Hi all,

I just acquired a PKD Buster 4m (blue and white). Lovely looking kite. I bought this on the advice of a kite shop, as I'm 11 stone, I wanted something I could learn on in light winds/breezes (definitely nothing above Beaufort 3 just yet!), and something I could grow with and maybe use for boarding one day.

I understand the principles of a 4 line kite, so I know where my brakes are, and I can get it into the air and land it with brakes or killers if needed. I've been experimenting with brake line length a little as well, and at the moment on the shortest setting seems the most controllable for me right now.

When it's up in the air is where the problems start. I'm finding it hard to control. I have improved a little in my 2 times out so far, my first flight ever was basically a big 'U' shape in the sky (up, over, down, crash!). I've had it up in the air a little longer since then, but it either does windmills on the spot (looks cool but makes a mess of the lines!), or it flips over in a U shape again.

I'm having great difficulty keeping it straight in the air or changing direction at will. I'd love to be able to do figure of 8's or 'sine waves' as I've read elsewhere. How do I fly this thing?

- Do I pull the top lines more than the brakes to send it in either direction?

- Do I pull the top lines and brakes equally to sent it in either direction?

- Do I apply more brake on the side I want to turn in?

- How do I keep it straight up (it goes where it wants at the moment)?

It's not at all intuitive to me right now, but I'm loving the pull! Definitely found my new hobby, one that I hope to stay with for many many years.

I can't find much on flying advice on Google, but there are some fairly reasonable videos on YouTube - they just don't give me enough detail.

Can anyone advise me or point me towards some good reading/videos?

Thanks everyone. Cheers.

Here's a great read, there are also other tutorials located there. http://www.coastalwindsports.com/101FirstFlight4LineHandles....

It does get easier eventually. Just like guitar/everything else
Keep with it, and get in motion as soon as you can.

kites are meant to fly like birds, not be anchored to the earth by stupid ants like us.

Thanks for the reading material. I'll get stuck into that.

It needs to be hard and I like a challenge, otherwise its not worth doing at all.

the "launch nice and straight up - u-turn- and head straight back down to the ground....WTF is wrong with this kite" is exactly what happened to me for some time with my first 4 line kite. nothing wrong with the kite.
i came from flying dual line stunt kites so i figured i'd have a leg up but i really acheived little more than proving myself wrong for the first little while on 4 lines.
you'll get the hang of it don't worry it'll come.

That's encouraging to hear...that's exactly what I thought! Crazy kite won't fly straight...must be freaking warped...why do I always get the warped ones :bigok:

are you hold the handles w/ the power leaders coming out between your fore and middle fingers?

good question ^

Sounds like the kite has to much brake. Are you using the PKD handles with the clam cleat brakes? When you do get the kite up and it stays up, watch the trailing edge(TE) of the kite. There should not be any fold or crease in the fabric about 8 to 12 inches from the TE, if there is, your brakes are to tight. The kite should be flat from the leading edge (LE) to the TE. When you fly the kite the brake lines need to look real loose until you rotate your wrists and point the bottom of the handles toward your elbows. At that point the kite can do nothing else but fall to the ground. Be sure all 4 lines are the same length.

Yeah brake lines need to be slack when the brake ends of the handles are pointed towards the kite. you can suss this out on the ground, no need to launch. You want brake lines loose when pointing the brake end of the handles at the kite. The kite should stand up a bit, and may want to launch, depending on wind.

If you are holding the handles so that the lines are running out between your index and middle fingers, you can more easily pull on the brakes by pushing on the tops of the handles away from you with your thumbs, this is easier on your wrists.

Then try to pull the brake ends of the handles away from the kite (towards you) this should tighten the brake lines and make the kite sit down a bit, standing up less from the ground.

A very common mistake for folks starting out is holding the handles too tight and unintentionally using too much brake, often unevenly (more on one side than the other). Since brake turns are faster than power turns, this can convey the feeling of an uncontrollable kite. The way to fix this is instead of holding the handles completely inside your fists, try rather opening your hands a bit so your fingers are straight to the first joint. You'll no longer have a full grip on your handles, but the kite should be pulling against your hands so the handles are secure within your fingers.

While the kite is in flight, make sure the brake lines can be loose (a slight arc in the lines while the powers are straight.) Consciously play with the tension of the brakes. The brakes are key to full control of a four-line kite.

Having said all that, if you are unable to get any straight line flight out of your kite at all, you may have one of the brake lines crossing the powers, so they are connected wrong either at the kite or at the handles. It sounds like you are getting better action than that, but just sayin...

I teach one or two folks the basics a month when the wind is good, and when I see them relaxing their hands from the death grip to a looser one, I know they are getting on top of things. And usually about the same time they start playing with the brake line tension, both singly and together, this tells me they are starting to get their heads wrapped around independent use of all four lines, not just the powers.

Good luck!

Hi. I think you guys have nailed it. I was thinking myself that the brakes were too tight and I do have them on the maximum setting.

I need to check to see if they are all the same length and that all the lines are tied off in the same position/ knot on the bridals. I also did not know the brakes should be slack in flight.

You are right about my grip too, a bit low down on the handles and too tight...I will loosen up and go higher on the grip.

Thanks for your rapid response. I'll let you know how it goes!!

Cheers all.

The maximum brake is for the top part of the wind range... A brake setting that lets the kite fly with no brakeline tension at all in light winds will often not give you enough tension at full brake to land in high winds.

Also buggiers use a lot of brake to position their kites in the wind window and so use a higher brake setting.

For flying static you want to be able to have both zero brake line tension to let the kite fly as freely as possible across the power zone AND the ability to put on enough brake to land effectively.

Tuning the brakes should make a huge difference. While flying, you'll want about a meter of arc in the brakes as opposed to the nearly perfectly straight line of the powers when the handles are in neutral position (comfy in the hands, brake ends lightly closer to the kite than the power ends.) Less if/when you go to buggy. More for some kites, less for others. (the big pansh aces in my quiver demand the most slack)

Last thing... the handles should pivot more around where the power lines go into the handles than at your wrists, a looser grip / index fingers above the lines will make this easier and save your wrists. Your wrists should only be whingeing when try to land a well-powered kite in high winds.

hey... I hope you have a fantastic session next time!

best of luck to you!

Quote:

Originally posted by tedrogers You are right about my grip too, a bit low down on the handles and too tight...I will loosen up and go higher on the grip

That is what I figured, it is the most common mistake. It seems natural to hold them like that. There are a few kites that actually like to be flown like that,but they are the minority. Good luck and welcome to the addiction!:wee:

You got it there! I'm hooked and I was going to try and get out for a blast this afternoon, but the wind dropped away too far. Will try again tomorrow in the rain.
:wee::wee::wee:

I expect you have figured out that turning is done with a push pull method. Similar to steering a bike is best.

People often get stuck doing a steering wheel motion . This does nothing for turning and only confuses the kite + pilot.

Index finger above the top line is best grip to start with. Brakes loose. Lines equal.

When you do get the kite up. DON'T try and fly it right away! CONTROL it ! Just try and keep it calm up at zenith for a full 1 minute before starting to rock it left and right just a bit. Each time things go wrong try and take it back to zenith or the edge and calm it down again. Small motions are best + giving time for the kite to react. Beginers tend to try to overdo it . Plan your next move and start making it early so the kite has time to react.

It will come ! It's hard on your own.

That's really good advice. I'm kinda methodical about everything in most things, and this is no different.

But you've sounded me out straight away there! First thing I did when I got the kite up was think wahahey!! So I pushed and pulled really hard and sure enough the kite went mental! I will try what you suggest and control the kite at first.

I've read a lot at:

http://www.coastalwindsports.com/101FirstFlight4LineHandles....

This has really helped me. It was good because I'd already been out before reading this, so I've already dealt with all the issues relating to weighing the kite down and untangling lines etc. I would say I was out for 2 hours and probably did about 10 minutes of air time. The rest was dealing with the elements and sorting the kite out to fly in a safe manner on my own.

I love it already though. No wind today though! Right down on Bft 1.

I have the same blue and white 4 m buster.... a few things to remember about this kite in addition to all the above:
adjustable bridle...www.extremekites.com.au/forums/download/file.php?id=6569
http://www.racekites.com/2005/08/767/
when this kite is locked in (12 to 18 mph), it pulls like a mac truck. in a buggy

sweet little kite, stick with it

I haven't had a chance to look at the bridle in detail yet, as I've been so confounded by the rest of it :wow::puzzled:

But you're saying that the PKD Buster 4m (blue and white) comes with an adjustable bridle already (??) so I can change the AoA (Angle of Attack) right, and effectively depower the kite to an extent? Am I right about this? That would be very cool if so.

You're right, it does pull like a tractor, and I'm glad I made a good first choice. Thanks for the advice buddy!

Yes, you can adjust so it has more low end grunt or fly faster through the window,and sitting further on the edge of it as well.

Brilliant! :wee:

Happy as a :piggy: in mud. :singing:

where about do you fly? if you ever get to Ainsdale ill be more then happy to give you afew flying tips and tune your kite propely for you. ill be the one on the red and white peter lynn chargers

Where I come from, Australia might as well be a galaxy away. I'm from Cheshire UK learning to be a wind with a kite

Thanks for kind offer...and perhaps one day in the future I may take you up on that.

ted-rogers! 321 Dusty Bin ?

Can you do the fingers ? lol

I can do many different finger shapes:bigok:

Ainsdale is the kite beach near Southport UK!!!!!

You know what? You wrote ainsdale but i read Brisbane. My mistake!
:puzzled:

In that case I will definitely take you up on that offer sometime!

Just thought I'd give people an update on progress.

I'm up now for a while, getting mega pull, doing some scudding and I can control the kite a little. Just need to work out the best way to wrap and unwrap the lines now, and strategies for flying alone in good winds (no buddy to lie on things etc.), but I am getting there slowly.

Been out about 4 times now, so not much. Also need to find my ideal brake position and knot it (it tends to slip from its brake gripper plastic thing on the handles otherwise).

Getting there slowly, but it makes me realise how unfit I am after the kite puts up a fight for a bit! :eekdrull:

Smooth winds will make a big difference too. Watch the trees around you (hopefully they will all be many hundreds of meters away) if they're nodding back and forth like crazy, then it will be a struggle to fly in because it's really gusty. If they're bent over in the wind but not moving back and forth then that's smooth wind and should be excellent to fly in. Make sure there are no obstacles upwind of you to disturb the wind. If the wind comes from the west at my place, it puts a line of trees about 120 yards upwind of me and completely stuffs up the wind and becomes really frustrating to fly in. It's amazing how seemingly small obstacles or undulations/dams/hills etc can really mess up the wind.

It was really blowy today, and at this beach I was at there is a man made protective bank to save the dunes. This meant that lift was strong at first, then mental once it was way aloft. I had to pack up soon after my arse was hauled!