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First Flight


the bigp
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Having got the knot out of my line , I have been trying to get my kite in the air over the last two weeks. Living in Vancouver Canada, with its wet weather i have had no luck.Today the kite gods smiled down on me. Never having flown a kite before , and armed with as much knowledge i could glean from the net, i went to the beach. 25 miles an hour wind. Took the Prism Quantum out of the bag and assembled. Lines rolled out. Nose up . pulled back on lines and up she shot. Holy cow. The pull of the kite scared me and 3 seconds later nose plant. Reset everything, tried to remember what I read and up she went again. I was not prepared for how hard it pulled but loved it. After about 10 minutes I felt in control. Flew the kite for 50 mins and put away. What a blast. Virgin no more. Going tomorrow. Can't wait. The quantum took the crashes like a champ.

 

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If the pull becomes too uncomfortable, stick to the edges of the window. If you're not sure what that is, Wind Window, I'll try to explain.

With your back to the wind imagine holding a ribbon in your hand. The ribbon will run in the direction of the wind. Now about 45 degrees left and right, and above of that would be the area that still be usable without the horribly uncomfortable pull. At 25mph it will still pull, just not as bad.

Glad you had fun. Don't worry, the crashes get less and less.

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Thanks Sparkierob. Why when I was flying my kite did it seem like the kite was flying right overhead of me?Wouldn't the wind have pulled the kite away from me?When keeping it in one spot, the lines and kite went straight up from where i stood. Normal?Now I just have to learn how to land the kite softly. 

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The way the bridle is set on the kite allows for it to fly nearly overhead. The higher the wind, the more easily it flies over you. There is a thing as too much wind for the kite you are using!!! Just because the "book" says X mph top end, doesn't mean that it flies well in that much wind. Most kites work better in about a max of 3/4's of the stated wind ranges, and depending on ability, low too. The stresses the kite takes flying at max wind, will wear it out faster. And if you do make a mistake, you could be picking up a broken kite! 

 

I sympathize with you after no wind - possibly too much. It takes experience to know what sail matches what wind, along with which line set, etc! We all came up the same way. Some learn it faster, others not so much. Myself, it took me several years to learn how to connect the dots, but that was way before we had forums to ask and share on. Asking here can save you lightyears of trial and error.

 

Keep flying (in the proper wind)!!

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13 hours ago, SparkieRob said:

If the pull becomes too uncomfortable, stick to the edges of the window. If you're not sure what that is, Wind Window, I'll try to explain.

With your back to the wind imagine holding a ribbon in your hand. The ribbon will run in the direction of the wind. Now about 45 degrees left and right, and above of that would be the area that still be usable without the horribly uncomfortable pull. At 25mph it will still pull, just not as bad.

Wind Window... http://kitelife.com/kl-archive/working-the-wind-window/

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Holy Cow ! A Prism Quantum in 20+mph winds ? First flight ? Wow, you're lucky that you arms aren't 3 feet longer ! The Quantum is a tough kite, it can take winds like that, and it crashes with the best of them, but in winds like that, keep the kite out of the power zone as best as you can. I think the lines will break before the kite, but if you're out flying, and see the wingtips shuddering, it's time to try to land safely & wrap it up. It's better to come back the next day than to suffer catastrophic failure.

I do like the 'Going tomorrow, can't wait' part... yeah, you've got the bug ! I hope your winds are about 10mph lower the next time out, though.

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Just got back . Too much wind one day, not enough today. G

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ot it up a few times then the wind would stop and it would float back to the ground. Way more time to relax and enjoy when it was up today. could do some figure 8s and little patterns . Way more time to react. Learned how to bring it to the edge of the window and land in position to take off again : ) Yesterday it seemed almost violent. The kite was moving so quick and the sound was like formula one race car whipping by. I thought I was in over my head.Now I know how to set kite up , lay out my lines, launch solo , land to take off again and disassemble kite and wind up my lines. Remember my name. You will be seeing me on the pro circuit in about two years : ) Lots to learn and I look forward to every minute of it.

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Holy Cow ! A Prism Quantum in 20+mph winds ? First flight ? Wow, you're lucky that you arms aren't 3 feet longer ! 

did somebody rang ? ... I probably love to do that 

 

but this will be very interesting ... play the twilighr zone theme, please

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Now I just have to learn how to land the kite softly. 

fly the kite to farthest side of the wind window and sit on the ground gently is the correct way ?

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The lines to the upper (top) spreader usually have a little pigtail with some knots on them.

If you connect to the knot closest to the edge of the kite this will make it easier for light wind. Nose towards you.

If you connect it on the knot farthermost away from the edge of the kite it will make flying in high wind easier. Nose away from you.

In between is a variation of the extremes. Obviously these are very general directions.

Someone who has a Q will chime in with better specifics.

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Connect what to the knot?There is two marking high wind and low wind on the bridle.

 

That will be how you adjust your kite.

There are different methods that each maker prefers.

Did you try adjusting or just leave it as is? Make sure it's even each time in case it moves.

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On older Prism gear - they used to have marks on the bridle for high and low winds, and you moved your attachment point pigtail up or down. Not sure if they still use this method today. 

 

If you have the knotted pigtails at the upper spreader, laying the nose back works for medium wind and slightly pulling the nose forward helps in light or heavy wind. But always adjust both sides to be equal!

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Yes. Small change. Fly it to feel it.

I fly with the nose back with the sail quite square to the wind. The sail gets quite stall happy but very wind efficient at the same time. I have a few different kites, SUL UL, so I don't have to trim for the wind. I just change kites.

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Indeed it does! When I flew dualies a lot - it made a lot of difference. Learning how to adjust will make your kite very efficient in whatever winds happen to be that day. Some just find a "sweet spot" and never change it, others move all the time. But the key is to make both sides as even as possible!

YMMV!

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Connect what to the knot?There is two marking high wind and low wind on the bridle.

 

On the quantum it's a no-brainer.

When you feel your arms are about to fly off with the kite, pull the bridle until the knot touches the high wind tab. If you try to take off and the wind is too low for the kite to lift, pull the bridle until the knot touches the light wind tab. Any other situation just leave it in between the two tabs. Don't be afraid to pull it all the way till the tab gets to the knot. It won't change much but the pull and the speed, which is actually a lot. 😂😜

Seeing as you're progressing so nicely, lookup Dodd's 6 step video on YouTube and get to work! I learned the axle, snap stall, recoveries and even the flic flack on my Quantum. Great durable kite!

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  • 4 weeks later...

A half-inch difference in position will make a dramatic difference. You are actually decreasing the length of one leg by 1/2", and increasing the length of the other leg by the same amount. So the cumulative change is one inch. It is recommended to make adjustments in increments of 1/4" until you gain enough time-on-the-lines to instinctively position the adjustment as you are setting up.

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I have the Quantum also. It should have 2 tags on each bridle, 1 marked more or high wind, the other marked less or light wind, or something similar at least. Simple adjust bridle in needed direction, detailed instructions are found in the owners manual.

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