Next time out teach yourself brake turns.

If the wind is strong enough for the kite to fly up to zenith and stick there it is the right wind. With the kite sitting overhead just tap the brake on one side and release. The kite will turn to that side a bit then sit happy again. Tap the other side and it should go back etc.. Start small and then hold the brake input a little longer for more turn. Like most motions it is NOT an on off thing. Just add a bit of brake at 1st.

Loops are the next thing to work on. With loops start up high and COMMIT to the turn until the kite has circled and is headed back up. Try looping the kite in an upward loop 1st. Then do the opposite and do a downward loop.

What you saw was what we call a " downturn " . It is sort of a downward loop that you stop early. The kite then goes into a LOooong power stroke through the whole window. A great way of generating power in the kite using apparent wind.

thanks again bladerunner for your help and tips and taking to time to write it out for me.

just checked weekends weather and around 13-14mph mark is forecast so hopefully get out for some more practice.

just out of curiosity what wind speeds do you usually fly up too and do you do static flying or just moving?

check out John Holgate's videos if you haven't already.

I still enjoy static flying.

Quote: Originally posted by m00ms

thanks again just out of curiosity what wind speeds do you usually fly up too and do you do static flying or just moving?

We fly different sized kites for different wind speeds. Most folks who ride with their kites find they need 3 kites. Small for high winds, Medium for average winds and Large for low winds.

Static flying is a bit different. You will find you get a LOT more enjoyment out of a smallish kite like your Beamer. They fly early and into high winds.

Bigger kites get slower and slower . Much less fun for static flying. They put out a ton more power for those of us out for that power. The best reason to fly a large foil static is if you want to jump or scud down wind.

I don't go out and fly static often at all anymore. NEVER set out to simply static jump but I am getting on in age.

hi ssayre and thanks for the video links,the john video i have seen and like very much as he looks so in control,is he a member on here then ?

just watched your video and that looks very slow but very powerful,il watched the other videos on your page when i get a chance.

bladerunner you are not wrong as i did enjoy flying the beamer and really forward to getting more time in and more control of it

think i might be getting the bug as i have brought a control bar and the other day on ebay i put cheeky bid on a beamer 5.0m and won it.....seller ignored messages so i thought it was a no go until today when he contacted me to say he is posting it tomorrow...see what happens!!

i hope you know the bar will give you less control
imo...handles and time on the kite are the way to go

congrats on the 5m

yes i guessed the bar would give less control but im curious to try it being new to this sport

no idea what i am going to do with the 5.0m if it does turn up so time will tell if it does!

you will fly the snot out of it
start in 8-10mph....and several months latter you will have it out in 15-18
trust us

You may have made a wonderful mistake! :cool2:

When you graduated from your 2 line to the 2m Beamer you took the perfect step up. Beamers are designed as true power kites. Low lift and stable. Great for fun flying and learning. Believe it or not you WILL want to feel / know what real raw power feels like once you are master of the 2m. At 5m you will have that raw power that is a true turn on in this sport. It may fly slower but it will behave like an engine . Providing you the horsepower to scud down wind and such! You will feel what smooth power feels like rather than the on / off sort of spurts you get from a 2m in strong winds.

It won't be long before you feel so confident with your 2m you will be taking it out in very strong winds. At that point pull out the 5m on a somewhat low wind day but not less than 5mph winds or it will be a struggle. Low wind flying larger foils is a learned skill. 5 -12mph would be ideal. You will know the wind is strong enough if the kite will fly to zenith and sit there. You will see you made a great mistake that day!

What kind of bar did you buy? It is understandable you want to try one but trust us when we tell you handles are best BY FAR for fixed bridle static flying!

Have you considered getting in motion? Doing so takes the game to a whole new level! :bouncing::bouncy::bouncing:

thanks for all the positive comments about the 5m which i hope comes good!

the seller had no feedback,is postage lower than it will cost to send,the advert showed one very poor picture of the kite high in the sky and the other was just a generic picture taken from the web and the write up says its been flown 5 times.it appears to be the black and blue 5th version so i will see what happens in the next few days!

the control bar i have brought is a flexifoil bar.apologies if i get terms wrong but its 610mm long with the two brake lines going into one through centre of bar with a killer on the end,also has a strop on which i assume goes through a harness.

i would like to try mobile flying at some point but i would have trouble storing a buggy due to my others hobbie toys and the local field i have been flying in is plenty big for flying but i think dog walkers would not like a buggy going around it sadly.

just been out for a fly with the beamer,wind was very far from perfect but its the best thats forecast this weekend so thought lets give it a go! wind was either there great or nothing sadly.

i did get to try some steering on brakes which was very different to what i was expecting.didnt think it would turn that fast! i found kite loop was more of a spin on the spot rather than a loop,is that just new clumsy hands or might i have brake lines little tight?

i did get to reverse launch fare few times with twists in lines then spin kite to un tangle them which im happy with.

real shame the wind was not too great as i was putting kite where i wanted and if wind got strong i either flew it out of power or landed it and waited for wind to calm before going again

You need to have a little bit of sag in the brake lines. But you should be able to tighten within say 2 inches of handle travel. I like my PKD handles because the brakes are adjusted by a clam cleat. Makes it real easy to adjust for different kite setups, no more knots!

most flying is done in far from ideal conditions..you gotta deal w/ that too, it will make you a better pilot
fly more

yes i fully understand that perfect weather will be few and far apart as with all outdoors sports and getting out in more than just the good days....within reason!

checked forecast and there appears to be a couple of hours in the morning 13-14 mph with no gusts so fingers crossed i will get out again,rest of the day is really strong gusts as the last few days has been.

hi all

sadly no more pratcice time recently due to very strong gusty winds over here in uk but i have spent time reading up as i am interested to learn more about this sport.

i have read up on buggies and the difference between fixed bridle and depower kites,one thing i do not get is what is the difference between a depower control bar and one you use to fly 4 line ? i get to pick mine up this weekend so i hope i have brought correct one.

still no sign of the beamer 5m off ebay but seller has been in touch saying he has been seriously ill and that his brother has taken it to post to me so i can hope he is being honest and genuine.

The primary thing about a standard control bar for a four (or 4.5 or 5 line) DP kite is that the "front" lines that come off the leading edge of the kite come together above the control bar and together pass through the control bar in its center. These front lines (or a single common line that they have combined into) gets attached to a chicken loop which in turn is hooked into your harness' spreader bar hook. The outer or "brake" lines attach to the ends of the control bar. When you push the bar away or towards you then you are changing the relative lengths of these front and brake lines to each other. Because of the pulley system up at the kite these relative changes will change the "angle of attack" of the kite affecting its pull and lift characteristics.

A control bar for a 4-line FB kite is a bit different and it will not turn your FB kite into a DP kite. Breaking all sorts of rules here, but an excellent description of the Ozone turbo bar can be found here: http://www.extremekites.com.au/reviews/other/ozone-turbo-bar...

Good luck!

thanks windstruck for that although i still cant tell the difference between the 2 bars! hopefully if i have link right and you see picture could you tell me what the bar is as its the bar i am collecting this coming weekend.

http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l624/m00ms/_57_2.jpg

Quote: Originally posted by m00ms

thanks windstruck for that although i still cant tell the difference between the 2 bars! hopefully if i have link right and you see picture could you tell me what the bar is as its the bar i am collecting this coming weekend. http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l624/m00ms/_57_2.jpg

Somebody more experienced with these bars please chime in here! The bar in the photobucket is not a turbo bar, that's for sure. Good news (I guess) is it is not a DP bar either. Not sure what I'd call that or how it would work. If I understand the bar's set up correctly one would attached the top (leading edge) lines to the OUTSIDE lines on this bar and attach the brake lines to the two lines that come off the middle line. The middle line would act only as a safety if I understand it correctly, being as it appears to go unchecked through a ring and onto the kite killer wrist strap.

Honestly I don't see how that bar would work very well. One would presumably hook in via the long trapeze at which point there would be no tension on the brake lines.

Again, somebody else please help MOOms with an understanding of the bar in the photo.

i have 3 or 4 of those bars they come w/ bullets and blades...they dont work very well w/ them, handles are much better
i have cut them in half and made handles out of them...they work pretty good like that
just my opinion...others may differ

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

i have 3 or 4 of those bars they come w/ bullets and blades...they dont work very well w/ them, handles are much better i have cut them in half and made handles out of them...they work pretty good like that just my opinion...others may differ

Sort of what I was thinking....

You have cut a perfectly working bar in half to make handels. tsk tsk. you have just violated rule number 6 of kite flying buddy.

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

i have 3 or 4 of those bars they come w/ bullets and blades...they dont work very well w/ them, handles are much better i have cut them in half and made handles out of them...they work pretty good like that just my opinion...others may differ

Quote:

hopefully if i have link right and you see picture could you tell me what the bar is as its the bar i am collecting this coming weekend.

It's a standard bar for a fixed bridle with a trapeze loop added (that's on the wrong side of the bar btw - just spin it around when you get it). Steve's right - brake lines to the center and power lines to the outside. Let the bar go and the kite killer attached to your wrist will stall the kite on the brakes. If you have a harness and you're confident to hook in, you can hook the trapeze loop behind your spreader bar hook on the harness to take the weight off your arms. If you get into trouble, pull the red ball at the end of the trapeze loop to release the loop.

Flying the kite this way will probably make it somewhat sluggish to fly as you don't have any brake input.

Quote: Originally posted by m00ms

hey all, got to fly my symphony 1.8 today for first proper time in weather forecast of 14mph,very surprised at how fast and how much pull it had. how on earth do you guys fly larger kites in stronger winds? found it good fun and very addictive and as although very hungry i kept having "one more go!" going to go to a coast tomorrow as wind is meant to be around 16mph mark with no gusts,going to spend some more time with the symphony then hopefully have a go with my beamer 2.0m for my first time

Heh, funny you say that because 14mph winds and I have my 19m up in the air :P

Quote: Originally posted by John Holgate

Quote: hopefully if i have link right and you see picture could you tell me what the bar is as its the bar i am collecting this coming weekend. It's a standard bar for a fixed bridle with a trapeze loop added (that's on the wrong side of the bar btw - just spin it around when you get it). Steve's right - brake lines to the center and power lines to the outside. Let the bar go and the kite killer attached to your wrist will stall the kite on the brakes. If you have a harness and you're confident to hook in, you can hook the trapeze loop behind your spreader bar hook on the harness to take the weight off your arms. If you get into trouble, pull the red ball at the end of the trapeze loop to release the loop. Flying the kite this way will probably make it somewhat sluggish to fly as you don't have any brake input.

You have the right bar for your Beamer there. It is the most basic bar for FB. It will " dumb down " your kite since you will have no active brake control. Still. flying on a bar is something you will want to try.

Don't use the bar in very low winds. The tiny bit of weight on the brakes from the pulley will actually come into play and work against you. Handles will prove to be better over all.

The trapeze loop is for hooking in to a harness. You won't need it unless you buy a harness.

I am a wimp! At 14mph I move down to my 15m

thats good that i have brought correct bar but it does sound that by using it on my beamer it will just be like turning it into a 2 line kite with safety killer feature.il give it a try and just get the bar try out of my system!

i have only flown my beamer twice so far and although i am new to this i can see that the brakes make big difference and i cant wait to get out and get some more pratice in.

hello john and thanks for your videos on youtube which have been a great help and confidence boost.i do like in one of your videos you fly an ozone imp to the edge of the window then turn it under on its self to go back across the window.am going to try that when the good old english weather lets me play some more.i do like how in control you make it look!

Quote:

hello john and thanks for your videos on youtube which have been a great help and confidence boost.i do like in one of your videos you fly an ozone imp to the edge of the window then turn it under on its self to go back across the window.am going to try that when the good old english weather lets me play some more.i do like how in control you make it look!

Thanks m00ms! A nice steady wind will give you a good head start. I usually check out my trees - if they're bent over in the wind but otherwise not moving about much then that's an excellent wind. If they're thrashing about wildly...not so good - maybe next time.

Cheers.

i was watching my trees today but there was next to no wind,weekends forecast seams to be changing every time i check but i am keeping fingers crossed to get out at some point.

sadly it looks like the 5m beamer off ebay has fallen flat as no sign off it,instead i have just ordered a 4m beamer from same site that i got my 2m from so i will have that soon and if the 5m does still come then all the better.

i am guessing that the 4m will have longer control handles and i am sure i read that the lines are the same between the 4&2s.

if that is the case do i need to keep swapping between the different handles or can i just use either the 4s or 2s handles,be great if i can just carry the two kites and one set of lines/hndles

If you have 2 complete sets I suspect you will find you prefer to keep lines and handles attached to each kite.

Set up is quick, easy and fool proof as long as you take time to pack up properly. No need to " walk out " your lines each time. Adjust the brakes each time. Just shake and tug + maybe flip the handle set once or twice and you are done.

Swapping isn't an issue. It may require small adjustment to the brakes for each kite.

i do need to learn how to do the lines as both times i have flown i made a mess of them! ended up walking back and forth few times to untangle them.

i also found that i keep handles and lines together but seperate from kite as each time the kite got wet from the grass so i wiped and dried kite before packing away