A New Experience

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[BrianS]

I contacted my friend Chris earlier this week and convinced him to spend part of his Sunday (today) flying kites with me. He had never flown a dual-line kite before but I assured him that I could get him flying and warned him that the first half hour might be a little bit frustrating. We met at the beach today, I demonstrated a few of the basics and then handed him the straps.

I've never seen anything like it. He decided to completely skip the entire "lawn darts" phase and was competently zooming around the wind window for better than 5 minutes after his first launch. When he did finally make an unscheduled landing, I showed him the cartwheel, which he mastered instantly. Without any coaching at all, he was able to stall the kite and walk it down for a perfect 2-point landing. He even did some side slides without realizing that was something impressive. 

After a while he announced, "I want to learn a trick -- what would be a good 'first trick'?"

Uhhh...you mean something other than the Cartwheel, Two-Point Landing and Side Slide?

"Oh...those are tricks?"

So, without bothering to do a demo this time, I described the procedure for doing a back flip. He did a few of those and then happened to let one over-rotate. The kite rolled up and he caught the yo-yo stoppers. At this point, he didn't quite realize what had happened. I talked him through the procedure to un-roll (of course, he did that perfectly, too). He got a really big grin on his face when he saw that kite un-roll. At that point, after a grand total of one hour of kite flying, he became a yo-yo monster. I kept track for a few minutes and estimated that he was hitting about 70% of them.

My mission now is to convince him to get back out on the beach in the near future. I figure that if I can get him to fly for a few more hours, he'll be able to give me some pointers to improve my flying 

-Brian

[chilese]

He had an amazing teacher. 

[etully]

Wow, 70% on the roll up is really quite impressive, even for an experienced flyer.  Out of curiosity, what was the kite?

[BrianS]

He had an amazing teacher. 

Yeah, that seems like the most likely explanation 

Wow, 70% on the roll up is really quite impressive, even for an experienced flyer.  Out of curiosity, what was the kite?

This was a Sky Burner WidowMaker UL in about 4 mph of smooth beach wind. I'm personally nowhere near 70% with a single-pop rollup on that kite -- I find that it's slow enough to roll up that something often goes wrong. Chris seemed to be having remarkably good luck with just letting the backflips over-rotate.

[Jorge Gouverneur]

Hi Brian:

Maybe Chris had the hidden talent and you discovered it  A similar story happened to me with a friend when I wan teaching him RC Gliders.

If he really likes the sport guide him to get a good kite so he can learning those Tricks.

[BrianS]

You may be right, Jorge. I'll definitely work on getting him to fly again.

[adx1592]

You'd be surprised how quickly people will take on after a brief walkthrough, hands on for like 4 mins, and then letting them go by themselves. I have two freshmen at CCM now that I take out flying and both took to the lines exactly how you described. I was a bit shocked, but I'm into it. Already did some pairs stuff with them both, one on his second time out. They're really into it but getting them to buy a kite at first is tricky as it is with anyone. Some more exposure will usually do the trick

[Steve]

reminds me of a phone conversation I had a few years back ... a friend in Canada called to relate a similar story about a new flyer that seemed to instantly 'get it' ... old timers may remember David Guidolin and the talented new flyer Wayne Knott.

[chilese]

Wayne could trick a 2x4 if he had to.

I miss that guy. 

[BrianS]

... I have two freshmen at CCM now that I take out flying and both took to the lines exactly how you described. I was a bit shocked, but I'm into it. Already did some pairs stuff with them both, one on his second time out. They're really into it but getting them to buy a kite at first is tricky as it is with anyone...

I wonder if those guys realize how lucky they are to be able to learn from someone with your skills? If I ever cross paths with you on the same field, I guarantee I won't let the opportunity slip by. You've been warned.

You're right that it's difficult to convince someone to take the plunge and purchase a first kite. It must be a really tough sell with freshmen. A kite can be a pretty big purchase on a student budget...especially when it has to compete with other priorities like beer.

-Brian

[adx1592]

... ITS SO TRUE. hahaha.
But they're both super into it. Infact one of them messaged me today saying the he missed kiting already, which was nice.

Feel free to fly whenever if we ever share a field! I loving meeting new flyers and flying when possible. I never get to do it in school- it was rare that I got out a whole 3 times this year. That being said I'm always up for whatever!

Any news on the newbie?