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Forward/backward: alternating forward and backward flight

This lesson is part of the Cramayailes indoor 4-line school, restored by QuadKites.org. The text is Thierry Bressure’s, in the first person, translated from French. The video commentary is in French.

Prerequisite: 360, backward flight.

The figure

Section titled "The figure"

Alternating forward and backward flight without changing the kite’s orientation.

Well done, the kite must not move vertically: it is as if it were on a rail and you were changing direction of travel.

Watch the figure: forward/backward

The lesson

Section titled "The lesson"

The principle is to alternate between forward and backward flight without changing the kite’s attitude. The revo is as if on rails, and you only change the direction of flight.

Forward/backward lesson by Cramayailes

Key takeaways from this video — Forward/backward lesson

  • The kite keeps the same attitude (leading edge to the left in the demonstration) when the direction of travel changes.
  • The difficulty is maintaining altitude during the change of direction: practice is needed to dose braking and pressure.
  • During the change, keep moving back while changing the direction of the circle. Going from backward to forward flight is easier, with a small backward push of the arms.

Transcript — Forward/backward lesson

  1. Changing direction without changing attitude

    0:00

    The goal of this figure is to change the kite’s direction of travel without changing the kite’s own attitude.

    Here, the leading edge is to the left, in backward flight. The kite goes into forward flight, leading edge to the left. The kite goes into backward flight, leading edge still to the left.

  2. Maintaining altitude during the change

    0:53

    The difficulty lies in having to maintain the kite’s altitude during the change of direction. Practice is needed to dose braking and pressure in this critical phase of the figure.

  3. Keep moving back while changing the direction of the circle

    1:18

    During the change of direction, you have to keep moving back, but changing the direction of the circle. This is to maintain pressure and keep the kite from falling.

  4. From backward to forward flight

    1:30

    When you start from backward flight, it is a little easier to switch to forward flight with the help of pressure generated by the arms. You give a small backward push with the arms to apply pressure and set the kite off in forward flight.

Video page: transcript, series and other uses

Movement

Section titled "Movement"

The pilot alternates between a circle to the left and a circle to the right.

Control

Section titled "Control"

It is easier to go from backward flight to forward flight. Let’s start there.

Starting from backward flight, say to the left, release the brakes of both wings simultaneously and move back to the left. The revo goes into a forward 360 to the right. To go from backward to forward flight, you can give a little pressure with your arms.

From forward flight to the left, to change direction into backward flight, you must brake both wings simultaneously and move back to the left. The kite goes into backward flight to the right.

When changing direction, you must give a small extra push so that the speed does not drop to zero but goes from +v to −v instantly. Otherwise, the kite drops a little.

What comes next

Section titled "What comes next"

The next step is the Over the Top.

Last updated: — restored Thierry Bressure's forward/backward lesson, with the figure reference