Loop: making the Revolution Indoor turn on itself

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: turn.

The revo makes a loop on itself and resumes flying in the same direction.

The simple loop is a circle whose center is outside the revo.

The point loop is a loop centered on the tip of the inside wing. Harder.

The loop is a harder figure than the turn, because the revo takes a twist. Four lines taking a twist is already a lot.

We apply the same technique as for the turn. During the loop, the pilot moves straight back. This is an approximation of the ideal movement, which is a zigzag, given the four quarters of the loop that alternate the kite’s movement in one direction and the other.

Moving back matters even more for the loop, because beginners tend to let the revo glide during the descent. Flying without pressure changes the kite’s speed and makes the loop less attractive.

Do not glide down: you must keep pressure to keep a constant speed. Gliding will come later. One thing at a time!

To fly a loop, lightly brake the inside wing of the turn. In the previous lesson we learned the point turn. Here you brake less than for the point turn: the center of rotation is then outside the revo.

The second aspect of control is the continuous variation of compensation. During the loop, compensation drops to zero at the first quarter (loop over the top), then rises to a maximum when the kite is at the top of the loop, decreases and drops to zero at three quarters of the loop. Finally, compensation rises gradually to resume horizontal flight.

The continuous variation of compensation is the key to a successful loop.

Next we learn to stop picking the kite up from the ground at the end of a flight: the hand catch.