Oops moments and tangles!

[mystainedskin]

It's been a little quiet..... and I have reached my 2 beer limit...or I am close to my 3 beer limit Actually just bored

Not long ago......I dropped a handle while flying my rev...in the ocean....as the kite went down in the ocean also. The end result is in the photo.

BUT.....never fear! With some patience and time ....All can be well!

Any horror stories?

I did not research the subject...so sorry if it has been brought not long ago

[SHBKF]

First day I had a chance to fly my new Rev 1 I had my worst tangle thus far. It was a nice breezy winter afternoon & I had two hours to try the new kite. I started to lay out my brand new 100' x 150 lb LPG lines. Since they were new I thought I would check their length. I put each pair on it own stake & started unreeling them. I checked the ends & all four were equal length. I walked back, attached the handles & headed back down the lines with the kite rolled up under my arm while feeding the lines through my fingers to completely separate tops from bottoms. Half way down the lines I saw one line end pass me going the other way wadding up two other lines with it at the same time. Somehow one line came loose at the handle. Oh well, I can fix that, just a newbie error I suppose. Took off my gloves, it was twenty degrees, then spent the next hour untangling the mess. Of course the wind was perfect the whole time. Later I would come to understand the concept of the "new kite curse". The wind went calm as I finally was ready to lift off. I did learn a bit about unraveling tangles. When we were kids we would just throw the rat's nests away & look for more pop bottles.

[Mark Thorn]

Better the weather is, the longer it takes to correct.

Screwed myself a few times with what was only a couple of wraps, to turn it into a LOT of wraps because I didn't want to walk the lines.

(Cold winter day, evening rapidly approaching)

It was just light enough and I'm only going to fly for a short time.

I can shake those few twists out, I've done it hundreds of times.

Not that day. Between the dew collecting on the lines, and misreading the direction of twist and cross overs.

15, 30, 45 minutes of "Almost there, almost there", I had the biggest CF I ever had in my life.

Never did get to fly that night. I invented a new pattern of Macramé that I will never use again.

Lesson learned?

When I hear the words "I can get it...." in my head again.

Stop and walk the damn lines Mark

Thanks for making me laugh.

Mark

[The Kite Shoppe]

whew...at least it was only 50 feet!

[Khal]

When I first started flying in competition (quad) I tended to practice right up until the moment I had to go on the field. On two different occasions (I'm a slow learner) I tried to carry my own kite and handles I over to the field, slack lines dragging behind me.

The result was a macrame bird's nest and a hurried change to a different line set of a different length or weight than I had planned.

Eventually I learned to park my kite in the pit area properly, well before my name was called.

[Wayne Dowler]

Had a dog run about 5 times through a set of brand new 120' x 50#s!! Took about 3 hours to finally get it straight!! UGH - whatta mess!

[mystainedskin]

Yes, thankfully only 50'.

My wife laughed for hours as I untangled them I thought to myself then....imagine 120's. I was just fortunate enough to retrieve everything. I was about waist deep when I dropped the handle in the surf and the kite was due east in deeper water

[photomom]

Was flying alone on the beach one time and a storm blew up unexpectedly. The wind jumped 15-20 mph in seconds. Landed my Rev and ran to get it before the high winds could do a job on my sail. Didn't stop to stake the handles. Carried them with me and let the lines drag along behind. They are still in the garage waiting to be untangled. I may get to it someday.

kjm