Great first flight with a power kite.

now thats an awesome account for a first flight...............building kite skillz and situational awareness.......................

That’s great. You seem to be off and running so to speak.

Quote:

Originally posted by j0fer I fully see how you can be surprised and caught unaware with stronger winds.

Be prepared for more of the same as you get accustomed to the kite and experience more variable (for me at least) conditions . There have been days (I am inland) where the wind is blowing just on the edge of too much and I cannot keep the kite in the air because of the pockets. Full power to no power – falls out of the sky into a ball or floats into the power zone and POP.

As for the other people, I have had those days. I have several places I can go to fly. So, if one site is too busy, I just try one of the others. I learned to avoid anyplace that is having an organized event. Even if there is plenty of room, I am too much of a distraction to kids who are supposed to be playing soccer. I’m even in the other field on the other side of a tree line. One advantage to using the same location is people get used to you and the problem subsides.

Enjoy.

You sound like our kind of people !

Safe sensible and polite to the uneducated !

Like folks are saying those foolish people will always be a hazard.

Welcome to the addiction !

Don't give me too much credit...a lot of that has to do with the 4+ decades of "oh crap...that was dumb".

Wow, that sounds like an overall great experience. You have a good head on your shoulders

The general public, especially those that have never seen a power kite before, tend to freak out about them... or at least act abnormally... which I don't really understand, as the first time I saw a traction kite I could clearly see that it was just a big, four line kite. But anyway, I guess most people don't see that. The list of people's reactions to traction kites/other equipment over time will steadily grow increasingly long and more random. Usually they will stand there and ask you, what seems to us at least, ridiculously stupid questions. Those people are mostly harmless. Another majority will not only ask you stupid questions, but will mess with your gear thinking they are "helping" when they are not; most of the time, they are actually putting themselves in danger. The rest of the group is just too random to call. We all have our own personal experiences... there's no telling what people will do around these things. It seems to me though that you have the right idea. Be aware of the surroundings and try to educate the curious ones.

Have fun with it!

Nice write up. Sounds like it's all going to plan (touch wood). You are probably aware already, but small children don't have much peripheral vision, plus if they're chasing something, they are only concentrating on what they're chasing. And not too many of them know not to walk over the lines of a parked kite - that goes for the bigger ones too!

Sounds like the start of a beautiful relationship !

jimmie8taylor,

Absolutely...but these are just my opinions...and those of someone with no experience in power kiting...but loads in various types of racing as well as general aviation:

When you have your first flight(s)...first thing you need to do is practice dropping the kite to the kite killers or whatever safety mechanism it has. Like...for as long as you can without getting bored.

In a panic situation or period of kinesthetic overload (like that moment right before you fall over backwards in a chair, or you start getting yanked skywards)...the human reaction is a grasp reflex, or to hold on. You can watch it happen real time in YouTube videos of people getting on a motorcycle for the first time. They're putting along and they hit a little bump and it startles them, and all of a sudden they're at full throttle with a death grip.

Telling yourself "I'll just let go if I get into trouble" isn't good enough. You're working against instinct, the body's default programming...which always wins. Also, I learned in some other training once that "in a panic situation your brain disconnects from your body, so you've got to show your body what to do without instructions from the brain...'cause it's going to be busy doing something else (panicking!)".

You're going to be nervous and excited on those first flights, and you need to utilize the nervousness and heightened awareness to reprogram your mind and muscles, while they are paying attention, with the concept that releasing or letting go in a feeling of panic is a viable option. Sounds silly, but you have to train your body like it's a toddler with a short attention span. "I know this feeling...do *this* to be safe."

So all those self instructions you give yourself ahead of time: "I'll be careful" "I'll watch for dangerous gusts" "I won't jump that high" "I'll just go to kite killers" are worthless...as the Internet between your brain and your body is going to be down when that time comes and your body won't have access to download them when needed. It's got to have them cached already.

I would imagine that when adding a harness, switching to depower, etc...there is a whole new set of body programming that needs to happen. "Release the chicken loop like *this* when in trouble" "Depower like *this* in an emergency" "Pull the Quick Release like *this*".

Broke my left leg in '92. Broke my right wrist 3 times in '93. Had my left knee scoped in '94. Broke my left foot in '95. Had my bell rung in '97. All due to extreme sports. If possible, I'd really like to stay out of the ER in this venture.