Quadline Beginner Questions

[Corey Bell]

9 minutes ago, riffclown said:

Yes but you also run into limitations..Your adjustments on the top leaders should normally give you your flying aspect. The knots on the bottom leaders are much closer together and are typically used to fine tune your setup if one line is a tad longer or such. I typically don't adjust placement on the bottom leaders unless the kite is trying to turn on me.

A trick @Khal showed me is to take both handles, lock them side by side perfectly parallel, Hold them top and bottom and launch.. If everything is tuned right the kite should go straight up.. If any of your lines are askew or stretched on any leg, the kite will try to turn to the left or right.  The bottom knots are the fine tune for these adjustments.. The top knots act as the rough tune.

Thank you for the information. I am going to make sure all 4 lines are the same right now, then make sure my bridle mirrors left and right. Next time out I will try the handles together launch and see how I did. Until my new pro leaders get hear is there anything else I should do to prepare?

[riffclown]

11 minutes ago, Corey Bell said:

Until my new pro leaders get hear is there anything else I should do to prepare?

Absolutely!!!! Very important -----> Don't over think it.. Enjoy the experience..

Take a look at @John Barresi 's Line Equalization, Line Management and Assembly/Disassembly videos..  Once you have those under your belt, Launch and Control video gives you the basics you need to start flying and enjoying.

All of the beginner tutorials are worth a watch and you'll learn/remember more than you think you do..

http://kitelife.com/video-tutorials/

 

[frob]

1 hour ago, Corey Bell said:

When I get better at backwards flying, I will keep this in mind

For a well-adjusted quad line kite, flying forward and backwards should be equally easy. 

As mentioned back on the first page, the kite should effectively be "in neutral gear" when lines are properly adjusted.  When you hold the lines up in your neutral posture, the kite should not have any drive forward or in reverse. It should float evenly, with no drive.

If it takes effort for you to stop the kite or hold in a hover, lengthen the top leaders or shorten the bottom leaders.  It should take a bit of effort to launch and to fly forward, but none at all to stay still.

Many beginners have their top leaders far too short, or bottoms far too long. Their kites dart around quickly, and take effort to attempt to slow or stop.  It makes it easy to launch, but quite difficult to control, or sometimes, makes it near-impossible to simply hover, let alone fly in reverse.

[Wayne Dowler]

Until your new ones come, lose that bottom extension. Maybe even add it on top.

[Corey Bell]

2 hours ago, frob said:

For a well-adjusted quad line kite, flying forward and backwards should be equally easy. 

As mentioned back on the first page, the kite should effectively be "in neutral gear" when lines are properly adjusted.  When you hold the lines up in your neutral posture, the kite should not have any drive forward or in reverse. It should float evenly, with no drive.

If it takes effort for you to stop the kite or hold in a hover, lengthen the top leaders or shorten the bottom leaders.  It should take a bit of effort to launch and to fly forward, but none at all to stay still.

Many beginners have their top leaders far too short, or bottoms far too long. Their kites dart around quickly, and take effort to attempt to slow or stop.  It makes it easy to launch, but quite difficult to control, or sometimes, makes it near-impossible to simply hover, let alone fly in reverse.

I like the easy launches, however if better overall control is to be gained then I will sacrifice to a harder launch.

[Corey Bell]

UPDATE... All 4 lines are equal length, now! The bridle lengths and widths match left to right, front to back, and top top bottom.

The top lines were longer than the bottoms. Left top longest by an inch, which probably explains some of the drifting to the right I was getting.

I am ready to go fly!!  when my new leaders arrive, or I probably won't wait if the wind cooperates!!

Thank you everybody for all the help so far, more to come.

PS... does every one disconnect the handles? I've been leaving them attached to the lines.

[riffclown]

21 minutes ago, Corey Bell said:

PS... does every one disconnect the handles? I've been leaving them attached to the lines.

I leave my handles attached to my lines for the most part.

[khsidekick]

Most of us leave them attached. I have 3 sets all attached to lines in my quad bag. Good luck and remember to have fun.


Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

[Wayne Dowler]

I take mine off, but I use 3 different lengths of handle. I match up line and handle length to the day's wind. 

[riffclown]

If you use your lines with different handles or you use your handles for different lines then it makes sense to detach and manage separately.. If you have one set of lines and one set of handles, there really is no reason to separate them most of the time.

[oapbillf]

Take a look at videos of quads being flown where the flyer is shown and take a look at their handles and leaders, this will give you an indication of what others use as their settings.  One thing to note is that everybody is different not only in leader settings  but actually holding the handles and eventually you will settle on what is a comfortable setup.  

[Edmond Dragut]

i find out is not a good idea to detach lines from handles just because you will tangle them . easiest is to have for each line set a pair of handles but that is me and you are at the beginning. you will figure out the best way for you gaining experience