First Flight of Zephyr

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[RevJim]

The new Zephyr has been sitting here for over a week. Waiting to fly. 
My double vision cleared up. 
It's sunny and 69 degrees. 
And there is some wind! 
I finally got to fly the new Zephyr. Lots of fun. The wind would go from zero to 4 and up to 10 occasionally. Mostly from zero to 6. Usually a lull in the wind would force the kite down.   A few times the wind would be fine but I would execute an unplanned landing!   Wow, have I got a long way to go. I was pleased when I could keep the kite going (the wind would change often.)  I was happy when I could make the kite go back and forth parallel with the ground. Once, instead of the occasional gust, the wind got up around 10 mph for close to a minute. I was surprised how much pull it created. I was using the 75' 50# line. This brought two things quickly to mind. 1) I was sure glad I hadn't shortened the line to 50'. It gave me quite a workout at 75'. 2) I was wondering if I would break a line. I'm a big guy and it actually pulled me a few steps forward. 
Now I am thoroughly motivated to make a short line set to practice recoveries. I was able to recover ten or so times. They usually weren't pretty but I was able to relaunch. Several times the kite would be roaring along great. All of a sudden the sound would quit as the wind suddenly died. I would usually lose control on the way down and the kite would end up belly down nose toward me. The dead launch didn't happen. Plenty of opportunity to practice my form on the walk of shame.    I bought the Freestyle Pilot DVD from Steve when I got the kite. I'll be putting it to good use this evening.

[freecheese]

50# is a definitely light for a 10 mph wind, but if you're just flying around you can probably get away with it. Just be aware of where the kite will end up of both lines happen to go! One of the guys around my area has a story about that. It involves scuba divers...

If you adjust bridle to bring the nose forward you'll have less pull in a big wind, and the kite will track a little straighter as well.

PS - Practising the dead launch will only lead to heart break!

[RevJim]

PS - Practising the dead launch will only lead to heart break!

That one looks tough. I'll focus on the other recoveries. I'll have enough heart break as it is.

[RevJim]

The stronger wind was a surprise. If I get to go tomorrow I'll use the 90# line.

[Dolphinboy]

There is no walk of shame. If your not walking, your either very good already or more likely, not trying anything new or challenging.

Practice with out fear, if you're afraid of the so called "walk of shame" then fear of that walk is an obstacle to progress. I've walked to the kite countless times and I'm not ashamed to say it

[RevJim]

Thanks. If my schedule goes well, I hope to get to make that walk a few times this afternoon. I'm going to use the 90# line so the walk will be a little farther.

[Ca Ike]

PS - Practising the dead launch will only lead to heart break!

That one looks tough. I'll focus on the other recoveries. I'll have enough heart break as it is.

Don't bother with the dead launch recovery as it doesn't work well if at all on most new style trick kites.  What makes the dead launch work is the first pop flexes the frame causing the nose to spring up just enough to be able to drag it forward scooping air under the sail.  On old school kites with curved LE's (and less stiff frames) you could get the nose up to 6 inches off the ground but on most new kites I have tried it on your lucky to get the nose up 2 inches on that first pop and if its a straight LE design it won't dead launch period.  Most of the time you will just end up wearing out the dacron pockets on the LE and the spine tunnel, or in my case on one kite in short grass I caught the center T on a rock poking up and snapped the spine.  One thing to learn is to watch when the kite drops and is starting to nose forward before it goes belly down, a quick pull on both lines followed by slack will save it and do what I call a backflip landing or it will end up belly down with lines out of the TE.  THen you can pull into a k2000 launch position or roll over for a normal launch.

[RevJim]

Thanks so much. I'll not worry about the dead launch recovery. Thanks for the tips on how to avoid the belly down nose toward me position. I enjoy a challenge. It is clear I've found one in flying these kites.

[Ca Ike]

Thanks so much. I'll not worry about the dead launch recovery. Thanks for the tips on how to avoid the belly down nose toward me position. I enjoy a challenge. It is clear I've found one in flying these kites.

  NP  I practice a lot on different types of landing alternatives.  you can see some of them in this vid I made of some ground work practice in 1-2 mph winds on my zeph.

Ground work practice.

  The hardest one to master is my horizontal flare/slide/turtle landing. Here's another from my marathon side slide practice session.

Slidin'

[RevJim]

I sure enjoyed the videos. Loved the fluid movement of the kite. I was able to fly the Zephyr for about 30 minutes today. Your tips helped. More recoveries. Nice. I know that as I practice those tips you gave me I'll spend more time flying and less walking to the kite. Impressive marathon session. I'd be totally wiped out.

[Ca Ike]

I sure enjoyed the videos. Loved the fluid movement of the kite. I was able to fly the Zephyr for about 30 minutes today. Your tips helped. More recoveries. Nice. I know that as I practice those tips you gave me I'll spend more time flying and less walking to the kite. Impressive marathon session. I'd be totally wiped out.

HEHE you'd think so but when your out there, got some steady wind and music in your ears time tends to just fly by.   I find it to be quite cathartic at times.

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