I don't usually share my stupidity with many people but if just one person can learn from my mistake, then so be it.

The wind was light but definitely good enough for the Phantom 18m and I really was looking forward to getting in some more flight time on this one. Got everything set up... I cheated just to speed things up with the battery powered leaf blower! All set ready to rock; can't wait to feel the difference between the 50cm bar and the new 60cm bar I picked up from Angus.

Tug on the lines... no go, reposition.. no go. My son seen that I was having trouble and went over to give me a hand. Lift off but with 3/4 full kite I tugged and tugged while walking backwards and then it happened. I fell straight over backwards because of the buggy landing on my back, left shoulder, and a hit to the head that left me in a star filled haze.

After trying to regroup enough to pull the safety I then realized that without my son being there things might have turned out as well as they did. He saw me falling over and was able to catch the kite as it started to lift and ran forward to flag it out. That was the catch because if that kite would have lifted off with me still attached, I would have made the six o'clock news as another Darwin award winner.

When I fell over backwards I became entangle within the lines which could have left me with deep cuts or worse being drug down wind towards a road with traffic (a good distance but still). So now I sit here typing in pain from torn cartilage in my ribcage to the thumping headache all because I was not aware of my surroundings.

I can't believe I let myself outside my element of a career 15+ years in Safety where I have taught situational awareness till I'm blue in the face. So this is my advice to you and that is to make sure of what is behind you before taking final steps towards lift off. A lot could have been prevented with a few extra steps and I am very thankful that I was wearing my full face helmet to absorb some of the impact.

See you guys on the field after several weeks of healing.

Dang that coulda got nasty.. Good to hear your son was there to help you out!

I did something similar at a kite demo I did at an elementary school earlier this year. I ran backwards to launch the kite (light winds) and then slipped fell into a big patch of mud. The kids all started lollin and the kite started pulling but I was able to spin myself around and scud to a standing position. The coaches and my kite buddy were giving me crap for a while for that slip up :/

Rib cage injuries suck. Really sorry to hear about the pain, glad you're mostly ok. Guess we definitely won't be meeting up to fly this weekend.

Anxiousness over getting to try my new toys, or getting in quick time with the brief summer gusts probably make me less careful. At least you had your helmet on - the heat sometimes makes me neglect this if the winds are light to begin with.

good info, I did the same to my atb one time, tripped over it while launching, not near as bad, but i still felt really goofy... too many onlookers to mess up like that

Glad to hear you avoided the worst tho! Get better soon!

Sorry to hear about this one man. Get better soon...

Thanks all,

I really appreciate it.

kite excitement has caused many an injury.... hope you heal up well

Sounds like a helmet might have saved you a thumping headache.

Quote:

Originally posted by kiteNH Sounds like a helmet might have saved you a thumping headache.

Did you read the last paragraph or just skip to the reply button...


It reads:

A lot could have been prevented with a few extra steps and I am very thankful that I was wearing my full face helmet to absorb some of the impact.

glad youre ok....i had a similar incident last week --it was my first time w a de-power and it dragged me forward and my legs got caught in my buddys lines and i have 2 nice line cuts to the back of my calf--i learned a lesson that day--make sure all is clear in EVERY direction.

Quote:

Originally posted by kitejumper glad youre ok....i had a similar incident last week --it was my first time w a de-power and it dragged me forward and my legs got caught in my buddys lines and i have 2 nice line cuts to the back of my calf--i learned a lesson that day--make sure all is clear in EVERY direction.

Thanks, glad things didn't get a lot worse for you either!

Sorry to hear about the tumble Todd. Glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been and good save on Corey's part!

Quote:

Originally posted by rdavis good save on Corey's part!

You got that right! Good to hear from you Rian!


Thanks man.

That was some quick thinking on your sons part, sounds like he saved your butt.

Now you owe him a new kite:roll:

Quote:

Originally posted by WIllardTheGrey That was some quick thinking on your sons part, sounds like he saved your butt. Now you owe him a new kite:roll:

NEW KITE!?! That boy has had Christmas for the past two months! Kite after kite after kite

Yes, he saved my butt bigtime.

Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.

We've all done stuff like that..

We missed you Todd.

Feel better.

I wish I could have made it Angus but we will plan again.


Thanks.

I was asking about you while tridude and I were portaging stuff to the beach. Get healed up and make the next SoFKA event. I've never seen so many arcs in the sky at once. I think we had 6-7 in the sky one time. More on the ground with no pilot.