Launch and control by KiteLife

Transcript

1. ›

   Launch

   0:00

   In this tutorial I'm going to take you through the basics of launching and controlling your quad line kite. A launch starts with your body square in front of the kite, the kite upright, fingers on the thumbs. Rotate your thumbs backward and bend your elbows, lifting your hands toward your shoulders — that's the launch. In lighter winds you may need two contacts: a tap, then a connect with the end of the lines, thumbs back. That tension is what makes the kite fly.

2. ›

   Trim and landing

   0:43

   Once in the air, as the kite turns and responds to the wind, you control its trim with very slight squeezes on the handles, pivoting off the index knuckle: a little right, a little left. When you reach the top of the window, it feels like you lose power; hold your ground, keep the trim and the kite upright, and let it come all the way back down to the ground. That's a successful launch and landing, from the bottom to the top and back.

3. ›

   Stop in the middle

   1:46

   Building on that, you can add a stop in the middle. Once the kite is halfway up, relax forward toward the kite and very gently squeeze both ring fingers down on the bottom of the handles; then a tiny launch, just like from the ground, takes it back up. You can do the same on the way down, all the while controlling right and left to keep the trim. It takes a few attempts, and the kite will sometimes over-rotate and crash.

4. ›

   Turning a crashed kite over

   2:39

   That's covered in another tutorial, but briefly: when the kite is upside down, apply soft, building pressure to one thumb, hands side by side, and the kite rotates over. In lighter wind, if a simple push isn't enough, press that thumb and take a big step backward, hands in front of you: that adds two or three miles per hour into the sail and lets you turn it over. Then practice again: double tap, soft push to stop in the middle, mini launch, let the kite reach the top, and track it down. Tracking the kite with your arms is the additional layer: my arms rotate upward to follow the kite, and track down with it when I come down.

5. ›

   Point to point

   3:54

   With up and down and basic orientation control, try taking the kite to the far top right corner of the window and back to the center. How you do it matters less than where you start and where you're going: getting those marks is a great place to start. From the bottom, I launch, turn gently right toward the top right corner, then squeeze the bottom a little to keep it facing up until it comes back to the middle. Changing the orientation affects how the kite drifts back. Same on the left: I launch toward the upper left with a slight squeeze on that side, then a gentle squeeze on both, keeping the leading edge upright back to a landing.

6. ›

   Closing thoughts

   4:53

   That's a very simplified explanation of the launch. Experiment, check out the other tutorials and forums, and most importantly, connect with flyers on the field — that's the best place to learn. Find your local kite clubs and support them.