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Indoor Rev: slide and float by John Barresi

The slide, or float, from a 360: changing the angle little by little to the point where the kite still lifts. You see the mistake that flattens it.

From the series KiteLife indoor tutorials. Transcript by QuadKites.org.

Indoor Rev: slide and float by John Barresi

Key takeaways from this video

  • Start from a 360: point the kite slightly downward, add a little brake, pull the leading wingtip a bit more and push the bottom hand out.
  • Start slowly and change the angle gradually; pulling the top hand too much with the kite at the wrong angle makes it go flat and fall.
  • Look for a halfway point between flying sideways and gliding flat, where the kite still generates lift through its angle.

Transcript

  1. What a slide or float is

    0:00

    This time around we are going to talk about the slide, or float. It is similar to what we call the samurai slide outdoors at some of our clinics. Basically it is where the kite is no longer just flying sideways like this, but starts to lay out and slide and float across the window a little. Let me demonstrate that first, so you have a visual. Just like this: there is that slide. You can make it quite deep, or very shallow.

  2. Starting from a 360

    0:49

    The way I am going to have you start learning it is to start flying a 360. When we are going around the circle, we point the kite slightly downward and put a little bit of brake on it. At the same time, you will notice that I am pulling my leading wingtip a little more. In this case my left wingtip is leading, so I pull that left wingtip a little more, and then I can start to push my bottom hand out a little further.

  3. Slow down and change the angle gradually

    1:40

    It takes a little experimentation with exactly how much brake you are using and on which side of the kite, but it will work to your benefit if you start quite slowly and then change the angle of the kite as you go. So again, starting sideways, I slow down and push my bottom hand out, pull my top hand back, and use just enough brake to keep the kite from falling. I encourage you to take special note of the angle of the kite; that is going to help you a lot. It really just comes down to trial and error, experimenting with the amount of brake you use and how far you are pulling.

  4. Too much top hand

    2:22

    One of the things to watch out for is that if you pull your top hand too much and the kite is at the wrong angle, it will go completely flat and start to slide and will not maintain lift, so it will just end up landing on the ground.

  5. The halfway point

    2:52

    The last thing I want to point out is that basically what we are doing is going from the sideways position, where you are flying, to a kite that is not quite gliding flat either. You are reaching for a halfway point where the kite is still generating some lift by having this kind of angle, but with the leading edge pushed slightly forward, just a bit like this. It is a little difficult to explain the finer aspects, but if you pay particular attention to the angle of the kite, using a moderate amount of pressure, or loading, in the sail and not spreading your hands too far apart, where the kite just loses pressure, it will get you going in the right direction. Again, trial and error. After a while you will find it is not one of the easiest things you can do with an indoor Rev.

Keep going

In the series KiteLife indoor quad-line tutorials

  1. Indoor Rev: introduction
  2. Indoor Rev: assembly and disassembly
  3. Indoor Rev: launch and 360
  4. Indoor Rev: relaunch
  5. Indoor Rev: redirection
  6. Indoor Rev: slide and float — you are here
  7. Indoor Rev: up and over
  8. Indoor Rev: basic catch and throw

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