riffclown Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 If you are fortunate and have multiple locations close by, pick a few places you can fly based on wind direction.. You'll almost always one flying spot better for a certain direction than others. My water fountain spot for instance is only good for south to west. Anything much beyond that and I just go somewhere else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 37 minutes ago, riffclown said: If you are fortunate and have multiple locations close by, pick a few places you can fly based on wind direction.. You'll almost always one flying spot better for a certain direction than others. My water fountain spot for instance is only good for south to west. Anything much beyond that and I just go somewhere else. I never put much thought into wind direction before. I have a couple places to go according to the direction. It's hard to beat barefoot in the sand!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 35 minutes ago, Corey Bell said: I never put much thought into wind direction before. I have a couple places to go according to the direction. It's hard to beat barefoot in the sand!! I only have one "barefoot in the sand" spot that works from all directions but it's a 2 hour drive for me. Great place to fly but requires planning. I agree it's hard to beat barefoot in the sand flying. "Barefoot in the sand unable to fly due to swirling winds" is not a close second. Flying always ranks higher to me than "not flying" Sometimes, you'll have a spot that's perfect flying but for one wind direction only. You'll start looking for that direction just to fly there.. The Beach is almost impossible to beat for onshore winds. But as you said resort areas and condos tend to block anything other than onshore on down the beach.. In NC though, the Outer Banks have a beach side for on shore winds and a sound side with some pretty cool flying spaces for when the wind is on shore from that direction. In this video, location is sound side with the wind coming off the water behind us. John and Scott from TKL playing over the water. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 Last nights flying conditions... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 A video of me practicing inverted side slides... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted January 13, 2019 Report Share Posted January 13, 2019 Good Work. Building those foundations.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 Add still more "DOWN" to your tuning Corey, the kite is still trying to surge forward whenever you aren't truly focused completely. You want it so you have to make it go forward, the normal setting/action should more neutral, neither forward or reverse flight, but a stationary hover that is easy to maintain, so easy just resting the handle on one finger tip offers a perfect balancing point. Where that balancing point takes effect is why you tune the handles for your personal preference. Some like it high on the handles, above the foam, just like a trumpet player who manipulate the notes of music with just a finger flick. Some like to squeeze the foam into the hand, using more wrist than thumb. There's no correct solution, whatever works for you must be correct. Slow its down more and hover stationary! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Dowler Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 I like to compare my setup to a standard transmission - neutral is my goal. To go in either direction - I must "put it in gear". Really helps in gusts, as the kite doesn't just take off, all by itself. Yes the launch can be a bit more effort, but the control gained while airborne is well worth it! As Paul said - everybody has to find their own "comfort zone". A lot of new fliers feel like they need that extra zoom they get with lines in. But the kite is locked into forward drive too much. Loss of control while airborne is the result. Moving the top lines out gets the LE to fall back. Then when launched, it is more "square" to the wind and able to keep all the energy in the sail. We call it "squaring up the kite". Top lines in, the wind just dumps off the sail, because the angle is too much forward. Nice inverted side slides!! My only critique would be to let your arms out. Learn to fly with what other pilots call - "long arms". The kite doesn't respond to where those handles are in relation to your body, as much as how the handles are controlled by your hands. Forward is forward no matter how your hands are. Catch those adjustments moving the hands, but really try to get back to a more central position. Think about it ergonomically - if your hands are in the classic "fighter's position", how much movement backwards does that allow? Hands and arms are already close to the body and movement is limited. Now try arms extended some - see how much more you can move? And in more directions. Many of us fly holding the handles almost sideways! With arms extended, we have upwards, downwards, and sideways movement available. Try this - let the kite pull your arms away from the body. Feel the kite out there. Learn to work with it, not against it. That's your dance partner out there, learn to work with it. PS: a side effect of "long arms" is that your tension levels will decrease! All that scrunching in the neck and shoulders will go away and you will feel relaxed!! TRY IT!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezin Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Paul LaMasters said: resting the handle on one finger tip offers a perfect balancing point. When 1st trying to launch a quad one of the guys was really trying to drill that into my head. Understand what he was showing me better now. Winds were real low and it was difficult to grasp. 1 hour ago, Wayne Dowler said: Think about it ergonomically - if your hands are in the classic "fighter's position", how much movement backwards does that allow? Hands and arms are already close to the body and movement is limited. All that scrunching in the neck and shoulders will go away and you will feel relaxed!! TRY IT!! Coming from a dual perspective but think it relates. Talked to Lam Hoac a few times recently and he was telling me pretty much what Wayne has posted.My neutral position has been a fighter like position. Lam said that creates to much tension in the body and leads to bad muscle memory.Has its place at times(push turn e.g.) but makes moves more mechanical and less rhythmic if constantly returning there.Keep hands and feet always moving so flow is not interrupted.I get that cause watching a JB video is almost like watching a tutorial in Tai Chi LOL. Smooth and rhythmic. He also said to not try and break the bad habits all at once. Tweak as you go and the body will remember quicker.Been somewhat hard changing over the last week but now level 5 skill set is just around the axle. OOOPS I meant corner 😆. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezin Posted January 18, 2019 Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 Sunday looks to be a good day for flying in Denver. Get to meet up with some folks and learn some things. Did NOT want to put my quads thru the grinder of learning on my own.2 more days and I think I might actually have a quad in the air . Getting excited!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breezin Posted January 18, 2019 Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 I'll be right behind ya Corey. You seem to be bombing right along so that's not a bad place for me to be at all LOL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 UPDATE 1-18... I got to fly yesterday for 3 hours, 5 to7 winds, then increased to 8 to 10 and I switched to the vented. Great practice, flying, having fun in those clean winds. Barefoot in the sand again!! Wrecked a few times, stalled a few, and got too aggressive on the brakes a and bow tied it a few, overall getting good time under my belt. My top lines are all the way out, bottoms are too using the Pro leaders. When I have to.... thumbs back, pull, and step back to fly up, is that enough brake? If I need more brake and my tops are all the way out, pull in the bottoms? Thanks again everybody for all the help, and I am seriously thinking about making the trip to Treasure Island Sunday to meet up!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted January 18, 2019 Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Corey Bell said: If I need more brake and my tops are all the way out, pull in the bottoms? Exactly.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makatakam Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 19 hours ago, riffclown said: Exactly.. Or lengthen the top leaders by untying a couple knots nearest the handles. Experienced flyers never use those two unless needed for a different style of quad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 UPDATE 1-20-19... We made the drive to Treasure Island early this morning. Met up with Team Kite Life and got to pick their brains for quite a while. Everyone I talked to there was very friendly and willing to answer any and all questions from flying techniques to business to flying with intent!! 100 percent worth the trip and watching them fly is a real treat!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 Just now, Corey Bell said: UPDATE 1-20-19... We made the drive to Treasure Island early this morning. Met up with Team Kite Life and got to pick their brains for quite a while. Everyone I talked to there was very friendly and willing to answer any and all questions from flying techniques to business to flying with intent!! 100 percent worth the trip and watching them fly is a real treat!! I'll shout, I told you so.. Glad you made it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makatakam Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 17 hours ago, Corey Bell said: UPDATE 1-20-19... We made the drive to Treasure Island early this morning. Met up with Team Kite Life and got to pick their brains for quite a while. Everyone I talked to there was very friendly and willing to answer any and all questions from flying techniques to business to flying with intent!! 100 percent worth the trip and watching them fly is a real treat!! You probably cut a 100 hours off your learning curve as opposed to flying alone. And it's fun too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 "take the best & dump the rest!" That means you accept advise that fits your needs and forget about everything that doesn't. You'll hear five ways to do it from a couple of individuals, you'll see it done a couple of different ways as well, then there's an explanation/dissertation by someone standing next to you (uninvited!), ... ultimately you might even play around with variables to try and recreate "IT" as a do-it-yourself project back home. If you go often enough to festivals and see it all done before your eyes repeatedly, it's easy to find somebody for particular advise with one issue that troubles you. It's unlikely there's only a single solution or path to follow, so seek out several folks and hear/watch what is recommended. Then decide if it fits you personally. How, where, why, when,... even whom!!! Take their best as your own & dump the rest 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2019 UPDATE 1-26-19... It was a bit windy on the Space Coast today!! If you look really, really, really close, you can't see the Bahamas!! For the two weeks of the year that the winds are 15 to 30 it's frustrating!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Bell Posted January 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2019 UPDATE 1-28-19 First...Can you believe it's January 28th already??? What do you do when you take your daughter to Eastern Florida State College for a 3 hour exam? Fly in a field across from the student center of course. Until security comes in a golf cart and asks "what are you doing?" My standard smart ass answer "isn't it obvious?" The puzzled look on his face means no, it's not obvious. Me "flying a kite" His answer "not on this property" Me "ok I'll leave" I did try 2 new things 1) i wrapped my lines around a nice smooth pole to try a dog stake style, pole dancing move... FAIL 2) tried to dunk into a retention pond... FAIL The open come fly on me field...Fail The moral... She scored well on her exam!!!!! I did equalize my lines when I got home... Tops where an inch or more longer than the bottoms. Not any more!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted January 29, 2019 Report Share Posted January 29, 2019 Every time I'm approached whilst flying I always think ,.. Well, it's one of two choices, either "they" want my autograph or I can't fly here anymore. When sharing this thought out loud as they approach, I generally am able to disarm the situation humorously. At the monument grounds in Washington DC, I've had the park ranger cite the kite flying rules my club helped to write. We have the duty sergeant's desk (number programmed into our phones), if we need him <LOL> to reign-in one his overly enthusiastic amigos! It is best if someone else calls, so the ranger doesn't feel threatened and escalate the situation further. Then there's the presidential helicopter overhead and snipers on roof-tops too, so we feel safe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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