Flying Multiple Kites

[Kansas Flier]

Most of the time when I go flying, I'll anchor off multiple kites. I have noticed that when I go to get another kite, the kite or kites in the sky will begin to act up. Has anyone else had this experience? 

 

For example: (this might be a long story)

One day I headed to the park wanting to see if Clark's Crystal would be a fun tumbler. Well, the winds were a bit on the light side for a box kite but the gusts seemed way more frequent than the lulls. It wasn't the best tumbler, but it flew well with little to no input from me when there was enough wind.

So, I anchored it. Took a couple of pictures. Watched it fly. Rechecked the anchor. Watched it fly. Walked off to grab a delta and another anchor. 

Watched it fall slowly to the ground. Long line launch- Watched it soar into the air.  Took a couple of pictures. Walked off the grab that delta.[Repeat twice]

I'm launching the delta as I walk over to do a long line launch on the Crystal. Both kites are in the air. Success! 

Since the Crystal wants to fly to the NNW and flies at a lower angle then the delta which is flying straight north at a higher angle, I anchor the delta upwind of the Crystal. 

All is well. Walk around. Take some pictures. Watch them fly. 

Then I go digging for a line set for the Quantum. That's when I heard a familiar yet oddly different song...

 

"And they whirl and they twirl and they tango
Singing and Jinging a Jango
Floating like the heavens above
Looks like Box Kite Love..."

...And that's when I looked up. Really..? So I break up the obscenities. I move the delta upwind. Watch them fly separately.

I notice another kite on the other side of the park. Very cool, too bad they set up so far away, as the park runs a half mile north/south and east/west at its widest point.

I go back to looking for that line set. Both kites decide they would rather be on the ground. Lines found. Kites relaunched.

As I'm laying out my lines, I notice that the kite is no longer flying at the other side of the park. The kite is now headed toward my side of the park.

They have to walk around a large pond that runs through the middle of the park. I see it's a stunt kite(I couldn't tell from across the park)

I hurry up and lay out the lines, thinking that I can put the Quantum in the air and fly over towa...

 

"And they whirl and they twirl and they tango
Singing and Jinging a Jango
Floating like the heavens above
Looks like Box Kite Love..."

...You gotta be kidding me. By the time I was finished un-weaving that love nest of string and tails, he was almost to me. 

I grab the Quantum and put it together while I am walking toward him. ...And I'm Chewing gum.

The kite looks familiar. It's small and he is having to work to keep it in the air when the wind lulls.

It's a Jazz. He had found the kite at his parent's house and had replaced the missing top spreader with a wooden dowel. 

I hooked up the Quantum to his lines and adjusted the bridle toward "light". 

He flew it around a bit and commented on how much easier it was to fly. 

I picked up his Jazz and we moved toward better wind, toward where my anchored kites were... slowly... falling... to the ground.  Gee, I wasn't even going to fly the Jazz...

I'm watching him fly the Quantum, and taking pictures, as I find a spot to put the Jazz where it won't get stepped on. 

He has the kite at the top of the wind window, the kite goes into a back flip and does a complete roll-up. Very cool. The kite slowly sinks back to the ground.

He asks me, "What do I do?"

"I dunno, Yank both lines"

Kite unrolls a couple of feet above the ground. Sticks the landing. Super Cool. ...And he didn't mean to do that... Well, that's what he said.

The Jazz finds shelter near a tree. I relaunch the Crystal. The delta self-launches as I walk over to it.  I avoid even looking at the Jazz.

After he left, I did get to fly the Quantum without any more incidents, or roll-ups.... but I had that song stuck in my head...

So, does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

[GammoRay]

10 hours ago, Kansas Flier said:

Most of the time when I go flying, I'll anchor off multiple kites. I have noticed that when I go to get another kite, the kite or kites in the sky will begin to act up.

Since the Crystal wants to fly to the NNW and flies at a lower angle then the delta which is flying straight north at a higher angle, I anchor the delta upwind of the Crystal. 
 
"And they whirl and they twirl and they tango…"

The kite slowly sinks back to the ground.
 

 

Even the best songs and the loveliest poetry can't fix erratic winds, and even the steady winds on the beaches sometimes give in to lulls!

On light wind days, all you can do match your single-line kites to the conditions. Choose kites with greater sail-to-weight ratios, and adjust bridles toward the kites' tails for the greater resistance. I often fly soft kites or the cheapest Chinese sparred kites on such days, but my last resort are my four Laimas— almost no-wind kites— but even they will glide to ground in a lull.

Here is a tip you might consider for the occasionally errant kites that might cause tangles: fly from one anchor! Use a climbing carabiner to attach to your anchor; it's big, strong, and accessible. Launch your overhead flyer and and attach it to the carabiner using a tugboat hitch (no knots and easily adjustable even under load). Launch your low flyer and likewise attach it to same carabiner (or another one attached to the same anchor if you want to do a lot of adjusting of both kites).

The different angles of attack should keep the kites apart, but if they do cross over even multiple times, the twisted lines free up as the the twist slides down to the single point of attachment. There is usually no need to untwist, but if you are OCD or packing up, you only need to untwist your lines at the anchor point. It works for me!

PS: I have found most kites don't care what you say to them, whether praises or curses, and shooting the bird or even mooning them doesn't affect their attitudes or altitudes. They seem to be humming their own music and always looking up!


Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

 

[Mitch]

I live in midwest and weird wind is the rule.  But even in our swirling conditions, the overall pattern is still the same.

Ground wind is more erratic and upper level wind less. The upper wind is often blowing in a slightly different direction than the ground wind and that is one source of tangles.  I try to get all the kites I have up into that layer so at least they are more or less in sync when the wind switches direction. Of course that means the ones that fly at low angle are on a lot more line and are slower to change so even this trick can fail.

I can't figure out how to tie a tugboat (lighterman) hitch onto to a carabiner. Gammoray could you send a  pic?

My solution is to space them but I will try using a single anchor. It makes sense to me. 

[Kansas Flier]

12 hours ago, GammoRay said:

but my last resort are my four Laimas

fly from one anchor!

That sounds like a good idea, I wish I would have thought of that myself. I can't wait to give it a try.

I find that the Wala XL and Skate are also nice very low wind fliers. 

Four?? Lemme guess- One of each color? I am sure that my Laima will have more Laima friends, someday. 

[GammoRay]

On 8/19/2017 at 10:24 AM, Mitch said:

I can't figure out how to tie a tugboat (lighterman) hitch onto to a carabiner. Gammoray could you send a  pic?

Are you on Facebook? I just posted this:

If not, I'll try to create a PDF file for you.

[Mike Klaiber]

Are you on Facebook? I just posted this:
If not, I'll try to create a PDF file for you.

Excellent photo description, shared already to keep for myself and others in the future. Great job!