so ive been flying my kite for a week or two now...and here are my questions.

when i pull the brake lines, and it folds to come down, and then i pull the power lines to come back up, (b4 it hits the ground) it inflates unevenly and corkscrews.

Also, sometimes my right side is just folded over and im not sure if maybe my break or power line is too tight for that side (which may contribute to the other problem) Or could i just be not perpendicular to the direction of the wind?

Lastly...what do i do to the lines if it is going to far overhead in the zenith? (behind me)

sound like You have to short brakes lines and not even lines.

what kind of winds? edge of the window? what kind of kite? My bullet does the same thing from time to time, most of it is just too much in the controls too quickly! I found that you have to be one step ahead of your kite at all times.

Also, what kind of kite is it...manufacturer & model, what winds are you flying in and what size? More info on your setup will help us give you some advice.

Quote:

Originally posted by soontobwindgod so ive been flying my kite for a week or two now...and here are my questions. when i pull the brake lines, and it folds to come down, and then i pull the power lines to come back up, (b4 it hits the ground) it inflates unevenly and corkscrews. Also, sometimes my right side is just folded over and im not sure if maybe my break or power line is too tight for that side (which may contribute to the other problem) Or could i just be not perpendicular to the direction of the wind? Lastly...what do i do to the lines if it is going to far overhead in the zenith? (behind me)

The first thing I would do is make sure all your flying lines are equal length.

"If the kite lifts at a high angle and you are able to reverse the kite the brake line settings should be OK."

The next thing I would do is check your handles while you are flying. I have heard this many times "my kite is corkscrewing" and if it is not the flying lines almost every time it is the handles or the pilot inputting the turn. If you are trying to reverse the kite a combination of push or pull of the left or right handle may be nessasary.

Yup, Check your line lengths are = . When flying with no brake the back lines should drag behind with a bit of an arc.
You probably over shoot zenith when the wind is light. In light wind keep the kite moving back and forth a bit. You can also give it a bit of brake to stall it out just before it over shoots.

well the winds were rather brutal....i'd say 15-18mph, and im flying a 4.5m profoil....also i know the lines are equal length.

Is it possible you are adding brake with your handle and not knowing ? Watch the brake lines to see if they are both slack when this is happening. Anytime I've had those symptoms it's been a brake issue.

Sometimes bridle lines can get looped over their own knots, shortening a section of bridle, forcing the wing to improperly inflate. This occurs especially after a "luff" situation where the kite's been severely de-powered with the brake lines, preparatory for landing. Stake the handles, walk to the kite, and then walk your fingers down the bridles from the sail to the attachment point of the flying lines, looking for any places where the knots are twisted, shortening a bridle leg, or where bridle legs are looped over knots, and *appear* to be properly stretched, but in fact are foreshortened by a small amount. My Quadrifoil X kites get these little tangles, often after a luff situation. As little as 1/8 inch of reduction of even a single bridle leg can have a drastic effect on wing inflation, so look for those "turned over" knots.

When over-flying the top of the window, apply slight brake as you approach zenith, and the kite will lock in at the top, instead of over-flying to a position behind you. And yes, your brake lines, when flying normally, should drape out behind the kite in an arc. You should have to put full brake on the handles to reverse the kite to the ground, and the brake fully off, the kite should be able to fly to the very top of the window, directly overhead, and stay there without power.

Another check point is the trailing edge, where most kites get the most wear., from scraping about on the ground. If there are thin places or holes allowing air to escape out the trailing edge, then the adjacent cell will not hold inflation, and the wing needs some small repair to restore the seal. Sticky-icky patches can usually take care of this, but on really old kites, it's sometimes just time to retire them and buy a new one. As kites age, they fail to hold air, the fabric become more permeable from UV exposure, and the wind just doesn't assume the proper configuration anymore. There are spray products from 3M and others, usually sold as waterproofing for awnings and patio furniture, that can revive a blown-out sail by restoring the air-holding ability of the fabric, letting one get another year or two out of a worn sail.

Hope you find the answer, in this case, and get that sail back on track!

Good luck... -Dooley :moon:

Some kites also like the power lines a little tighter than the brakes, on the larger busters if you fly them with equal lenght lines you'll get the same sort of problems, quite often even when launching they'll go up, stop about 15 ft off the ground, then start reversing while turning, once this happens it's almost impossible to get them to stop. I've only had this problem on my large mk1 busters, and on each kite that does it, shortening the power lines by 2" has totally cured the problem.

Hey pablo I recently got a 5.5 buster and it sometimes does what you are describing. how do you shorten the lines?

The easiest way to "shorten" the lines is by adding a knot in your leader on the handle and pulling either the brake or power line down a knot - depending upon which you need to shorten.

If you really want to equalize or shorten the lines themselves you need to undoe the knots or sewing, slide the sleeving up or replace with new sleeving, retie and trim off the excess.

Easiest solution is simply to tie a knot lower in your leader and move the lines down - the kite won't know.

I only re-equalize my lines if they are all unequal or the power lines really stretched out.

^ Yup, what he said, if you only need 2-3" then another knot on the brake or power line leaders on the handle works great, if you need more, I'll take a short peice of bridal material, something fairly strong, Q-power lines work well, tie a larks head on one end and a series of knots every 2" and make them about a foot long each, larks head it onto the brake leaders then larks head the brake lines onto the extention. Usually I have a couple sets made up sitting in my kite bag to give to people having problems, usually with stretched flying lines.

Couple bucks to make, invaluable at the feild.