Psyclist - 5-5-2006 at 05:47 AM
Greetings all!
I'm new so be gentle!
I went kiting with some mates down in Cornwall on a stag weekend and had a right laugh doing it, so I thought I'd buy myself a kite.
Completely got my sizes mixed up and bought myself a 5m Beamer, took it down to the beach a couple of weeks ago and nearly tore my arms out of their
sockets. Talk about jumping off a downhill skateboard! My legs just couldn't keep up with it...
Anyway, bought a smaller 1.8m Beamer and took it out last night. I was surprised at still how powerful it felt. I'm sure I didn't have this much
bother with the ones in Cornwall and we went from 1.5m up to a 10m (only two of us (including me) managed to tame the 10m one).
Still, managed to control the 1.8m one to some degree last night, but there's obviously a problem with the lines somewhere as it would stay stable for
a short while but would spin and crash with hardly any provocation.
Can someone advise or help me on how to set up the lines properly and make sure I can get the best control out of it?
Much appreciated!
Kristian
Tigger - 5-5-2006 at 09:06 AM
If I am correct, I'd guess your brake lines are to short. Thoses are the lines attached to the bottom of the kite as you view it when it's in the air.
Add a foot of line to the bottom lines and let me know.
You can make the top lines shorter by putting a knot on the top lead line from your handle close to the handle, and put the larks head knot above.
Make sure to have the bottom lines on the knot close to the end of the bottom leads of your handles.
That will make the top a little shorter and the bottom a little longer.
Scoopy - 9-5-2006 at 05:22 AM
Definitely check all 4 lines for equal length. Usually if your lines are out though, there will be no stability for a while, then go out. Another
thing to keep in mind is that the smaller kites are much quicker to respond than the larger kites, and therefor much easier to crash.
Scoop
Psyclist - 9-5-2006 at 09:39 AM
Cheers guys, I've managed to sort the 1.8m one, and I've got the 5m one working too, however the brakes on the 5m are too loose and it's a bit of an
effort to bring down again.
I've tried putting the brakes up a knot and the kite just spins clockwise like mad. I've checked the length of the knots and they're perfectly lined
up.
The last knot flies perfectly balanced and brakes balanced, but you have to give it some welly to brake it out of the sky, the 2nd knots just make it
spin and crash as do all the other knots.
Any suggestions?
Also, is the 5m any good for jumping with?
awindofchange - 9-5-2006 at 12:07 PM
That really sounds quite wierd. Maybe this can help you narrow down the problems.
First things first:
What I would start with is to check all the bridle lines on the kite and make sure that they are all clear of each other and running to the right
spot. What I mean by this is to simply check the lines while the kite is set up and make sure one line isn't ran through or tangled on the others
causing one side of the bridles to be different than the other. If there are no twists or tangles, then I would move to the flying lines.
Disconnect all the flying lines from the kite as well as the handles and check them for equal length. The easiest way to do this is to get another
kite stake and stake all of the loops on the kite end and then pull the other end with equal tension and see if they are all the same length. If one
(or more) are longer than the others, shorten the longer lines down so that they are equal to the shortest line. Exact length is always best but if
they are all less than an inch difference then it is probably not necessary to adjust them. Over an inch and you may want to do some adjustments.
Do a quick check on your handles as well to make sure the leader lines and any added knots are equal length as well. We had one instance where the
kite would not fly centered but checking the knots on the leaders it appeared equal....the problem was that the leaders themselves were different
lenghts. So measuring the knots from the ends of the leader back, they were equal length but when you placed the handles exactly side by side one line
was about 2 inches longer than the other which put the knots at un-equal distances. Check your knots from the handle out, not from the end of your
leader back.
If all of that seems to be set up fine then the only thing left would either be pilots error or the kite itself. You may want to take the kite back
to the shop you purchased it from and have them give the kite a try to see if there is any defect in the sewing or material that is causing it to not
fly properly. If the kite flies fine for others then just simply dedicate yourself more flying time and you will eventually have the kite under your
full control.
On a final note, the wind is the most important factor in any kite flying and if you are attempting to fly in winds that are not good for your kite
then the kite will not perform as it is designed to. Without proper control of your kite you could be putting yourself or others into a dangerous
position. A 5.0 meter kite has plenty of power and things could go bad very quickly. Play it extra safe and make sure everything is good before you
launch. 
Psyclist - 10-5-2006 at 06:16 AM
It is strange, it's awkward too to see the exact length of the lines without the kite being fully inflated, but obviously can't do that and inspect it
at the same time.
I might move some of the knots on the left hand side around and see if that helps.
Gonna take it to Bamburgh Castle this weekend to see if I can get some decent distance down the beach with it... 