How to Fly Your Kite After successfully launching your kite, you are ready to steer your kite through the air! Novice flyers first learn to pull on the right line which produces a clockwise turn. Pulling on the left line turns the kite counterclockwise. Once the trun has been started you have two options to stop the turn. The first is the obvious motion of pushing the left hand back even with the right. The second, less obvious is to pull the right hand back to join the left. In the first case, pressure is added to the sail to start the turn and then pressure is released to stop the turn. In the second case pressure is added to the sail to start the turn and then more pressure is added to finish the turn. The first style should be used for circles that turn up and the second style for circles that turn down. The other two methods of turning are initiated by pushing on one hand. The two ways to stop this turn are first to pull the same hand back and second to is to push the other hand forward. The first of thse push turns is used for square corners and is called the push turn. The second is used more for landing, noseup, or for stalling the kite in the center of the wind window. Continuous pulling on one line will cause a continuous revolution from the kite and will twist the lines. Some flying lines, like Spectra, can handle around 30 twists before you lose control, while other lines are not as good for flying sport kites. See the section on Choosing the Right Kite Line for more information. |
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