on the kite itself. Wearing the area down on the kite around the caps. Not the caps themselves, but on the kite leading edge. I don't recommend it as a first choice for this reason. That being said. lol It certainly works better in light wind.

You can just leave the bridle on. Don't detach it. Just slip your lines into the caps at the top and bottom of the vertical spars. Slip the loop through the cap and then loop it over the cap. It's kind of like larks heading onto the cap, but your through the hole on the cap so it doesn't slide down. Poke thorugh, loop over the cap, pull tight. Keep your bridle on and practice in lighter winds... or go to shorter lines. Your bridle will be there when you need it.

Another reason I like my no bridle flying is very few wing tip wraps. If someone does fall out of the sky and the kites turns into the lines and gets flipped inside out, and.... you know.. .when you look at your kite mess and say.. "How did that happen?" Usually, I can just change my handles in my hands and fly the kite backwards.. poles in the front, lol cause I'm lazy.... and don't want to walk down to the kite till I want to. I just want to fly. (If I'm giving lessons, I'd fix it so I don't confuse them any more then I might have already.)

Hope this helps. It's Friday! Have a great weekend.

BB Penny ~who's be at the pavillion's kids expo -building future kitefliers.

Tricky subject to search for as you can't put "no bridle" in the search; all the words have to be 4 characters or longer. I found a few posts discussing bridleless flying, but was hoping to learn more about it. Penny, I know you fly almost exclusively without a bridle. Can you describe differences between flying bridled and unbridled? Is the kite more/less responsive? Does it seem to have more/less lift?

Cheers,

Dan

[Dan]

Penny, thanks so much for that! This area (Northern Virginia) is defined by light winds, so I'm eager to give this a shot and see what the differences are like. Unfortunately, we're forecasted for rain for the next 4 days.

Do you revert back to a bridle in moderate to higher winds, or keep with no bridle?

Thanks!

~Dan

[Spence Watson]

In moderate to high winds, one should go back to a bridal, because as I sad earlier, haveing no bridal in heavier winds causes the kite to be overly twichy. I believe that is why Penny suggested keeping the bridal attached to the kite while flying brideless.

[Dan]

Thanks, Watty. I'd just read somewhere (or it could be my faulty memory) that Penny almost never goes with a bridle, so I was just curious what she does in higher winds.

As with most things in life, I've just got to get out there and try this and see what I think for myself.

Cheers,

Dan

[Penny Lingenfelter]

In moderate to high winds, one should go back to a bridal, because as I sad earlier, haveing no bridal in heavier winds causes the kite to be overly twichy. I believe that is why Penny suggested keeping the bridal attached to the kite while flying brideless.

Not exactly Spence.

I suggest leaving the bridle on so they can determine if they like flying without a bridle or not without the bother of reattaching it.

Only my high wind kites have bridles. Not my 1.5's. I tried to keep a few on, but personally prefer it without.

But, you see... I'm a Virgo on the cusp. lol which means... I'm supposed to be a perfectionist, but I blame the cuspy stuff that leads me to "just do it."

I'm not a perfectionist. I don't care to work on my kites. I just want to fly. So I don't bother to put a bridle back on and switch it on/off. There’s a lot of folks out there that can relate.

Wattty, any kite of mine that you flew did not have a bridle on it.

Any kite of mine that I flew with IQUAD did not have a bridle on it. Is it twitchier? not so much as pilot error. I tend to squeeze my corners, and my age shows a little... and I'm a little hyper... so I wouldn't blame the kite not having a bridle. Blame me. High winds make no difference. It's still controllable, if you have the right kite and setup.

Dispersing the weight with a bridle is clearly easier on the kite. I've had no problems with my spars, just the leading edges getting worn quicker.

Have a great weekend! BB Penny ~who's name was pssed onto A WA rep. Wouldn't an indoor fly at the White House be awesome!!

[ant man]

i do the same thing thing as penny does .. with the bridles on and i have made removeable pigtails for when i want to make the switch .. the winds here can be 0 one day and 30 the next so its best to come prepared .. removeable pigtails are eazy to make .. just make 4. 3 inch loops and attache them by larksheads to the upper and lower end caps

[Penny Lingenfelter]

i do the same thing thing as penny does .. with the bridles on and i have made removeable pigtails for when i want to make the switch .. the winds here can be 0 one day and 30 the next so its best to come prepared .. removeable pigtails are eazy to make .. just make 4. 3 inch loops and attache them by larksheads to the upper and lower end caps

I like and recommend pigtails for this.. I just can't seem to keep all four on a kite. lol BB Penny

[Dean750]

I went bridaless for the first time yesterday. I guess I missed the fair wind post A Rev 1 in a 18mph wind is not a good thing.

On the edges it did prove to fly in reverse alot faster. Turns where quicker. But when I'd accidently end up in the wind the center rod flexed a little. LOL, each end of the leading edge actually touched a couple of times. Didn't break a rod or anything. But I decided that a Rev is NOT supposed to fold in half in flight. So that was the end of the Rev yesterday.

I think I'll put the bridal back on and use the pig tail method only in lighter winds.

Dean

[layangman]

I went bridaless for the first time yesterday. I guess I missed the fair wind post A Rev 1 in a 18mph wind is not a good thing.

On the edges it did prove to fly in reverse alot faster. Turns where quicker. But when I'd accidently end up in the wind the center rod flexed a little. LOL, each end of the leading edge actually touched a couple of times. Didn't break a rod or anything. But I decided that a Rev is NOT supposed to fold in half in flight. So that was the end of the Rev yesterday.

I think I'll put the bridal back on and use the pig tail method only in lighter winds.

Dean

You are brave!

[layangman]

I think I'll put the bridal back on and use the pig tail method only in lighter winds.

Dean

Pig Tails, are these loops with a knot at the end for connecting to flying lines? Looped end attached to kite's end caps by lark's head knot?

What was length of your pig tails or it does not matter as long as they're equal?

[Spence Watson]

The length of the pigtails is dependent on several factors. My rev indoor has a couple knot settings on its pigtails. When I use my normal Rev 1.5 handles, I go on the second knot on the bottom, and the end knot on the top, but with my B-Series handles, I use the end knots on top and bottom. They can be changed just like pigtails on the handles. Usually, the pigtails are the same length.

[layangman]

Watty,

Thanks for advice, noted on the knots at for adjustments.