So I was out yesterday with the scorp and well I learned that it is way harder when playing in loose powder. Several occasions my nose plowed into the snow when I wasn't leaning back enough to hold the nose up, and I ended up bailing. On a couple of those bails I ended up pulling the kite leading edge down and couldn't get it to relaunch. I would get the kite to taco and then tried to pull the downwind tip towards me so that I could launch it like one would normally launch off start. It took so much time that the kite would have lost too much air and I had to set it up and refill with air. Does anyone have experience with this kite and relaunching that can give me some pointers???? I know that when I bail I should just let go and the kite should auto zenith but I still have the urge to keep it in flight like my access. I just feel that there must be an easier way to make it happen.

Shaggs

P.S. I will post a video of my session as soon as I edit it up a bit

Ive got the same kite, and occasionally the same thing would happen. Unfortunately, letting go is the easiest thing I've found. If im falling, I always look up and do my best to steer the kite to the zenith, but if I cant see it or the bar gets away from me I just let it go. These things are a nightmare when landed unintentionally. Maybe someone else has some advice for both of us.....

yeah ! new scorp video! please do not cut out the crashes and restart trials! or make a temporary full length version that shows your relaunch trials!

Every scenario is different when you bail, so it is hard to give a "one-setup-fits-all".

The basics on relaunching once the kite hits the ground is to get the kite into a taco position, tug the front lines and when the leading edge comes around a little, the wind will open it up and you fly it to the edge of the window and up.

To get it into the taco position from leading edge directly down on the ground, just grab a hand of the brake line (trailing edge line) and start pulling it in slowly (right or left brake line depending on which way you want the leading edge to face when it gets taco'd). As you pull, that wing tip will start to roll over and eventually fall down on top of the other. Shimmy the lines a little to line the top with the bottom and then start letting the line back out. The kite should sit back down on top of the other on the ground and be taco'd. Make sure to never wrap the line around your hand or allow the pulled in line to wrap or get snagged on anything on your body or board. In the event of a gust or if something goes wrong, let go and the kite should drop back into the same position or if worse, yank your safety release and reset. If you are in strong winds then this may not work, in that case then pull the bottom brake line to slide the kite flat on the ground and it should eventually fall into either the launch position or taco. This is a bit harder because the bottom wing will want to flip off the ground as air gets underneath it - causing the dreaded botwie. If you do get a bowtie then pull in both the top and bottom of the upwind wing and shake them if necessary. The bowtie should un-screw itself and the kite will lay flat. Then let the lines back out to get it into the taco.

Once taco'd and if the kite has lost enough air that it automatically doesn't open up for you, give a good tug on the center lines (leading edge lines) and that should slide the leading edge of the kite more into the wind and allow the top wing to open up. Once it opens, give some tension on the brake lines by pulling in the bar and crank it hard to fly it up off the ground and towards the edge of the window where it can fill the rest of the way up (if needed).

If your kite is losing air that fast then there is a chance that one of your intake valves is stuffed up against the internal strap and is not sealing up properly after you land. Another problem may be that your zippers are not fully closed. Last problem is that there is a hole somewhere in the kite. If none of these and the kite still deflates to the point of not being able to launch way to fast (within 20-30 minutes of being on the ground) then your kite may be to porous and letting air escape through the actual material. This usually only happens to kites that have had the life flown out of them for several years of extra high wind use. Basically the material is just getting warn out. Sounds bad but you can fix that too.

There is some stuff called Nikwax TX.Direct spray on. This is a special silicone spray on sealer that is used by many kite manufacturers to coat the exterior of ripstop nylon to reduce porosity. It comes in several sized spray on containers and you will want to get a couple to do your kite cuz that is a lot of ripstop on those babies. Coat the outside of both sides (top and bottom) as per the instructions and your old warn out kite will be all crispy and crunchy just like the day you took it out of that brand new bag. This will also make the kite very slippery when on the snow so that may be a consideration for you before coating it. Nikwax TX Direct sells for appx. $19.00 per bottle, you will probably need 3 bottles to do your 16m scorp. If you can't find it anywhere local then I do have some in stock here.

Check your intake vents and make sure they are not bunched up inside the kite and that they are working the way they are supposed to be first, that is probably the culprit.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info. I will try to remember all of this next time round.

Quote:

Originally posted by herc yeah ! new scorp video! please do not cut out the crashes and restart trials! or make a temporary full length version that shows your relaunch trials!

Looking at my video, my dad did a lot of pause and record while filming so there really isn't much of me crashing and relaunching. There is a ton of sections that are kinda boring, but with my lack of video editing experience it will take me about two weeks to cut it so I will probably just post the 20minute video on vimeo and you guys can watch as little or as much of it as you like. I will use the video over the next while to learn the cut and edit add music stuff, so that my next vid will be more interesting.

These kites have many crash avoidance /relaunch scenarios. Getting the kite to taco after it has crashed and locked into LE down position has already been described.

Letting go of the bar will often avoid a crash. If it still crashes, it will often just bounce and roll over into a taco and relaunch on it's own. However, in lighter winds the kite is less likely to relaunch on it's own. If not, a few forceful jerks of the front line will cause it to open up and relaunch. Sometimes you may need to get out of your board and move over (or skate over if you are on skis, or swim) to get the kites LE to be more exposed to the wind and then jerk the frontline, if necessary.

If you get your orientation back from your yard sale wipeout before the kite actually crashes, you can steer the kite back up to avoid the crash. This will either avoid the crash or roll the kite over into a taco for you when it crashes. At this point it may or may not relaunch on it's own. It may just need some coaxing of the frontlines. You may have to physically move too as before.

Another method that has worked for me too mostly in very light winds and /or it has become too difficult (or too slow) to recover from a messed up taco. Pull on whichever line (thats the top wingtip line of the taco) so that the kite sits totally flat on it's belly (the bottom skin down). You may have to move to expose more of the LE to the wind too. But, even very light wind will get under it and pop it into it's C shape and up she goes. This method has even worked on the water for me in winds so light no LEI would relaunch.

I have a near 100% relaunch rate on water, snow and ground. The only time I haven't had a relaunch is in a complete wind drop out or some kind of equipment failure. Nothing else will relaunch in these situations either.