Back to Basics - a new season!

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[Bob D]

I've been flying a few years now pretty much by myself and trying to learn different things through trial and error. My success rate is at least 50% for the stuff I can do but I wanted to get better.

JimB graciously offered to give me some tips so we met up on Monday for a few hours and I've got a new appreciation for the basics now. I'm the kind of guy that likes a challenge and a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things that I really care about.

Jim said that you really have to move to maintain a stall. So I ran (the wind was 12-15 mph) and tried to keep the nose up. I eventually would lose it as the nose started to tip to the side and then it was all over. The challenge for me now is to try and maintain the stall and learn to control the kite to keep the kite steady. Very cool!

The other thing he taught me was the tip stand which I never spent much time trying to figure out because it never worked. It's counter-intuitive because you need to put pressure on the down-side wing and slack the up-side wing to get it off the ground. The challenge is to get that wing up so that it's almost parallel to the ground and keep it there. I had a lot of fun working on that as I caught my breath after all my running.

Jim said that a lot of people would rather skip the basics like this because it's not as cool as the "wow" stuff. I have a new appreciation for learning the control that you need to get to really "feel" the kite and now what it wants to do and what YOU want it to do. I'll be working on this because I know what to look for now!

It was a really good day! (Even though I lost two stand off buttons off of my Nirvana and sheared off another from the HW trying to get a spare button for the standard. So I got out my Transfer xt.r. The wind was 12-15 mph but it made my efforts more of a challenge.)

[DaveH]

That does sound like a great day ! 

I think there is little as impressive as a well placed, controlled tip stand.  I remember when I first started it was common to spin the wind out of the sail and land in a tip stand.  I still get a kick out of that basic move.  Now that you mention it, the Nirvana is my favorite kite for it.  Its great spin characteristics make this move a pleasure.  Thanks Bob for reminding us about these building blocks. 

[JimB]

Hey Bob!

You did great!

Looking forward to next time.

You really can't spend too much time working on the fundamentals. 

[anOldMan]

As the saying goes - Its is better to build your house on rock than on sand.

The stronger the foundation the better the end product. Always!!! 

[Bob D]

I always like a good challenge and maintaining a nice clean stall without the nose wavering is my new challenge! Thanks for the tips, Jim!

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