Turns and horizontal flight by Thierry Bressure

Transcript

1. ›

   Introduction

   0:08

   In this lesson, we start having a bit of fun with the kite. Now that you can launch it and hold a straight vertical line, you'll learn to turn it so it moves across the whole wind window. The previous lesson, launching and landing straight, can feel tedious, so you should quickly learn to fly the kite from one side of the window to the other.

2. ›

   Emergency stop

   1:30

   Before going further, you need to be able to stop the kite in an emergency. The first one a new pilot faces is the kite heading straight for the ground: a crash is imminent. With dual-line kites, people are often told to let go of the handles so the kite loses pressure; but a quad-line kite has the advantage of being able to stop in any position. Just pull both brakes at the same time: that stops it and avoids breaking the leading edge — though personally I've never broken a Rev leading edge, they're pretty tough.

3. ›

   Turning

   3:15

   To send the kite to the right while it's moving forward and climbing, just pull the right wing's brake slightly: it rotates to the right. But when you try it, it will fall onto its right wing.

4. ›

   Compensation

   4:16

   Why? Because when the kite ends up with its leading edge sideways, you need to add what I call compensation. If it stays flat in that position, it has no lift left. To keep it lifting and stop it falling, bring the upper wing toward you, meaning bring the upper wing's handle toward you: instead of being perfectly vertical, the kite leans slightly toward you, at a positive angle, which creates lift. For example, to go left, I pull the left brake; my right wing ends up on top, it's the upper wing, so my right hand, instead of staying level with the left, comes toward me. If I keep both hands level, the kite falls. The key sequence: brake, compensation, turn, compensation, and so on.

5. ›

   Straight lines and rotations

   7:25

   As soon as you start controlling your kite, use it to fly in attitudes that will be useful later. You can of course have fun flying circles and all sorts of moves, but I really recommend learning to fly straight lines and clean rotations. The basic exercise: straight lines, vertical and horizontal, and at the end of each line, the most elegant rotation possible, meaning on the wingtip. At first, rotations are neither centered nor on the tip, and that's fine: keep in mind the idea of turning to head off in the opposite direction. Practice going down too, it's a bit harder. By remembering to bring the upper wing toward you, you'll quickly learn to steer your kite elegantly.