First; some background on my previous experience/observation on adjusting lines.

On my 2m Flow, I have the brake lines set on the end knot. When parked; the kite sits on the ground in an inflated state. I once set the brake line on the second knot. When parked; the kite wanted to hop and bounce around on the ground when the handles were staked on the brake lines.


On this Skydog 2.8m; the brake lines have 4 different knots.

http://www.skydogkites.com/traction/sdt_2.8.shtml


I currently have the brakes set on the end knot as seen in the picture. I had the kite out one day in nearly no wind. I had it out today in possibly too much wind.




With the kite almost directly overhead, it had me standing on my toes or was lifting me off the ground depending on the gust. The winds went down a little at some point. With the brakes set as they were; this kite seemed to constantly want to lift me out of the buggy. It had more lift then it did horizontal pull.

What was strange about this kite compared to some is it wouldn't ever go past being overhead.

Before I experiment with every knot setting; what can I expect from each one?

Is one of them going to make the kite not be so lifty?

1st of all overhead is the worst place to keep your kite in those winds.

I can't speak for your exact 2m kite but most I have fown will shoot forward so fast it's scary in a gust. At the same time they are usually super touchy about brake input.

I suspect this is why yours has so many knotts? You want to adjust your back lines so that when your handles are in the neutral position there is a slight arc due to slack. Tighten them until they aren't a bother but have full effect when you apply them. Odds are the setting that keeps them calm when staked is also the best for flying ?

As for the lift, brakes wont do much to that, that is an angle of attack issue which should be left alone unless you know what you doing. Also different line lengths will depower the kite, i raced mainly on 15m lines. Try a shorter set of lines and keep the kite lower to the ground when you in the buggy, so dont fly the kite above your head but rather 25 - 30 degrees from the ground

You had the winds earlier today that I have now. These are crazy winds and definitely not winds to fly in. I just took a reading of average of 23.2 and gust to 31.4 YIKES. and it is cold too!

Double check the lines as they were wrapped left side / right side so when you unwound them, they would have been one side as a pair, then the other side as a pair. The brakes are noticeably thinner.

Beyond that, if you ever have any kite want to hop on the ground when staked, it needs more brake or less wind, or both. The knot closest to the kite gives you the most brake. Beyond that, you can tie a knot in the handle line for the brake and move the line to that point as well.

hope this helps.

There is a fine line between brake line tension. Too much tension and your kite will stall. Not enough brake line tension and your kite will scream forward but tip the LE.

When your kite is overhead and you should have enough brake to bring the kite down with brake.
When the kite is overhead try to yank hard and see if it over flies or luffs, if it does add brake.

You can't judge how much brake you need when your kite is staked on the ground. If your kite is flapping in the wind staked just stake down more brake line.

As kiteboy said keep it low, lower AR foils have more side pull / sits a little back from the edge of the WW. A high AR foil will sit more to the edge / fast speed of the WW.

If you want to increase the response time got with shorter lines.

Judging by your graph...you were always out of the range of the kite. I wouldn't change anything until you can fly it in these ranges.

SDF 2.8
Stock Number: 22528
Dimensions: 113.5" x 42"
Materials: Ripstop Nylon Sail
Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Wind Range: 6-25mph
Line Set: 475lb & 242lb x 82ft, 220kg & 110kg Dyneema x 20m
with quad line handle

In gusty conditions, I have my brakes in 1 knot to keep the kite from overshooting the edge...

In clean wind, I let em run to the edge.

Different kites need different knots. My Coopers are fine with equal lengths while the PL kites need the power lines shorter.

Make the knots in your leader lines on your handles. Nice and fast to tune the kite without getting out of the buggy.